essay mentor texts

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Curating Mentor Texts That Inspire Student Writers

Mentor texts that reflect the breadth and depth of student experiences not only get students enthusiastic about writing but also help build a sense of belonging at school.

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Writing is a complex process that encompasses everything from forming solid ideas to expressing them with creativity and coherence—as well as discovering new insights along the way. And whether your students are mastering the basics or looking to expand their writing abilities, mentor texts can be a useful, “show-don’t-tell” tool that helps them achieve their goals.

Traditionally, mentor texts are exemplary books or essays that you use to model good writing for students as they read, deconstruct, and analyze various facets of the works. These texts aren’t meant to just guide students to develop their vocabulary, sentence structure, and grammar—they also play an essential role in influencing students’ reading comprehension, critical thinking, and imagination . “When the content of learning about the structure of a narrative eventually fades in a student’s rearview mirror, what’s left is the thinking they gained,” writes Kara Douma , a supervisor of English language arts, describing the value of mentor texts.

To make sure the mentor texts in your classroom are engaging, up-to-date, and relevant to an increasingly diverse body of students across the nation, consider implementing a few of the strategies below as you curate your collection of mentor texts.

Broaden the Definition of Writing

Books, magazines, and essay collections aren’t the only places where you can find examples of good writing, as teachers have long known. Good writing exists in an abundance of formats, from songs and poems to comics. Aside from including a variety of formats, your go-to set of mentor texts should reflect a range of writing modes—such as narrative, informational, and opinion—and writing levels, from student work on up to polished texts by professional writers.

Content from genres such as comics and graphic novels is appealing to students since “the fusion of words with images supports literacy development in all learners,” writes Dan Ryder , a former teacher and education director at Mount Blue Campus in Farmington, Maine. Try looking for comics that have a strong narrative arc and let students talk about the texts in pairs or small groups. In Ryder’s high school classroom, students also learn how to create their own comics by interviewing people around them or collecting icons and objects from old magazines.

Teachers also tell us they have used song lyrics or poems to help guide student writing in their classrooms. High school English teacher Elizabeth Jorgensen, for example, uses exemplary poems written by young authors to help her students ease into writing their own. Jorgensen identifies contemporary poets through literary journals and poetry competitions, and she finds that her students relate to these poems more than those from the traditional canon because they allow students “to see themselves in poetry, to realize that they too can write successfully.”

And other educators, like high school English teacher Jori Krulder , have tapped into the ever-growing world of podcasts, letting students do research and present their findings in the form of a podcast instead of a traditional paper. Throughout this process, Krulder’s students listen to professional podcasts as mentor texts, and analyze them using questions such as, “What do the creators do at the beginning, at the end, and during transitions?” or “What is the main idea or insight that this podcast is illuminating?”

While learning the technological ropes can take some time, in the end her students “worked harder on the analysis and synthesis—and did far more thinking—than they would have done if I were the only audience,” Krulder writes.

Connecting to Student Experiences

While good writing takes a lot of practice, you want to send the message that it is within students’ reach by showing how young writers have been successful, so your students see they can learn a lot from their peers.

It’s intuitive to search for mentor texts in prestigious publications that feature established authors, but showing students texts by someone close to their age or writing experience can encourage them to “have greater confidence in their abilities to implement in their own writing the techniques that a peer used,” write Sean Thompson and Deborah K. Reed , researchers at the Iowa Reading Research Center. They suggest supplementing your lessons with works from student publications whenever possible, such as using exemplary poems produced by poetry club members—or you can use poems from student competitions, as Jorgensen does—or movie reviews from the school’s art and culture magazine.

If you haven’t already, begin building an archive of your students’ exemplary work, and let the writers know that their work will be shared—anonymously if preferred—with students in subsequent years. It’s likely that students will work on similar assignments from year to year, and it can be helpful to learn from the collective wisdom of previous peers. Having done this in her elementary classroom, writing teacher Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski explains at Two Writing Teachers that her students are able to “see a model that is closer to what they can approximate and the gap doesn’t feel as wide as it might when comparing their writing to a professional, published piece.”

Effective mentor texts inspire students to experiment with new writing techniques, structure, or plotlines, but they should also provide windows and mirrors—in the metaphor popularized by Rudine Sims Bishop —for students to see both themselves and their peers represented in the texts and their writers. Literacy consultant Stacey Schubitz recommends doing an audit of your mentor texts to ensure that you include books written about and by people from all walks of life, both in your community and around the world.

Realistic Expectations

To help students have realistic expectations of themselves as writers, it will help if your archive of mentor texts—by both students and more experienced writers—includes revisions, so they can see that those stellar essays didn’t start out as stellar. Another way to approach this, writes David Cutler , a history and journalism teacher, is to do your own quick writes for your assignments as students watch, so they can observe your writing process and the kinds of revisions you make even as you’re working on a first draft.

Students see “how I constantly refine my work, moving often between paragraphs to tweak structure and narrative flow. Meanwhile, I field questions about my thought process, such as why I have decided to tweak a clause or reconsider my syntax,” Cutler explains. And “to deter students from feeling deflated by my productivity,” he adds, “I remind them that I’ve had much longer to think about their assignment and that I’ve been teaching these skills for a dozen years.”

Another helpful way to encourage students to use mentor texts as models is to scaffold more advanced, jargon-rich texts, which may prompt students who are often frustrated by difficult vocabulary to “[give] up as soon as they come across an unfamiliar word,” writes former teacher Christina Gil . She recommends spending a few minutes going over any words that they might find discouraging, as well as being patient as students attempt to understand and implement the techniques they learn from mentor texts.

Mentor texts that reflect the breadth and depth of student experiences not only get students enthusiastic about writing but also help build a sense of belonging at school. The more students see themselves in what they're trying to emulate, the more engaged they will be as aspiring writers.

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11 favorite mentor text to teach informational writing.

Informational writing is one of the most common forms of writing that we use in our everyday lives. Before teaching students any form of writing, it’s important to immerse them into texts of that genre that serve as mentor texts. Mentor text serve as an anchor for the foundational skills of informative writing that you are teaching. There are so many amazing non-fiction text that you can share with your students, pulling out some favorites so students have easy access to them is a great way to kick off your informational writing unit.

What are mentor text?

Mentor text are anchor text that are used as an example for students. Students use the mentor text to help impact their own understanding and learning. The mentor text can be read during a mini-lesson to help students learn about the skill you are focusing on. A mentor text provides students with an example of the standard or skill you are working on. Reading an informational text before students begin their writing helps to set expectations for their own learning.

Mentor text can model genres of writing, grammar skills, conventions of writing, and other writing skills. A mentor text can be a short text, a teacher or student example, a picture book, or an excerpt of a longer text.

Using mentor text throughout your informational writing unit will show students that the sky is the limit when it comes to informational writing. They will be inspired by the stories that you share and gather tips from authors as they listen and learn from your carefully chosen mentor text.

1. The Book Itch by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

“ The Book Itch ” is a wonderful non-fiction story to share with your students. It is the story of Lews Micheaux Sr. and the bookstore that he started in Harlem. The bookstore became not only a place where people bought books but also a place where they came together to share ideas and stand up for what they believed in. It shows the importance of reading, but also has some really great history in it. At the end, there is a short autobiography about the book store owner that is a good example of informational writing. There is also a bibliography page to show where the research was found. It is all around a really great read and the perfect book to kick off your informational writing unit.

2. Who Is/Who Was Series

T hese books are usually longer text, so they are a great example of non-fiction writing that uses text features and presents information. Students love these books because they are written about people and events that are of interest to them. They are great books to share to show how you can collect information about one idea and sort it into different topics.

3. The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton Poet by Don Tate

“ The Remarkable Story of George Moses Horton Poet ” is the story of George Moses, a slave in North Carolina. He loved words but was not able to go to school to learn to read. He taught himself to read and became the first-ever Southern Black man to be a published writer, protesting slavery in his verse. The book is the amazing story of George’s life and is a wonderful mentor text to share with your students as you explore informational writing with a storyteller’s voice. There is also acknowledgments and a list of sites and books that the author used in doing research for the book. These are important to note to students that while the book was written in a storyteller’s voice, much research was done to be sure that the text was accurate.

4. Freedom Song: The Story of Henry Box Brown by Sally M. Walker

Henry Brown has an extraordinary escape from slavery-in a box. This story honors Henry’s determination and courage as he mailed himself to freedom. It is an excellent choice to share as a mentor text because of the lyrical rhythm that the author uses to honor Henry’s love for music. Many times students feel that non-fiction text is just full of facts and this book shows the beauty of nonfiction. There is a note from the author and the letter from Henry at the end of the book, which are both important to share with students as they begin their own research projects.

5. Balloons Over Broadway The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

I love, love, love this story and it is so perfect to share with students as an example of informative writing. If they’ve ever watched the Macy’s Parade on Thanksgiving, they are sure to recognize the large floats. The book is the story of Tony Sarg and his balloons that have become the trademark of the famous parade. The book shares a bibliography to show where the author found the facts and information presented and also shares a primary source of the original ad in the New York Times from 1933.

6. Dinosaur Lady: The Daring Discoveries of Mary Anning, The First Paleontologist by Linda Skeers

The story of Mary Anning tells of her love to dig, explore, and discover. She loved looking for shells and fossils. One day, she found dinosaur bones and her findings rocked the world of science. Her findings created a whole new world of studies known as paleontology. This is an amazing book to share for students that want to embark on telling the story of how something began. It is filled with facts, a timeline, and a bibliography on its last pages.

7. She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World by Chelsea Clinton

I love sharing this book as a mentor text because each woman’s story is its own short text. Each short passage about Harriet Tubman, Helen Keller, Maria Tallchief, and more shows students how a short piece of writing can teach us so much about a topic.

8. Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate

Maybe it is because I can remember being little and hearing of Ivan , but I just absolutely love the story of Ivan, the shopping mall gorilla and it is a fascinating story to share with your students. They will be enthralled by the story of Ivan and his life as he was captured when he was young and brought to a shopping mall where he lived for 27 years. The real-life pictures of Ivan and the note from Ivan’s keeper make the book extra meaningful as an informational text.

9. Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay by Susan Hood

I love sharing this story because it is so inspiring and it helps students see past informational text being just textbooks. The illustrations are gorgeous and the story tells of a poor village in Paraguay whose livelihood is the landfill. They use pieces from the landfill to begin an orchestra and the rest is history. The book has sources cited as well as videos linked for learning as well. This is a great example to show students that you can gather information from multiple sources and media types.

10. Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Denise

This is an inspiring biography about Pura Belpre’s life as she championed bilingual literature. She moved to America from Puerto Rico and became a bilingual assistant at the New York Public Library. She turned her retellings into stories that are shared still today. It includes information for further reading, an author’s note, and more for students to see the research that was put into creating such a biography.

11. The Girls WIth a Mind for Math: The Story of Raye Montague by Julia Finley Mosca

This is another really amazing story and the author fills the book with facts, a timeline, related text, a bibliography, and even a note from Raye Montague . Raye pushes past the inequality that faces her to become a pioneer of engineering that changed the course of ship design forever. This is the third book in this series about inspiring scientists and it is a great example for your students as a mentor text for your students as they begin their own informational writing.

Sharing a variety of informational text will help open your students’ eyes to the beauty of nonfiction stories. As you share each text students will be immersed in the craft of the author, absorbing the storytelling, fact presentation, timelines, and more.