1. Mentor Texts
Check these books out from the library
and pay attention to the writer’s craft.
Writers have a lot to teach us.
Here are some of Ms. Crystal and
Mr. Patrick’s favorites. Remember to
read these like a writer!
2. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen
Owl Moon is a story about
a young girl’s memorable
place and time with her
father.
When you read, pay close
attention to the details of
the story. Also, look
closely at the variety of
sentences beginnings.
Yolen creates a balance
between short and long
sentences.
3. Ralph Fletcher
I pretty much have a writer’s crush on Ralph Fletcher. Anything
he writes can guide you to being a better writer. Also, check out
his “how-to” writing books. Ralph Fletcher ROCKS!
4. Van Gogh Café, Cynthia Rylant
The author uses a unique
structure when she gives
the reader the title of the
next chapter in the last
line of the previous
chapter. I LOVE so many of
Cynthia Rylant’s books.
5. Owen Jester and How to Steal a Dog
by Barbara O’Connor
O’Connor uses the “rule of three”. She uses three details to
make sure the reader can “visualize” each main idea.
6. Knots in My Yo-yo
String is a memoir.
Spinelli uses a
conversational tone
and has the reader
laughing at times. He
also uses the senses
to create pictures for
the reader.
8. Do you have an issue
or a cause you want to
highlight? You can
write a book like Diary
of a Worm. This is a
great book that brings
science, specifically
recycling, into a story.
Great IDEA.
9. Jon Scieszka
Anything that Jon
Scieszka writes
usually makes me
laugh. Scieszka is
another of my writer’s
crush. He is definitely
one of my favorite
authors.
ABSOLUTELY!He has a
great voice. Check out
a few of his books.
10. Roald Dahl, as we know, is
a talented writer. In Boy,
he writes about his
childhood. Pay special
attention to the
characterization in Boy.
Dahl really paints a picture
of his characters through
their descriptions and
their interaction with
others. Obviously, since it
is a memoir, the internal
thinking is great too.
11. This is a great
example of how
there are story
ideas EVERYWHERE.
We just have to pay
attention to the
little things
happening “on 90th
Street”.
12. I love words. I
love vocabulary,
and I love this
book. This is a
very clever book
by 90th Street
author Roni
Schotter.
Can you mimic
this? Try and see.
It’s a great
exercise in word
choice.
13. This is a just right book for
most fourth and fifth grade
students. Cynthia Lord does a
fantastic job of creating
character and an internal
conflict in this book. I highly
recommend proficient readers
in grades four and five read
this book.
I love Rules.
14. More to come… We have
hundreds of “favorite” young
adult novels.
