GET INSTANT ACCESS TO
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!
Just Imagine...
-
having high-level, high-value discussions about grammar and language LED by your students
-
students making MEASURABLE progress in the writing areas of style and conventions
- teaching WITHOUT a boring “drill and kill” workbook
How To Accomplish That Vision With Mentor Sentences:
Each week, students will be working with one sentence from a mentor text with a specific focus you want students to understand and transfer to their own writing.
That means you will be teaching with a well-written sentence, not a sentence full of mistakes.
The problem with programs that present random sentences to students that are full of mistakes is, the students don’t even know what it is SUPPOSED to look like!
With mentor sentences, we are exposing students to amazing craft with correct structure and mechanics, and helping them use those models to become student-authors.
What If You Could DOUBLE Student Progress In Writing With A Routine That Only Takes 10-15 Minutes Per Day?
Each day, your students will work with the mentor sentence in quick spurts.
No lectures.
No workbooks.
No PowerPoints.
No fancy anchor charts or hours of prep.
Just real discussion and practical application that actually STICKS!
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!
What's included in these 10-hour courses?
✏️ 10 modules with video lessons that walk you step-by-step through the routine of using mentor texts in your classroom, with a workbook AND cheat sheets if you don't want to take notes
✏️ Resources that will help you plan your lessons and promote authentic discussion with your students, and tons of models, plus extension ideas to the routine
✏️ Exclusive supplemental materials and video examples ONLY found in the course
✏️ LIFETIME access to this course, so you can complete it in your own time and rewatch if you wish - plus a certificate of completion for those that can use this toward PD credits
Learn ALL My Secrets About Using Mentor Texts!
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.
