Compiled key points from Jeff Anderson's presentation for FCBOE. The idea of using mentor texts transformed my ideas about teaching writing.

1. Jeff Anderson
Conference
My Four-Minute Version

2. “When bankers
train to identify
counterfeit money,

3. “they study
authentic bills.

4. “for it is in knowing
intimately the
genuine,

5. “that one is able to
identify the false.”
--Deanna Eaton

6. We wouldn’t give
bankers a
counterfeit twenty

7. And say, “That’s
not it.”

8. And give them
another counterfeit

9. And say, “That’s
not it, either.”

10. How often am I
guilty of feeding
students
counterfeits?

11. Is my feedback on
papers showing
students what to do
or what not to do?

12. In 2007, the Carnegie
Corporation
sponsored a study on
writing instruction
called Writing Next.

13. In the U.S., 7,000
kids drop out of
school

14. every school day.

15. A large number of
them are basically
illiterate.

16. Seventy-Percent of
4th
-12th
graders are
low-achieving
writers.

17. This is a

18. National

19. Literacy

20. Crisis

21. One of the 11
methods the study
found effective

22. was imitation of
models

23. Here’s an example:

24. “His room smelled
of cooked grease,
Lysol, and age.”
--Maya Angelou

25. “His room
smelled.”

26. Students, what’s
the difference?

27. Yes, the first one is
more detailed.
What else do you
notice?

28. “His room smelled
of cooked grease,
Lysol, and age.”
--Maya Angelou

29. Here’s my version
of Angelou’s
sentence:

30. Frank’s backpack
smelled of warm
cinnamon gum,
Axe, and
desperation.

31. Discuss with a
classmate: What
are differences
between my version
and Angelou’s?

32. Similarities?

33. Now, write your
own version.

34. This academic
discussion could
lead to
talk/practice of

35. serial commas

36. concrete and
abstract nouns

37. voice and tone

38. story ideas

39. proper nouns

40. And the whole
time, students are
staring at and re-
shaping the work of
a master writer.

41. It changes their
writing. It will sink
in.

42. The same way
students remember
when a class clown
yells, “Jackson is
on the five-dollar
bill!”

43. Isn’t he?

44. Right, wrong, or
ridiculous,

45. We can’t always
erase the mistakes
once kids absorb
them.

46. So, why do I spend
precious class time
looking at
mistakes?

47. Telling someone
they’re wrong is not
teaching.

48. Showing them
what’s amazing
could give them a
place to launch.

49. Of course, the best
methods are usually
mixtures of a few.

50. You can find the
Carnegie Study,
Writing Next,
online.

51. Jeff Anderson has a
blog where you can
find and post juicy
mentor texts. It’s
free.

52. We also have a few
of his books.