Snowy Day Mentor Text-Nocturne

It is another snow day here in Pennsylvania. We appear to be about half way through the storm and we have about 7 inches on the ground...somehow I am seeing another snow day on Friday as well. While I still have power I thought I would share a mentor text with you that I used with my class earlier this week.

My students and I are in the middle of our historical fiction stories. These stories are probably the largest piece we do all year. It is also a favorite. The students and I spend a lot of time in the revising part of this piece. I use this piece to really help them strengthen their narrative writing skills.

One skill I love to teach them during this unit is a Taffy Sentence. I like to use the book Nocturne by Jane Yolen to teach this skill. The first page has a taffy sentence-and then the taffy sentence is changed slightly but repeated three other times in the book. It really helps students understand how to stretch their thoughts, add "on purpose" details, and create a beautiful sentence.

Example of a Taffy Sentence

Once we have read through the book together, we talk about places and ways we could add a taffy sentence into our stories. I then give my students time to reread what they have written so far and see if they can add a taffy sentence somewhere. It is the sweetest thing when they write one and come rushing over to my desk to share it.

What are your favorite revisiting tips to teach your students during a writing piece?