Week 9 Challenges

Task 1: Vocabulary Mentor Text

argle-bargle: Copious but meaningless talk or writing

It's that small talk that your neighbor makes
when you see him while collecting the paper
and he goes on babbling about the weather

Satisfying: Giving fulfillment or the pleasure associated with this
It is being hungry all day
and you are able to eat your favorite food
It is listening to soul pleasing music
It is ice cream on a hot Georgia day


Task 2: A Dream Poem

I don't dream often

but when I do

I dream of the end of the world

That sounds scary

but in my dreams I am fearless

I am able to survive against zombies

I am able to do things I have only seen on survival shows

I eat bugs to survive

Without even cringing

I can start fires on a whim

My ability to scale walls and buildings

Would surprise anyone

I am able to shoot a bow and arrow like any professional could

In my dreams I am not afraid

In my dreams I am Katniss Everdeen

In my dreams I am Bear Grylls


Challenge two:

Dear Marchetti and O'Dell,

       You both have explained the need for mentor texts in a way that is relevant to me for my classroom. Before reading your chapters I honestly was a little intimidated by mentor texts, because as a student doing them right now it can be challenging. As you state in your book though using mentor texts can spark conversations about structure, and as a teacher you can use the mentor texts to have a conversation with the whole class (Marchetti, O'Dell, 2015,111). I struggle with creativity and I can see the benefit in having discussions about the structure and craft of a mentor text can be helpful for myself and my students. At the school that we are mentoring at I think that this is something that is lacking in our classrooms. The students are expected to write a certain way with only the teacher to model a 5 paragraph essay, but this is not how I want to teach.
         In my classroom I hope to break the rigid structure of a 5 paragraph essay, and utilize mentor texts as a way of doing so. The book states, "Students need places where their work can be messy, where thinking outside the box and being wild with ideas is encouraged" (Marchetti,O'Dell, 2015,87). This is exactly what I hope to achieve in my future classroom, but I do understand that I will have students that are uncomfortable with that. This is where I hope to create a safety zone in which we have discussions as a class about the mentor text, and I show my students that their are other ways to write.
         Choices are extremely important to me as a teacher, and I hope to be able to provide a variety of mentor texts for students to choose from. As I stated above I am not a creative person, and sometimes in class it takes me some time to get in the zone with these mentor texts. I expect the same of my students in the future, and I want to provide options so that they do not feel stuck. Providing multiple mentor texts for students will allow more freedom in choosing something that interests them. As Marchetti and Odell state, "Mentor texts can also help students generate ideas for writing and potential topics bubble up from student's interactions with the mentor texts" (Marchetti,O'Dell, 2015,109). I think as a teacher students would be more inclined to interact with mentor texts if they had options that appeal to them.

Marchetti, Allison, and Rebekah O'Dell. Writing with Mentors: How to Reach Every Writer in the Room              Using Current, Engaging Mentor Texts. Heinemann, 2015.