Leslie Stamey, ESL, Torrence Creek Elementary School
(Unit PDF)
Abstract
“Writing for Language Acquisition: Increasing Comprehensible Input Using Mentor Text” is a unit that is comprised of six lesson plans and a final project. The first lesson plan creates a “concept board” to introduce the unit and to use for referencing as the unit progresses. Each of the following lessons focuses on a non-fiction children’s book (mentor text). The children’s book introduces new vocabulary in context and exemplifies the function of text features being taught in class.
By the end of the unit, the students will identify and use twelve non-fiction text features. The final project of the unit is a non-fiction book. Students will create a book of their school. The book will be a work in progress throughout the unit and contain the text features that have been studied. This unit was written for students who are learning English as a second language (ESL); however, it could easily be adapted to suit any upper elementary classroom by replacing the mentor with one that suits the proficiency of the class.
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