Micro Mentor Texts: Using Short Passages From Great Books to Teach Writer’s Craft

by Penny Kittle

At a time when students’ attention is being pulled in many directions, writing expert Penny Kittle shows us the power of helping them to focus in and communicate clearly. She does that through the study of “micro mentor texts,” excerpts from acclaimed books, and the decisions authors make to craft those texts so they deeply engage readers. Her book includes dozens of short texts and mini-lessons based on them―as well as many practice opportunities for students and demonstration videos for you.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Nonfiction, Professional Development

176 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2022

About the author

Penny Kittle teaches writers at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire. She is the author of Micro Mentor Texts (2022), 4 Essential Studies &180 Days (with Kelly Gallagher), Book Love (2013), Write Beside Them (2008), The Greatest Catch: a life in teaching (2005), and Public Teaching: one kid at a time (2003); she co-authored Inside Writing (2005) with Donald Graves and edited a collection of Graves' work with Tom Newkirk, Children Want to Write. She presents at writing conferences throughout the United States and Canada and sometimes much farther.

But if you want the real story… she dances and sings along to really loud music in her car; she just ate all of the M&M’s out of her trail mix; and she is the first one to keel over when they do those balancing moves in Pilates.

Reviews

[Leigh Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I needed to help me be a better writing teacher. Penny Kittle gives us many examples of mentor texts, but for me, her thinking is the best part of this book. Just as her students need to see her writing and thinking beside them, some teachers do as well...like me!. I will return to this book time and time again not only to use it with my students but also to use it with my own writing. I can't wait to begin planning lessons and to open MY notebook.

[Lori Emilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one to keep handy on the shelf in your classroom. Teachers will refer to it often.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In her latest book, Penny Kittle explains how to use micro mentor texts to teach specific writing skills to students. Kittle organizes each chapter by a specific skill - developing scenes, depicting settings, etc. Then, she provides you a micro mentor text and asks you what you notice, just as you would present it right students. She walks you through what she notices, explains how she would invite students to imitate it, sharing her own imitations in the process, and provides additional passages that can be used in the classroom.

This book was incredibly practical. I think if you’re already doing workshop, it’s not going to blow your mind, but it is incredibly useful in that it shares plenty of mini-lessons and the mentor texts for them. You could literally pull the passages from the pages and use them in your class tomorrow, which is super helpful for a busy teacher. I also felt like Kittle’s models and example of what she would say to students at different moments in the lesson was helpful. We don’t get to learn from our fellow teachers by observing them enough so getting glimpses into a teacher’s implementation is always nice. I feel like this would be a great resource for someone wanting to switch to workshop but not sure how, especially if they’re struggling with mini-lesson structure and planning. Not the most profound read, but you can always count on Penny Kittle to provide something thoughtful and useful.

[Lindsay Billings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This had some really great strategies for teaching writer's craft to kids. I thought the passages that were included were fairly accessible, but I would have liked to have seen some more mature passages included. I really enjoyed the notebook work aspect of this since that's a practice I'm already reinforcing with students. I think this is a great way to introduce middle grade students to writer's craft in a really non-threatening way and can't wait to incorporate it more next year.

[Heather Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I suggest reading the book and coming up with your own opinions before reading mine. IYKYK ;)

In all seriousness, this was a great book! I have read other books by Kittle and even attended one of her workshops. She often talks about discussing and teaching writer's craft with students, but I wasn't confident in identifying them for myself (as embarrassing as that is to admit). This book provided the practice that I needed.

I have a better understanding of how being able to identify and discuss writer's craft will not only make people better writers, but also better readers.

I look forward to using these strategies and mentor texts in my own classroom.

[Christine Fay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Penny comes through with another practical book to help with inspiration for teaching students the art of writing through imitation.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kittle’s latest book is PACKED with ideas for how to draw upon micro mentor texts (that is, passages from longer texts) to spur writing, including writing modeled by teachers: “For writing to be rich and real for our students, we must show them how rich and real it is for us” (127).

I started this book with a bit of apprehension after reading a review cautioning teachers that the content isn’t well-suited to high school classrooms. However, while the images in the text appear to show middle-grade students, and while some of the sample mentor texts are indeed geared to this age, the strategies and lessons shared here can be adapted for high school students, perhaps with different mentor texts (Kittle encourages mentor text collection by teachers and students anyway). This book provides a starting point, focusing on a method and a mindset.

Instead of building progressively, chapter by chapter, as much of Kittle’s past work has done, the text reads like a cookbook, with a similar structure for each craft lesson repeated every few pages. As such, the experience of reading this can feel somewhat repetitive at times. However, by reinforcing the same basic structure, Kittle leaves her reader feeling capable and ready to implement these ideas, right now.

4.5

[Sheila Bracken · Rating 4 out of 5]

At a time when students’ attention is being pulled in many directions, writing expert Penny Kittle shows the power of helping them to focus in and communicate clearly. She’s pulled together a collection of micro mentor texts–a few sentences, a paragraph, or a scene–taken from a variety of books, from children’s books to YA books to books written for teens and adults. These texts, and the mini-lessons she’s built around them, provide an excellent resource for teachers to help students learn to identify and imitate the decisions authors make to craft those texts in order to deeply engage readers. The power of this practice lies in its simplicity and its infinite variations.
In 2018 Linda Rief’s The Quickwrite Handbook: 100 Mentor Texts to Jumpstart Your Students’ Thinking and Writing provided the foundation for my collection of mentor texts. The majority of texts used in that text are YA and above, so many elementary teachers and those who work with students who read significantly below grade level began asking for a resource of their own. For those who have not started collecting excerpts, Penny’s book is a great place to start. The book itself is short, only nine chapters, and the writing is like Penny herself–very accessible. 4.5

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penny Kittle is a gift to English educators who are still in the classroom. She organized logical and reproducible craft moves into the “model, we try, you try” format that English teachers employ often. While many examples are for 4-6, there are numerous high school+ examples with a reminder that great writing hs great writing no matter the age of the intended audience.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing resource! I participated in a writing workshop for teachers of grades 4-9 and this resource was so helpful! Penny Kittle ALWAYS delivers practical and inspiring strategies for teachers to use with their students.

[Kendra (thevisionaryclassroom) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think is great book to introduce students and teachers to mentor texts. I liked that the examples used current literature. I also found the organization of the book to be helpful when I’m planning my writing units.

[Renae Hebert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book to prepare to take my Texes Certification exam. It is a helpful tool. Mrs. Kittle's book helped me connect academic language to developing a deeper understanding of a piece of literature theme.

I passed the ELAR 7-12 on the first attempt.

[Lauren Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already tried one thing in class and really loved it. I want to scatter more of these throughout the school year for my students. I felt like the one micro mentor text I used was successful and I'm really wanting to improve in allowing my students more creativity and freedom in their writing.

[Mr. Armstrong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good but a little lower level than I hoped for.

[Allyssa Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tons of examples of analyzing and imitating writer’s craft.

[Carriann Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Penny Kittle is one of my English teacher heroes. I’m a better writer because of her, and this book only adds to my repertoire. So many mentor passages but also invaluable thought processes!

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

More mentor texts and craft lessons make this heart happy!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine. Middle grade.

[Deidre Bradford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tool for beginning English teachers as well as serving as a solid resource for veteran teachers.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful teaching book.

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very helpful companion to _Write Beside Them_.

[Summer Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very thoughtful and well organized text that has inspired countless ideas for my classroom. I appreciate the sample texts provided, and I look forward to discovering my own as well!