Mentors and Mentor Texts: What, Why, and How?

Laminack, Lester L.

doi:10.1002/trtr.1578

Cited by 15 publications

(19 citation statements)

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“…Comics Academy provides a glimpse into how professionals in the comic book industry work together to create and publish their work. Students collaborate in small groups, just as industry professionals do, to experiment with similar skills, techniques, and tools to create comic books to tell their story (Culham, 2018; Laminack, 2017). This commitment to storytelling can, at times, seem challenging and beyond reach, particularly when the end product appears far from completion.…”

Section: Comics Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A focus on cartoons and comic strips helps students build background knowledge and foundational concepts from which they can expand to writing full‐length comics. Teachers can use newspaper comic strips or anthologies from a particular writer, such as Jim Davis, the author and illustrator for the “Garfield” comic strips, to serve as a mentor text and reading material rather than more complex comic books (Laminack, 2017).…”

Section: Comics Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teachers can use newspaper comic strips or anthologies from a particular writer, such as Jim Davis, the author and illustrator for the "Garfield" comic strips, to serve as a mentor text and reading material rather than more complex comic books (Laminack, 2017).…”

Section: Comics Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comics Academy: Bringing Student‐Created Stories to Life

Simonson¹,

Timmermans²

2021

The Reading Teacher

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Using comics and graphic novels within a readers-writers-artists workshop provides a space for students' self-expression. Comics and graphic novels have emerged as a mainstream opportunity for authors and illustrators to share the experiences and struggles today's youth face (Bitz, 2004;Hill, 2017). Comics and graphic novels are no longer just about the adventures of superheroes; they are coming-ofage stories. Stories of how characters evolve as they deal with tumultuous emotions, manage conflicts with society and self, and draw upon their inner strength to overcome social or personal challenges resonate with today's young readers (Hill, 2017). Students face similar issues every day and often do not have the ability or opportunity to express how they feel or to tell their stories in a way other people can understand.In this article, we describe Comics Academy, an after-school club Mr. Simonson designed to provide a space for students in grades 4-6 to find their voice and express their differences through writing and illustrating. First, we describe cartoons, comics, and graphic novels as distinct text formats. Next, we provide an overview of Comics Academy, including the ways in which Mr. Simonson supports access to the club, a brief description of the school and learning community, and club expectations and schedule. We then discuss Book Clubs during which students read and talk about comics and graphic novels, followed by a description of Comics Spotlight. We also show you the ways in which students, in collaborative teams, participate in the process of planning and designing comics from concept to publication to bring their stories to life during an after-school S.T.E.A.M. club. Finally, we share ways in which the students demonstrate their self-expression and motivation for engagement, the two main purposes of Comics Academy. Cartoons, Comics, and Graphic NovelsComic books, graphic novels, comic strips, and cartoons use visual language (Cohn, 2018) to maintain cohesion, carry the story forward, and convey the author's message. The comic book and graphic novel format depicts the story's action across multiple paneled pages while minimal text supports transitions and dialogue (Cohn, 2013;Hill, 2017). Dialogue, when present, is contained within speech bubbles, and transitions of setting or time are set off in a box within the panel. A cartoon conveys a single message or feeling within one panel, often supported by a caption, whereas a comic strip depicts a simple story or event in a series of three to six panels (Blumenstein, 2018). The way in which the page is laid out can impact readers' ability to understand the story's sequence or transitions. Without careful attention to the visual lexicon, such as the character's body language, lines to indicate motion, or stars to show pain, readers may struggle managing the cognitive demands of maintaining comprehension from one panel to the next, particularly if readers attempt to read linearly as with text (Cohn, 2013).Comic books, graphic novels, comics, and cartoons ...

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Section: Comics Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comics Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Comics Academy: Bringing Student‐Created Stories to Life

Simonson¹,

Timmermans²

2021

The Reading Teacher

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“…However, as Dorfman and Cappelli (2007) and Gallagher (2014) have pointed out it is not a simple matter of giving students the texts and telling them to imitate them. A text can only become a mentor text when the reader knows it well through repeated visits developing deeper insights into the author's choices and understanding the text through the eyes of the writer (Laminack 2017a). This requires careful thought and planning on behalf of the teacher.…”

Section: Mentor Textsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In particular, the group of eight pupils who were not achieving at the expected level in writing, were struggling with the planning of their story even though the children were using a familiar format for planning. After two further days of modelling and re-reading the story, six of these eight children were able to make progress, which underlined the importance of revisiting the text repeatedly to develop a deeper understanding (Laminack 2017a). However, I discovered that these other two children needed to have the opportunity to orally rehearse their ideas first before having confidence to move forward.…”

Section: My Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘[N]ow I can be a poetic writer’: using action research as a way of reclaiming and implementing professional values in the primary school

Weber¹,

Harris

2020

Educational Action Research

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This paper explores the impact of an action research intervention to support primary aged children's confidence as writers. Set in a school where few children (the majority of whom had English as an additional language) were performing at or beyond national expectations in terms of writing, the intervention looked at how to engage children more effectively, by promoting enjoyment of writing and providing quality mentor texts to inspire the children. The school had received a number of critical inspection reports and had consequently adopted a series of measures to improve academic outcomes, which acted as a constraint on my teaching. There was a real sense that as a teacher I was struggling to put my educational values into practice. In addition, my lack of confidence in my abilities as a writer acted as a further constraint. Adopting an action research approach enabled me to develop my personal confidence as a teacher of writing, explore more effective ways to teach writing, resulting in the development of confident and reflective writers in the classroom.

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From invitation to destination: A systematic literature review of the use of picturebooks in inquiry‐based education

Oberman

2023

British Educational Res J

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Picturebooks offer powerful supports for teaching diverse content across different curriculum areas. Research and curriculum resources document their use in inquiry-based education practices, particularly in relation to science and philosophy. There is, however, little theoretical analysis of this use or cross-curricular comparisons. Applying a systematic literature review process, this paper examines existing empirical research on the use of picturebooks in formal inquiry-based education contexts. The analysis considers the context in which the picturebooks were used, including curriculum context and class level, the role played by the picturebooks in the inquiries and the value ascribed to the use of picturebooks. The review proposes a framework for understanding and contrasting the varying roles played by picturebooks in inquiry-based education approaches. This framework involves seven uses: invitations, provocations, mentors, models, resources, touchstones and destinations. Varying benefits are attributed to the use of picturebooks, including their practicality, inclusivity, complexity, aid to cognitive learning, emotional engagement and association with child readers. These benefits emphasise both the accessibility and the complexity of picturebooks. The review proposes that inquiry approaches should attend to picturebook form and content and the interdependency of the two. The review's analysis supports extended use of picturebooks across the curriculum, including in

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Mentors and Mentor Texts: What, Why, and How?

Abstract: The ability to write well and with confidence is an essential tool throughout life. This department column explores insights from writers that can inform our instruction.

Cited by 15 publications

References 0 publications

Comics Academy: Bringing Student‐Created Stories to Life

Comics Academy: Bringing Student‐Created Stories to Life

‘[N]ow I can be a poetic writer’: using action research as a way of reclaiming and implementing professional values in the primary school

From invitation to destination: A systematic literature review of the use of picturebooks in inquiry‐based education

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