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The ONLY online course that will transform the way you teach grammar and language in your classroom
Yes, even GRAMMAR AND WRITING can be fun if you have the right routine in place!
Transform your traditional teaching into integrated practices, see the students make that ever-important transfer to writing, and incorporate higher-order thinking into grammar!
LIMITED TIME: OVER 30% OFF!
Did you know...?
⭐️ In 1936, the National Council of Teachers of English found that formal teaching of grammar and mechanics had little effect on student writing. That means, for over 80 years, we've known grammar workbooks, lectures, and memorizing rules does NOT work... yet, for many teachers, that is the "go-to" way for teaching grammar and language!
⭐️ Research over the years has shown that teaching grammar in context in quick spurts over longer periods of time (rather than drill and kill lessons for a couple of weeks) is the best way to actually make a difference in students' understanding of grammar and language, and helps them to apply it to writing.
How to get it done:
⭐️ Implement the mentor sentences routine! Mentor sentences are going to help students talk deeply about grammar and writing, reveal the importance of using concrete words/phrases and sensory details, write a variety of types of sentences, demonstrate a command of conventions, learn the way a sentence “should” look, and apply style, conventions, and mechanics skills to their own writing.
More than ten years ago, these statements would come out of my mouth on the regular:
"Teaching grammar is boring. The students hate it and, honestly, so do I."
"My students don't make the reading-writing connection."
"My students make little progress in style and conventions over the course of the year."
If you aren't using mentor sentences, then I imagine you share some (or all) of those sentiments. You are ready to make a change, just like I was several years ago.
It made sense to me that students needed to learn from amazing, well-written sentences... giving them a sentence filled with mistakes and telling them to "fix it" wasn't working since they didn't even know what it was supposed to look like to begin with!
After I implemented the mentor sentence routine with my students, not only was I enjoying teaching grammar through these skill-spiraling, discussion-filled lessons, but my students were also having fun, treating this time as a scavenger hunt, or a game, or a challenge. And best of all... my students' grammar knowledge AND WRITING improved. I found my students actually trying to imitate the mentor sentences in their own writing. That's a teacher's dream, right?! I couldn't keep this secret to myself. I wanted teachers to be able to implement these best practices in their classrooms and see the same results!
Learn ALL My Secrets About Using Mentor Texts!
What's included in the 10-hour course?
What's in each module?
💻 Module 1: Introduction to Mentor Sentences
Learn the "why" of using mentor sentences and how it helps with higher-order thinking skills, see the data that proves it works, and download planning resources and an actionable lesson to help you lead those deep discussions around language.
💻Module 2: Jump Start The Routine
5 video lessons that model the routine with a practice lesson you can use in your own classroom, too.
💻 Module 3: Why Should I Teach Using Mentor Texts?
You'll understand the benefits of using mentor texts to maximize your teaching time, and learn how to plan multiple subjects using one book! You'll also get an entire sample week laid out explicitly for you!
💻 Module 4: How To Teach With Mentor Texts
Watch multiple videos to learn how to teach with mentor texts and see models of integration of specific mentor texts with a variety of skills, plus download more planning resources.
💻 Module 5: Overview of the Routine
See the big picture of the mentor sentence routine and get ideas for student notebooks.
💻 Module 6: Time to Notice and Focus on Parts of Speech
Zoom in on day one and two in a video lesson which also includes a classroom model, download prompts to use to help promote discussion, and work through some practice exercises.
💻 Module 7: Time to Revise
Zoom in on day three in a video lesson which also includes a classroom model, download resources to help students understand editing vs. revising, and work through some practice exercises.
💻 Module 8: Time to Imitate and Assess
Zoom in on day four and five in a video lesson which also includes a classroom model, download a template to help you plan your own mentor sentence lessons, and work through some practice exercises.
💻 Module 9: Beyond Your Mentor Sentence Lessons
Learn how to make sure skills from mentor sentences are sticking in writing time with specific teaching ideas (video lesson), and ideas for more application - time to compare, collect, and combine. You'll also have some practice exercises you can complete.
💻 Teaching Virtually with Mentor Sentences
Get guidance on how to use mentor sentences and downloads to use if you aren't face-to-face in the classroom.
💻 Module 10: Additional Video Resources
Watch mentor sentence lessons in action in the classroom.
💻 BONUSES
Get discounted curriculum bundles (exclusive discounts for course members only), download your free mini-unit, and learn how to join the Facebook group to get more one-on-one support!
💻 Certificate of Completion
"I would be completely lost without mentor sentences! We use one of these every week and my kids literally transform from the beginning of the year to the end! Thank you!"
Erin M.
4th Grade Teacher
"Love this program- such an authentic experience with grammar and how it developed us as writers!"
Stefanie W.
5th Grade Teacher
"This is a wonderful resource. My students love using Mentor Sentences and it is always amazing to see how much they learn from doing them."
Lisa S.
3rd Grade Teacher
"My students have enjoyed the daily routine of sentences and it has helped them with the revising of their writing."
Ellen J.
4th Grade Teacher
Frequently Asked Questions
I suggest getting the 3-5 course for either of these situations! You can easily differentiate for lower AND higher level students.
No, you don't. You will have lifetime access to this course so you can start when is best for you, watch as much as you want when you want, and even go back and rewatch when you need a refresher!
I am not accredited, so I can't give you any official renewal units, but there is a Certificate of Completion offered with the course which many schools and districts accept as proof of 10 hours of continuing education. You'd want to check with your school or district for confirmation.
