Pen in hand, paper on the table  in front of me. The words, “Dear Sir or Madam,” scrawled loosely across  the top. And nothing else. I wracked my brain for the lessons learned  almost a decade before in high school about formal letters or business  letters, but I struggled to apply these lessons to what I had to do now.  Eventually, frustrated and annoyed, I sat down to my computer to  search, “how to write a cover letter.” Yes, I Googled it.  Unsurprisingly, search results were plentiful. Articles abounded on what  to do and what to avoid, but still I felt perplexed. A search for cover  letter samples, however, turned out to be the key. How quickly I was able to pull my own together after that!

How often have you done  this—searched the internet or asked a friend or colleague—when faced  with drafting some new form of writing? Whether you’re writing a resume  or a lesson plan, a thank you letter or a research paper, looking at  samples of others’ work gives us a model to engage with while crafting  our own unique material. Behold, the power of a mentor text.

Observe and Replicate

This type of learning is not  unique to writing. Think of the athlete who watches other players to  learn a new skill or watches a game film to learn a new play. Think of  the actor who spends countless hours watching and mimicking a great play  to improve his own skills. Think of the businesswoman who watches TED  Talks and practices to improve her public speaking.

When we are asked to do or  write something with which we are not familiar, we actively seek out  models to emulate. We are using our own forms of mentor “texts”: the  sample resume, the game film, the TED talks. These tools support us and  help us grow our own skills. We needn’t rely on them forever. 

Mentor Texts in the Classroom

Mentor texts fill this  essential role within our classrooms for every age. Should a mentor text  be something you read to the students once and then expect them to  reproduce its wonder? Absolutely not. It is not something merely given  to the students. Mentor texts should be well-loved, oft-referenced  guides in the classroom. A powerful mentor text can—and  should—be revisited time and time again to model strategies and to allow  students to interact closely with the text. A strong teacher shows their students what to look for in the model and why it  is a great example for their learning. The teacher guides them and  supports them, while referring back to the text, as they experiment  using their own words. Over time, your learners will draw less on the  text support and more on their own skills, turning from fledgling  attempts to masterful creations.

What Makes a Mentor Text

The magic of a strong mentor  text is not in the text. It is the teacher’s passion and energy, the  ownership of instruction that comes from the teacher’s choice. Whenever  possible, you should you use mentor texts that speak to you, that you  love, that you radiate enthusiasm for. Perhaps you’ve always loved Where the Wild Things Are, or maybe you’re more motivated by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page’s What Would You Do With A Tail Like This? These are the books you should be using with your students because your emotions are contagious; your passion becomes their passion. Let them learn from the vivid verbs in Kevin Henke’s Wemberly Worried, and the character development in Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet or Harper Lee’s classic To Kill a Mockingbird.

There are lists galore with  mentor texts to teach different skills or themes, but the truth is that  almost any book can be a mentor text. What matters is how you engage  your students with the text, preparing them to one day select and  evaluate their own books to inspire and guide their growing craft. Maybe  you already have your favorites, or maybe you’re looking for something  new. Here are some books we love!

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