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    K-2, Mastering Mentor Sentences

    Implementing Mentor Sentences in the Lower Grades

    January 4, 2015

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    Several people have asked me about mentor sentences for the lower grades- the ones I originally created were for grades 3-5. Typically, third, fourth, and fifth graders have more of an understanding of parts of speech as well as more experience with reading and writing. Because of this, mentor sentences in the lower grades are going to look a bit different than the upper grades. The idea and purpose will still be the same though: exposing students to well-written sentences from quality texts will help them become better writers and have a greater understanding of how the parts of speech work together. You can read more about the theory and ideas behind mentor sentences in Jeff Anderson’s books! I have adapted his ideas to create a routine that worked for elementary classrooms. 🙂

    If you have not watched the video of me in my fourth grade class showing mentor sentences in action, I would watch that first before continuing on with this post- even though you won’t be going as “deep” with lower grade students, the procedures and purposes will still be the same. Here is a video of me with a borrowed first grade class! This is the first time they have ever done mentor sentences, and you’ll see how engaged they are even on the first try!

    First and second graders can absolutely benefit from mentor sentences, just as upper grade students do! It might take a little longer for students to understand the routine than upper grade students, but just like with anything else, consistency is key! Here is a sentence from my first unit of mentor sentences for second graders:

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    Depending on your students, you might do all of this together just on chart paper, or you might have the students copy/write in a notebook, too. The things we hope for students to notice during Day 1 (Time to Notice) in the lower grades are going to be different than upper grades- they are going to be more basic. This sentence includes proper nouns, which will be the focus of the week’s lessons, so it will be important to talk about why there are capital letters at the start of names.

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    On Day 2, working with parts of speech will definitely look very different from the upper grades, especially in the beginning of the year. I have still included the list of all the parts of speech on the lesson suggestions page for your own information and in case you have some higher level kids that are ready to go more in depth…

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    But, I would focus more on the part of speech skill for that week- maybe labeling just those in the sentence, or making a t-chart, like this:

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    Having a discussion about just the proper and common nouns in the sentence would be a great lead to a lesson where they find their own proper and common nouns in their books! You could even have them write those nouns on sticky notes and put them onto your t-chart you’ve created!

    On Day 3, it would be a good idea to help guide the students in how to revise a sentence. One of the skills required by common core is to expand simple and compound sentences. One way to do this is to add adjectives before nouns. Giving them the sentence with blanks in front of the nouns so that students can brainstorm and help you revise the sentence first is a great way to get them thinking before they try to revise the sentence on their own.

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey
    **You can also get a modification pack for the second grade mentor sentences to provide students the sentences with blanks for revision AND imitation!**
     

    On day 4, imitating will be the hardest part for most of the lower grades students to grasp at first, but it will be the most important for students’ writing progress! Don’t give up- it will come! I would suggest giving them a sentence frame, almost like a MadLib:

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    You can have students brainstorm with you, or you can have them try on their own after you walk them through a think-aloud of your own sentence. You should use your own judgment based on what your students are ready to do.

    Mentor Sentences with Ideas by Jivey

    I like to keep all of my daily lessons up on the chart each day so the students can be reminded of the focus and see our progress. Also, because the week’s focus is proper nouns, I would point them out when I see them in reading, as well as do some short lessons on proper nouns throughout the week during writing/grammar time.

    On Friday, I would remove the chart and sentence from the students’ view so they can’t just copy on the quiz. In the lower grades quizzes I’ve made, I have included handwriting lines to encourage proper letter formation when the students re-write the sentence properly. The quiz will assess the skill that you’ve focused on all week. To give you an idea, here is the answer key to the weekly quiz that goes with the lesson I’ve shown you:

    Mentor sentence lesson key with Ideas by Jivey

    I hope this helps you understand how to use mentor sentences in second grade, and even first grade in the second half of the year! If you want to try them in your classroom, you can get a freebie here!

    You can also get the first set here:

    You can see other mentor sentences that can be used for first grade by clicking here and second grade by clicking here. Please let me know if you have any other questions! I love to hear how they are working in your classroom, too! :o)

    If you want even more IN-DEPTH step-by-step help with implementing mentor sentences, check out my courses!

    For more mentor sentence ideas, follow my Pinterest board!

    Follow Ideas By Jivey’s board Mentor Sentences on Pinterest.
    Ideas by Jivey walks you through the steps of how to do mentor sentences in the lower grades to improve writing and grammar.

     

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    Mentor Sentence
    by Jessica Ivey 

    About Jessica Ivey

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    Welcome!

    Welcome!

    Hi, I'm Jessica, also affectionately known as Jivey! I am passionate about making literacy accessible for all students using research-based strategies. Students learn best through content integration and in-context skills, and my goal is to help you deliver your instruction with these best practices!

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    Recent Posts

    • Planning a Language Arts Schedule (How To Fit It All In!)
    • Mentor Sentences Routine: Break It Down (Assessment)
    • Mentor Sentences Routine: Break It Down (Time to Imitate)
    • Mentor Sentences Routine: Break It Down (Time to Revise)
    • Mentor Sentences Routine: Break It Down (Parts of Speech)

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    Ideas By Jivey

    2 weeks ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    Right?! Picture books are for every👏🏼one!👏🏼 ... See MoreSee Less

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    Ideas By Jivey

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    Ideas By Jivey
    I shared my TPT story with you back in April... (if you missed it, you can check it out here: ckarchive.com/b/4zuvheh5z24kp)As promised, the next big celebration update has happened!! FIVE brand new units have been added to the Yearlong Mentor Text Curriculum Bundle: Volume 2 for Grades 3-5! www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Yearlong-Mentor-Text-Curriculum-Bundle-Volume-2-for-Grades-3-... (This is the large $99 bundle that covers the entire year with mentor sentences, interactive activities, reading and writing, and vocabulary.)If you own the large bundle, whether it's through TPT, my website shop, or through a course purchase, you will get these FIVE NEW UNITS (valued at $18.75) FOR FREE!! Just re-download your purchase!📔School's First Day of School by Adam Rex📘Our Table by Peter H. Reynolds📗The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg📙Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty📕Vulture Verses by Diane LangI am creating these units to strategically align with the large bundles- you'll find the books chosen in volume 2 cover language skills that didn't have lessons previously, and can also be paired nicely with books included in the original bundle. For example, use Vulture Verses with Animals Nobody Loves!Just as a reminder, YES! I plan on doing the same thing for all of the other yearlong volumes, so don't be upset if you own another volume, or another grade! (And remember, Volume 1 already has its bonuses added!!) I am going in order of when I released them, and as you can imagine, it takes some time to create so many brand new units. 😉If you DON'T OWN the Volume 2 Yearlong Bundle and still want these five amazing book units, you can get them now ON SALE for just $3 each for the next 48 hours! www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Ideas-By-Jivey/Order:Most-Recent#seller_details_tabsThank you again for all your support and feedback over the last decade! Here's to at least ten more!! ... See MoreSee Less

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    Ideas By Jivey

    3 weeks ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    Every Tuesday in June and July, you'll be able to purchase one of the MANY individual mentor text units that I've created from my website shop!This is a great way to stock up on some new lessons for next school year. 🎉The first $2 Tuesday is TODAY, and is the unit I created for the WONDERFUL mentor text, Trombone Shorty!Don't own the book? Don't worry! It's on Storyline Online! In this pack, you will receive:★a mentor sentence lesson for the book★an interactive notebook activity to review/teach comparatives and superlatives★seven reading ideas suggested with three activities provided: identifying theme, describing illustrations, and analyzing author's language★one writing idea suggested with a writing prompt given★contextual vocabulary activities★ Activities are also provided as links to Google Slides for Digital Learning! ★ www.ideasbyjivey.com/coupon/TROMBONE2/ ... See MoreSee Less

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    Right?!! Don’t take away my #mentortexts! #pictu Right?!! Don’t take away my #mentortexts! #picturebooksaremyjam #picturebooksareforeveryone 

#ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #teachertribe #iteach345
    Every Tuesday in June and July, you'll be able to Every Tuesday in June and July, you'll be able to purchase one of the MANY individual #mentortext units that I've created from my website shop!

This is a great way to stock up on some new lessons for next school year. 🎉

The first $2 Tuesday is TODAY, and is the unit I created for the WONDERFUL mentor text, Trombone Shorty!

Don't own the book? Don't worry! It's on Storyline Online! 

In this pack, you will receive:

★a mentor sentence lesson for the book

★an interactive notebook activity to review/teach comparatives and superlatives

★seven reading ideas suggested with three activities provided: identifying theme, describing illustrations, and analyzing author's language

★one writing idea suggested with a writing prompt given

★contextual vocabulary activities

★ Activities are also provided as links to Google Slides for Digital Learning! ★ 

Link in profile! https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/coupon/TROMBONE2/ 

#ideasbyjivey #2dollartuesday #mentortext #mentorsentences #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th #teachersfollowteachers #teachertribe #teacherdeals
    Enough is enough. I’m sick over this. I’m sick Enough is enough. I’m sick over this. I’m sick OF this. I’m tired of children’s and teachers’ lives being lower on the list than the right to bear arms. Sending love to all my Texas teachers and families. Comments are turned off and yes, removed, because this is NOT an argument. Go to someone else’s post to do that. This is the 30th school shooting this year. This doesn’t happen in other countries, yet there is still plenty of evil there. I’m done.
📸: @theteachingtexan
    When I began creating #mentorsentence resources to When I began creating #mentorsentence resources to list in my TpT store over ten years ago, it was because of the huge shift I’d seen in my own students implementing the game-changing routine. I LOVE to hear other teachers have the same results! 🥰 #fabulousfeedback #ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #teachertribe #iteach345 #mentorsentences
    Can students think critically about grammar!? YES Can students think critically about grammar!?

YES THEY CAN!

I know higher order thinking skills (HOTS) are generally not associated with grammar, but give it a chance… you’re going to see a HUGE shift in writing abilities and language understanding if you do!

Check out the blog post in my profile for a run-down and a free download to help you get started! https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/higher-order-thinking-questions-for-grammar-and-writing/ #ideasbyjivey #grammar #language #mentorsentences #effective #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteachupperelementary #iteach345
    My club units have been some of my favorite resour My club units have been some of my favorite resources to create because the planning and creation were guided by the teachers using them!

Because of the input from your fellow teacher community, I know these units will be such a benefit to you, too! Every unit in the bundle has: 

📕a week of plans that integrate multiple skills and subjects
📙detailed explicit lessons, including teacher samples
📒a week-at-a-glance plan
📗digitally converted activities in Google Slides and Forms, when applicable
📘mentor sentence lesson
📕reading and writing lessons
📙integration of other subjects (science, social studies, or social/emotional skills)
📒printables for skill practice
📗at least one other text (poem, article, paired passages)* to integrate with your lessons *this will vary each unit depending on skills covered!
📘short assessments

Check out the latest bundle at the link in my profile! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/MENTOR-TEXT-CLUB-by-Jivey-2ND-EDITION-for-Grades-3-5-7058941 
#ideasbyjivey #mentortext #mentortexts #teachersfollowteachers #mentorsentences #effective #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig
    Did you know I have a total breakdown of how mento Did you know I have a total breakdown of how mentor sentences can look day by day in your classroom?
Head over to my blog! www.ideasbyjivey.com #ideasbyjivey #mentorsentences #teachersfollowteachers #iteach345 #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig
    Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by Doreen Rappap Elizabeth Started All the Trouble by Doreen Rappaport is the perfect #mentortext to incorporate in your studies of women's suffrage. With this unit, you'll be able to work with students on analyzing primary sources (specifically political cartoons, but also some written documents), identifying supporting reasons and details, writing opinion pieces, and using relative pronouns. This unit is the perfect way to integrate social studies with language arts! Grab it from the link in my profile! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Elizabeth-Started-All-the-Trouble-Womens-Suffrage-Mentor-Text-Unit-8036259 #ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #socialstudiesintegration #iteach345 #teacherspayteachers
    This feedback means so much to me because as I’v This feedback means so much to me because as I’ve made my mentor sentence lessons over the last ten years, I’ve put so much thought into the way I craft my units and bundles! Thank you for trusting me! ❤️ #mentorsentences #ideasbyjivey #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachersofig #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th #iteachfourth #iteachfifth #iteachthird
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