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    Jivey shares ideas and lessons to make literacy accessible for all.

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    3-5, Mastering Mentor Sentences

    Mentor Sentence Planning Present- Using Owl Moon

    December 10, 2015

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    Do you loathe grammar? I bet I know why. You are tired of drill and kill style grammar teaching. Or you wish students would quit guessing what the error MIGHT be in your DOL or DGP (or any other acronym that might represent your grammar program) sentence of the day, because it doesn’t carry over into their writing anyway.

     

    Have no fear! Jivey is here! 🙂 Stop showing students sentences full of mistakes. Start using mentor sentences from your favorite mentor texts that you already use to teach other skills, and your students will actually be EXCITED for grammar and writing instruction!

    Learn the why and how of teaching grammar in context, rather than in isolation, using mentor sentences! Jivey walks you through each step of the routine.
    The idea of mentor sentences across all grades is for students to notice what makes it a great sentence, and then carry those great things over into their writing. You can read about where this idea originated in Jeff Anderson’s books. I am going to share how I’ve adapted these ideas to make it into a routine that fits elementary classrooms!

     

    Most teachers will agree, style and conventions are the two areas that are the most difficult to teach and the two areas that usually suffer in student writing. Mentor sentences help you teach these two domains in a way that is fun for the students AND you! Each day, students will do something a little different with the sentence. Each week, students will focus on one or two skills, but they will still be exposed to several skills, many of which they have already learned from previous mentor sentences, so the spiral learning really makes an impact.
     
    Today’s Planning Present is a mentor sentence lesson from the mentor text, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.
    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.

    **disclaimer** Today, I am going to give you the “CliffsNotes” version of implementing mentor sentences. I have a TON of resources, including videos, that you can read and watch here, and detailed instructions are also provided in Unit 1 of all of my mentor sentence packs. You will be able to implement the lesson I’m including using just this blog post, but please note, consistency of using mentor sentences is what truly makes a difference in your students’ writing and understanding of grammar. The routine and repetition produces fabulous student authors!**

     
    Day One: After reading the text, show the students the mentor sentence.
    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.
    Ask students what they notice about the sentence that makes it a great one. If this is your first mentor sentence lesson with your students, you may need to prompt them more with questions like, “What type of sentence is this? What interesting words did the author use? Is there any figurative language? What did the owl do?”
    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.

     

    Students can make a list in their notebook of things they notice, and you should also make a list of things they noticed on chart paper. The focus skills are: simple sentence with compound predicate and possessive pronouns. You’ll want to make sure students recognize these two things if they didn’t already “notice” them. The simile is also a great thing to point out. Anything they missed on their own, they can add to their list as you write them on your chart.

    Day Two: Students should rewrite the sentence, skipping lines in between, and label the parts of speech they know. The idea behind this is to help them notice how words work together to make effective sentences. It is NOT necessary to label every word, especially in the beginning. If this is your first time doing mentor sentences, you might only want to label nouns, verbs, and the possessive pronoun to cover the focus skills.
    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.

     

    If you feel the students are ready to label more, go for it!

    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.
    You will also want to take some time to focus on the skills of the week. This would be a great time to pull out a writing piece the students have been working on and have them practice using compound predicates. Point out the way the mentor sentence was formed and ask them to try it. You can also have students look for possessive pronouns in their own reading and write the sentence they found it in on a sticky note to share later. (I also have supplemental interactive notebook activities in my store that you can use as mini-lessons, which are aligned with the mentor sentence lessons.)

     

    Day Three: Students will revise the sentence. YES- even published sentences can be revised! This not only helps students’ revision skills, but it also shows them they are never “done.” I always show students my own revision of the mentor sentence so students can identify what was changed. It also gives them an idea of what they can do.
    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.
    Here are some great revisions done by @MissBishopHP‘s class! You can also see the great things they noticed and how they labeled their sentence:

     

     

    Day Four: Students will imitate the sentence. It’s not often students are allowed to write about any topic, so they get very excited about imitating. The only thing they MUST do as part of their imitation is to keep the structure of the sentence the same. For this sentence, students should definitely have a compound predicate and a simile.

    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.
    Choose a few sentences to celebrate- give the students sentence strips to write their sentence and hang in the classroom. You’ll be amazed at the style that comes out of your students! Students should also continue practicing the structure of the mentor sentence. After several weeks of showing them that you expect them to use their mentor sentences to help them with their own writing pieces, you’ll find that students pull out their mentor sentence notebook without you even asking them!

     

    Day Five: Assess the students’ understanding of the focus skills. A weekly quiz is included with the mentor sentence lessons. You might choose to take it for a grade, or you might use it as a formative assessment to see who still needs help. The mentor sentence DOES have errors because students still need to be able to recognize when there are mistakes… but they have seen and worked with the sentence all week so they SHOULD recognize the mistakes! It isn’t like DOL, where they have never seen the sentence before and often don’t know what would be wrong.

     

    Owl Moon Mentor Sentence Lesson With Ideas by Jivey.
    I hope this planning present will help you teach grammar and writing style effectively in your classroom. Don’t forget to head over to Jennifer’s blog, Teaching to Inspire, for another planning present!

     

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

     

    If you are looking for guidance to pick the “just-right” bundle for your needs, click below!

    For more Mentor Sentences Resources and ideas, follow my Pinterest board!
    Follow Ideas By Jivey’s board Mentor Sentences on Pinterest.
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    by 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

    • Teaching Vocabulary in Context: My Journey from Mistakes to Mastery
    • Integrating Primary Sources into Language Arts Lessons
    • Teaching Grammar that Supports the Science of Reading
    • Teaching Text Structure With Picture Books
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    Ideas By Jivey

    11 hours ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    😎 Wishing you could try a week of the All-Access Mentor Text Membership for free? πŸ“² Click here: members.ideasbyjivey.com/free-trial ... See MoreSee Less

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    Ideas By Jivey

    4 days ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    Have you ever wondered what a book looks like after I finish using it to create a mentor sentence unit? πŸ™ˆ I just completed the six-week mini-unit for A Rover's Story, which is this year's Global Read Aloud for Middle Grades/Upper Elementary! #gra23Will you be participating with your class? It all kicks off on October 2nd. πŸ€“In this book, Resilience, or Res for short, is a Mars rover who is determined to live up to his name. πŸ€– He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop humanlike feelings. I never thought I could feel so much for a robot. I might have even shed a few tears at the end...! πŸ˜… #graroverYou can grab this brand new mentor sentence unit for A Rover's Story with six lessons that follow right along with the reading schedule for Global Read Aloud πŸ’²ON SALEπŸ’² for 48 hours! πŸ€— www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Rovers-Story-Global-Read-Aloud-Mentor-Sentences-Interactive... ... See MoreSee Less

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    Ideas By Jivey

    4 days ago

    Ideas By Jivey
    πŸ““Do your students struggle to understand a vocabulary word that has multiple meanings? This is why teaching vocabulary in context is SO important! πŸ€“If your students are just "looking up a list," how many of your students pick the first definition and write it down, then move on to the next word? πŸ“Or better yet… raise your hand if you have one of *those* students who finds the SHORTEST definition of the word to write! πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈπŸ’‘Come check out this post where I share some research-based tips for teaching vocabulary: www.ideasbyjivey.com/vocabulary-in-context-journey/ ... See MoreSee Less

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    😎 Wishing you could try a week of the All-Acces 😎 Wishing you could try a week of the All-Access Mentor Text Membership for free? πŸ“² Head to the link in my profile! @ideasbyjivey 

#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #teachermembership #mentorsentences #teacherslovebooks #picturebooks #iteachtoo 
https://members.ideasbyjivey.com/free-trial
    Have you ever wondered what a book looks like afte Have you ever wondered what a book looks like after I finish using it to create a #mentorsentence unit? πŸ™ˆ I just completed the six-week mini-unit for A Rover's Story, which is this year's Global Read Aloud for Middle Grades/Upper Elementary! #GRA23

Will you be participating with your class? It all kicks off on October 2nd. πŸ€“

In this book, Resilience, or Res for short, is a Mars rover who is determined to live up to his name. πŸ€– He was not built to have human emotions. But as he learns new things from the NASA scientists who assemble him, he begins to develop humanlike feelings. I never thought I could feel so much for a robot. I might have even shed a few tears at the end...! πŸ˜… #GRARover

Head to the link in my profile (@ideasbyjivey) to grab this brand new mentor sentence unit for A Rover's Story with six lessons that follow right along with the reading schedule for Global Read Aloud πŸ’²ON SALEπŸ’² for 48 hours! πŸ€— 

#ideasbyjivey #globalreadaloud #mentortext #mentorsentences #iteach456 #iteach4th #iteach5th #iteach6th #chapterbook #novelstudy #upperelementary 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Rovers-Story-Global-Read-Aloud-Mentor-Sentences-Interactive-Activities-10208469
    πŸ““Do your students struggle to understand a voca πŸ““Do your students struggle to understand a vocabulary word that has multiple meanings? 

This is why teaching vocabulary in context is SO important! πŸ€“

If your students are just "looking up a list," how many of your students pick the first definition and write it down, then move on to the next word? πŸ“

Or better yet… raise your hand if you have one of *those* students who finds the SHORTEST definition of the word to write! πŸ™‹β€β™€οΈ

πŸ’‘Come check out the post at the link in my profile (@ideasbyjivey) where I share some research-based tips for teaching vocabulary. 

#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #scienceofreading #teachingvocabulary #vocabularylearning #iteachtoo #readingteacher 

https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/vocabulary-in-context-journey/
    For today's #MentorTextMonday, I'm sharing an oldi For today's #MentorTextMonday, I'm sharing an oldie but a goodie: When Lightning Comes in a Jar. This is one of my FAVORITE Patricia Polacco books! 

I'd love for you to check out this blog post where I shared how I tie it all together with ONE #mentortext, and pick up the #freelessons I used to demonstrate these ideas for you! Link in profile @ideasbyjivey

#ideasbyjivey #mentorsentences #iteach345 #picturebooks #upperelementary #upperelementaryteachers #upperelementaryreading #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th
https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/tying-it-all-together-with-mentor-texts/
    Listen up, friends! πŸ“£ If you're not using #ment Listen up, friends! πŸ“£ If you're not using #mentorsentences in your classroom, you're missing out! 

This blog post breaks down how they support the #scienceofreading research, and ways to get started. πŸ“– Read at the link in my profile: @ideasbyjivey

#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #iteach345 #grammarteacher #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th 

https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/teaching-grammar-supports-science-of-reading/
    ⏳Ever wonder just HOW to fit it all in? I laid o ⏳Ever wonder just HOW to fit it all in? I laid out some suggestions based on how much time you have for ELA in the blog post at the link in my profile: @ideasbyjivey ⏰ 

#ideasbyjivey #mentorsentences #mentortexts #teachingreading #iteachreading #iteachwriting #iteachgrammar #teacherlife #teacherproblems 

https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/language-arts-schedule/
    πŸ“₯ Ready to try out a week of the All-Access Men πŸ“₯ Ready to try out a week of the All-Access Mentor Text Membership for free? 😍 Head to the link in my profile! @ideasbyjivey 

#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #teachermembership #mentorsentences #teacherslovebooks #picturebooks #iteachtoo 
https://members.ideasbyjivey.com/free-trial
    πŸ“ Let's talk vocab. If you're still using that πŸ“ Let's talk vocab. If you're still using that old workbook, it's time for a change. This blog post is all about my journey to teaching vocabulary IN CONTEXT!

πŸ€“ Come check out my research-based suggestions for contextual vocabulary at the link in my profile πŸ‘‰ @ideasbyjivey 

#teachingvocabulary #mentortexts #iteachtoo #readingteacher #vocabularylearning #scienceofreading

https://www.ideasbyjivey.com/vocabulary-in-context-journey/
    πŸ“•If you're still looking for the perfect book t πŸ“•If you're still looking for the perfect book to read with students about the history of today, check out today's Mentor Text Monday book, Fireboat by Maira Kalman. 

It's one of the books I included in my Mentor Text Units for September 11 Remembrance Bundle. You'll find reading activities, mentor sentences, interactive grammar pieces, writing prompts, and contextual vocabulary. πŸ“

Check out the complete bundle at the link in my profile: @ideasbyjivey 
 
#ideasbyjivey #mentortexts #mentorsentences #september11 #patriotdayintheclassroom #patriotday #iteach345 #iteach3rd #iteach4th #iteach5th 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Mentor-Text-Units-for-September-11-Remembrance-in-Grades-3-5-7154669
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