When I think about my student’s best writing in the past, whether narrative or analytical, poetry or prose, I’ve noticed one common thread: the writing was almost always produced in relationship or response to a mentor text, though I didn’t have the language for the pedagogical practice at the time. I think about the narrative writing my 7th graders created while mimicking Steinbeck’s The Pearl, for instance, which surprised me in its beauty and sophistication. Rather than focusing on a reductionist list of “requirements” for narrative writing, students and I collaboratively explored what Steinbeck was doing that made his writing so impactful. We noticed the use of rich descriptive language in all five senses; the simplicity of vocabulary; a lack of inner monologue; the way that his setting descriptions established the mood of each scene. Ultimately, the writing that my students produced included many of these sophisticated tools, and many others that were implicitly absorbed as they responded to the text.
Using this as a seed for my project, I wanted to think about what it would look like to catalog the mentor texts I would use in a unit where students were involved in an inquiry stance towards writing. If, together, we were going to explore what it would mean to write about a particular issue — what approaches have authors used in the past? What does it look like to address this topic in poetry, prose, journalism, video? What tools are authors using in these different styles? What might their authorial goals be? How effective are the writers in achieving those goals? In order to do this, I would need a rich catalog of mentor texts
Therefore, in my initial plan for this project, I simply wanted to experiment with creating a catalog of mentor texts for a course on “Writing for the Environment”. This is an issue which feels particularly pertinent to young people, the ones who will inherit our decisions about nature right now. Ah… I thought. This will be easy.
I chose to use a Website format for my catalog, which I thought might suit the flexibility I was looking for. The website format is helpful for both teacher and student engagement. Each post includes a brief description (from me, sometimes inspired by comments made by fellow teachers or critics) of areas of interest students might want to focus on. The fact that I can tag and categorize my posts allows me to be more nimble in my suggestions to students, or for students themselves to do some exploring. For instance, if I encourage a student to look at one particular poem for its use of sensory details, they may find themselves picking a “sensory details” tag to find other examples. But they might also pick a “poetry” tag to explore routes poets have taken to a similar question. In addition, students can use the “comments” section to add their own questions and noticings of the work, for the benefit of other students, and participating as knowledge-creators themselves.
Yet as I began to explore the project, I realized that our various discussions throughout the course kept “interrupting” my simple project plan. I realized that I wanted to address how these mentor texts might be used in the context of a Writer’s Workshop and my overall vision for this course — how would I emphasize process and inquiry? I realized I wanted to think about whether this course was adhering to the principles of a culturally responsive curriculum? Finally, I decided a collection of mentor texts was insufficient to express the way that I saw these texts playing a role in my classroom, and decided to address some of these questions in a blog post of my own.
I also encountered there limitations in the format itself. While I thought the website woudl invite students into the texts, give them the freedom to explore and inquire, and even comment on their own noticings, I also felt somewhat hemmed in by the rigidness of the medium. I had to “tag” posts, which means I’ve already determined what’s most important about them. My introductory “framing” might skew a student’s reading of a piece, make it look like there is a single interpretation. Ultimately, I wonder whether this format might not be better for teachers to use internally, rather than for students to use on their own.
Finally, I want to admit that I see this project as an ongoing one. There are many questions still to answer, many more texts I’d like to add to the site. I’m open to feedback, especially from other thoughtful educators!
GREEN & GROW 