What does good look like?

I would say that the biggest addition to my writer's workshop this year has been the Mentor Text.

In the writer's workshop, I encourage all the students to be creative and innovative. Within the framework established they must publish their writing on the MOODLE. As one of the steps of their Developing and Organizing Content, they must find a mentor text - an example of what they are writing. If they are creating a menu, then they must find an example of an excellent menu.

The mentor text provides many benefits to the writer's workshop. It gets them inspired towards excellence. They have an example of what excellence looks like! It gets them thinking about how that specific text works. If we continue with our menu example - it forces them to think about how menus work. They must think of appetizers, salads, main dishes, desserts, etc. This is what good looks like.

Too often children rely on their schema. They create based on what they think it looks like, but spend too little time actually examining what excellence looks like.

I have taken this into my assessments as well. In the writing assessments I give them, I provide for them an example of what good looks like. This really elevates the work, and gives more evidence to me. Did the child not succeed on the task because they couldn't, or did they just not know what good looks like? A clear target is much easier to hit, isn't it?

So far in the writer's workshop, I've found two main examples of mentor texts being used. The first is a completed example. This may mean a published menu from a favourite establishment. The second tends to be an instructional piece - possibly a "How to Create a Menu" article that outlines the steps to successful creation. Either way, success is attainable!

M.