I've been a fan of Lucy Calkins writing for about 7 or 8 years now. I used to think kindergarten kids could only do fill in sentences and first graders maybe a couple of sentences. Not only was I proven wrong that they can write a LOT more, I learned that I can have writerly conversations and help them grow as writers. They can also edit and revise! Due to time constraints and forced programs, though I wrote daily, there were some writing units I hadn't gotten a chance to try. Authors as Mentors was one of them.
This year was my first year trying Authors as Mentors. What I love about this unit is that students learn how to help themselves as writers using mentor texts, and that if done well, the students begin noticing what authors do all the time. This is a life skill. It's also transferrable. I've noticed that they use this in other writing units and their reading as well.
Here is a link to the Table of Contents to get an idea of what this unit can teach youpr students as it relates to Small Moments or Personal Narratives. One of my favorites is Comeback Lines, which we notice a lot of in poetry and songs. Another one is using ellipses, making our writing interesting and that see often in our reading. This helps our fluency as well.
Here's an example of a student trying out ellipses and revising/editing his piece:
Star
Tours
By Mason
By Mason
When
I went to Disneyland I went on Star Tours.
The first time I got in a seat…and then I blasted off without the
driver! When I was in space, there I saw
a ship with a bad guy in it! So we were
trying to get away from the bad guy, but he kept finding us….Once when he found
us he said, “You can run, but you can’t hide.”
Then we went back to the space station
It was amazing!
Try it out for yourself! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Happy Writing Adventures!
Marie
