Mentor Sentences

Mentor Sentences

Invitation to Notice

• You share a well crafted sentence with students …

The dogs shared their yummy treats with Oscar.

• Then you simply ask “What Do You Notice?”
  • At first they won’t know what you mean but they quickly come around 
  • They will eventually begin to say things like…he uses big words, he used a capital letter at the beginning, he used a period to show the end of a sentence.

• You may have to probe them a bit, but try not to show them what you want them to notice. For example you may want to say, “ What is the punctuation doing?” “ What would the effect be if I took them out?”

Invitation to Imitate

• Deconstruct the sentence for its prominent features.
  • In this sentence, I want them to review that a sentence starts with a capital letter, has spaces between words, and ends with a period. I also want them to know that a sentence has two parts; the part that names and the part that tells.
• Show an imitation of your own and connect it back to the prominent features. Maybe use a frame to get them started.

                                                The _____ _______ _______ ____ ______.

• Show students how to insert their own ideas and experiences and still imitate the structure or pattern.

I am going to try it but my sentence isn’t going to be about dogs.

I am going to write about cats.

                                                   The cats jumped over the gate.

• In their word study notebooks, or on sentence strips have them write a sentence that uses the same frame and but inserts their own ideas. You can then walk around and squat conference with kids as they are working.

Invitation to Celebrate

• Share their imitations and reflect on the writing that came out of them, sparked by a model. This is a time to laugh, clap and praise.

• It could be a great time to teach the kids to peer edit for one particular skill. For example, before we read the sentences share with your neighbor and make sure that there are no capital letters without a rule. One suggestion is to give students small stickers to place on their own sentence for each of the skills they imitated correctly.

Invitation to Collect

• You want them to delve into text and see how other authors used the conventions we are studying. At first, you will select the text that I know has an abundance of that convention.
• Make an anchor chart in the room to display the sentences and encourage students to notice in their reading this type of sentence construction.
• If a student uses the skill successfully in the writing then you may certainly add their sentence to the chart…always giving the author credit

Invitation to Edit

Now is a perfect time to mix in other concepts that you would like to review again, but in the context of a well written sentence. Show the correct sentence first. Then uncover one at a time (Start with one each day). To encourage student dialogue, give them a moment to notice the change and discuss it with a neighbor to see if they noticed the same thing. Then choose someone to present to the group. After that , ask them to discuss with a neighbor whether the change was good or bad and most importantly why. Choose a group or two to share with everyone.

The dogs shared their yummy treats with Oscar.

the dogs shared their yummy treats with Oscar.

The dogs shared their yummy treats with Oscar

Thedogsshared their yummy treatswithOscar.

4(B) Questions - Readiness

Reading /Beginning Reading Skills/Phonics
K	1	2	3	4	5
4(B) ask and respond to questions about texts read aloud.	4B) ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts	3(B) ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text	3(B) ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories and other texts and support answers with evidence from text.
ask relevant questions about stories ask relevant quesions about other texts seek clarafication about stories seek clarafication about other texts locate facts about stories locate facts about other texts locate details about stories locate details about other texts

Activities:

• Interactive Read Aloud by Linda Hoyt- Ask/Answer Questions pg. 5 using Where's Spot? by Eric Hill.  Using a T - chart teacher models how a "good  reader" asks questions.  Teacher writes question on the left side of the chart and as he/she reads writes answer on the right.  Book is already organized around questions, but the class can think of more questions.
• Comprehension Tool Kit (Book #3) Ask Questions - Lesson 8 View and Read to Learn and Wonder pg. 2 using Time for Kids "Amazing Spiders".
• Using a T-chart I Learnedon the left side and I Wonder on the right side teacher models how to use sticky notes for new information (L) and sticky notes for wondering (?) that go along with that new information we just learned.
• Comprehension Tool Kit (Book #3) Ask Questions - Lesson 9 Wonder about New Information pg. 16 using Recess at 20 Below by Cindy Lou Aillaud
• Explain that good readers wonder about information and ask questions to understand.
• Explain what it means to be curious
• Jot down or draw questions while reading
• Explain what a lingering question is
• Comprehension Took Kit (Book #3) Ask Questions - Lesson 10 Use Questions as Tools for Learning pg. 35 using Biggest, Strongest, Fastest by Steve Jenkins
• Show how to stop to ask a question
• Write quesion on a large Post-it.  Read and stop at the informatio that answers the question
• Place questions and answers on T -chart (Question on the left & Answers on the right)
• Comprehension Tool Kit (Book #3) Ask Questions - Lesson 11 Read With a Question in Mind pg. 48 using Wild Weather Tornado by Catherine Chambers
• I Wonder - I Learned T-chart to demonstrate how you keep a question in mind to answer it
• Use nonfiction features (table of contents, headings, bold words, glossary, index) to help us find the information.
• Chart "How Do We Find Answers to Our Questions?" pg. 43
• Question Box :  Students practice asking questions to find out what is in the box.  Many times the students asks a "statement" not a question.

Anchor Activities:


Possible Assessment Questions:

3(A) Decode Words

Reading /Beginning Reading Skills/Phonics
K	1	2	3	4	5
3(A) identify the common sounds that letters represent	3(A) decode words in context and in isolation by applying common letter-sound correspondences, including: (i) single letters (consonants) including, b, c=/k/, c=/s/, d, f, g=/g/ (hard), g=/j/ (soft), h, j, k, l, m, n, p, qu=/kw/, r, s=/s/, s=/z/, t, v, w, x=/ks/, y, and z (ii) single letters (vowels) including short a, short e, short i, short o, short u, long a (a-e), long e(e), long i (i-e), long o(o-e), long u (u-e), y=long,e, and y=long i (iii) consonant blends (e.g. bl, st) (iv) consonant digraphs including ch, tch, sh, th=as in thing, wh, ng, ck, kn, -dge, and ph (v) vowel digrpahs including oo as in foot, ooa sin moon, ea, as in eat, ea as in bread, ee, ow as in how, ow as in snow, ou as inout, ay, ai, aw, au,ew, oa, ie as in chief, ie as inpe, and -igh (vi) vowel diphthongs inclusing oy, oi, ou, and ow	2(A) decode multisyllabic words in context and independent of context by applying common letter-sound correspondences including: (ii) single letters (vowels) including short a, short e, short i, short o, short u, long a (a-e), long e (e), long (i-e), long o (o-e), long u (u-e), y=long e, and y=long i	1(A) decode multisyllabic words in context and independent of context by applying common spelling patterns, including;
decode words in context  by applying common letter-sound correspondence. decode words in isolation  by applying common letter-sound correspondence.

Activities:

• First Class Activities:  

                                 Curriculum & Instruction
                                  Language Arts
                                  Elementary Language Arts
                                  Curriculum
                                  Word Study

• Poetry NotebooksWays for young students to interact with the poem:
  1. highlight new vocabulary words
  2. mark words with common spelling rules
  3. highlight punctuation that is being studied
  4. color code rhyming words
  5. order the lines in the poem by arranging pieces of the poem
  6. Upper Grades (3rd Grade & Fourth Grade) Begin to introduce the most basic poetic terms without over analyzing the poems you read. For example, in the poetry notebook, a child can highlight similes, metaphors, personification, alliteration, and consonance.
  7. and of course, for fluency's sake, students can read and reread, perform for groups of 2 or an entire class, share it with family and more.....

Anchor Activities:

• Missing word in a sentence - use context clues to figure out what vocabulary word completes the sentence.
• Roll The Dice for Word Wall Words - students roll a dice with WWW written on the faces and graph how many times the word was rolled.  Then student answers questions.  Which word had the most?, Which word had the least?, and Which word had the same?.
• Letters Make Words - students pick words from the Word Wall and write them down. Then they use old magazines to cut out letters and make the word
•  http://www.carlscorner.us.com/
• Word Family Cut & Paste - student matches word with picture
• Welcome to the Neighborhood - sorting mats and car sets - student cut and paste the words in the correct word family (three patterns per page).
• Blends - Week 8 (st-) and Week 9 (l blends).
• Word Family vowel sort. http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/wordfamily/

Possible Assessment Questions:

9(B) Characters - Readiness

Reading/comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction evidence form text to support their understanding.
K	1	2	3	4	5
8(B) describe characters in a story and the reasons for their actions.	9(B) describe characters in a story and the reasons for their actions and feelings	((B) describe main characters in works of fiction, including their traits, motivations, and feelings.	8(B) describe the interaction of characters including their relationships and the changes thye undergo	6(B)describe the interaction of characters including their relationships and the changes thye undergo	6(B) explain the roles and functions of characters in various plots, including their relationships and conflcts
describe characters in a story and their reasons for their actions describe characters in a story and their reasons for their feelings

Activities:

• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon.  Make a flip chart from construction paper. The top is the character description - How Stellaluna felt.  The bottom explains why or when.



• Interactive Read-Alouds by Linday Hoyt: Story Elements - Character Development
• Strega Nona pg. 119
• T - chart for the two main charaters:  

  Strega Nona	Big Anthony
  old	helpful
  needs help

• Make a Tree Map with a thermometer:  Students  have reference  to use different vocabulary.  The thermometer will show the levels of sadness.

          Ideas from Pinterest:

                                                                       

Anchor Activities:

Possible Assessment Questions:

9(A) Plot

Reading /Comprehension of Literary Text/Fiction Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of fiction and provide evidence from text to support their understanding.
K	1	2	3	4	5
8(A)retell main event from a story read aloud.	9(A)describe the plot (problem and solution) and retell a story's beginning, middle, and end with attention to the sequence of events.	9(A)describe similarities and differences in the plots and settings of several works by the same author	8(A)equence and summarize the plot's main events and explain their influence on future events.	6(A)sequence and summarize the plot's main events and explain their influence on future events.	6(A) describe incidents that advance the story or novel, explaining how each incident gives rise to or foreshadows future evetns
describe the plot (problem and solution) retell a story's beginning, middle, and end retell a story with attention to sequence of events

Activities:

• After RATT complete the poster with character, setting, problem, solution sections. This can be a whole  class activity by passing a cube with the questions (something like hot potato).

• Introduce Problem Solution with a T - Chart and real life situations:

 

Problem	Solution
broken pencil	sharpen
zipper stuck	wiggle

• Interactive Read-Alouds by Linda Hoyt
• Story Elements- Problem/Solution Structure: Inch by Inch pg. 143 
Anchor Activities:

Possible Assessment Questions:

14 (D): Text Features (Readiness)

Reading/comprehension Students analyze, make inferences and draw conclusions about expository text, and provide evidence from text to support their understanding
K	1	2	3	4	5
10(D) use  titles and illustrations to make predictions about text	14 (D) use text features (e.g., titles, tables of contents, illustrations) to locate specific information in text	14 (D) use text features(e.g. , table of contents, index, headings) to locate specific information in text	13 (D) use text features (e.g., bold print, captions, key words, italics) to locate information and make and verify predictions about contents of text	11(D) use multiple text features (e.g., guide words, topic and concluding sentences) to gain an overview of the contents of   text and to locate information.	11(D) use multiple text features and graphics to gain an overview of the contents of text and to locate information.
Use text features (e.g., titles ) to locate specific information in text Use text features (e.g., tables) to locate specific information in text Use text features (e.g., illustrations) to locate specific information in text

Activities:

• Comprehension Toolkit - book #1:

           Lesson 2- Notice and Think about Nonfiction Features
           Lesson 3 - Explore Nonfiction Features

• Discuss the text features using a non-fiction big book ( Amazing Water - Science) table of contents, index.  Then introduce the descriptors and display posters from first class.

         First class: curriculum and instruction, elem. lang. arts, curriculum, reading, text features

• Get students in groups and give them fiction and non-fiction books for them to sort.  Walk around and listen to their conversations as to why they placed the book in a certain stack.  Math connection:  Graph the results.
• Interactive Read-Alouds (Linda Hoyt):  Story Elements - Distinguish Fiction/Nonfiction pg. 95 

Anchor Activities:




Possible Assessment Questions: