"When we value kids' writing enough to use it to teach other kids, all kids grow into stronger writers. Thanks, Lisa, for writing this important book. I needed it, teachers need it, and the field needs it."
--Stephanie Harvey
"If students know we believe in them, that the content of their writing matters, more kids will take a risk and try some new things--even if they don't know how to spell all the words or punctuate all the sentences correctly."
--Lisa Eickholt
Let's face it: Mentor texts are fantastic, but children's literature is the perfect product of adult authors. When we work students' writing into the mentor-text mix, amazing things happen--especially for struggling writers.
"I have spent my career working with kids who hate to write," writes Lisa Eickholdt, "when we use our students' writing as a mentor text, we are helping them identify themselves as someone who writes." In Learning from Classmates, Lisa shows you how this simple but powerful idea can help you:
"Time and again," Lisa writes, "I've watched reluctant and unenthusiastic writers become more eager and willing after their writing was used as a model for other students." The need is great, so her book helps you integrate student writing as mentor texts right away with suggestions for how to:
Read Learning from Classmates to discover how your writers grow when they see what their peers can do and say, "I can do that, too!"