Barnes 4.5

I watched the Program 5 video that was called Writing like a Reader. I was interested by this section because it said that it would discuss how classrooms can use both reading and writing together instead of having them separated. It also mentioned in the description Touchstone and Mentor texts and I was unfamiliar with these terms so I wanted to learn more about them. Overall each part of the video showed teachers doing the following steps:

• Choose touchstone or mentor texts that have a lot of teachable strategies used within the text. These can be found when teachers are reading as a reader, writer, and teacher at the same time.
•  Teachers model how to find the strategies or crafts while reading.
•  Teachers show the students the touchstone or mentor texts.
• Teacher and students work together to find crafts and strategies within the text.
• Students discuss the importance of these crafts and strategies and why they were used.
•  Students get the opportunity to do their own writing .
• Students experiment with the new crafts and strategies that they learned while reading. 
• Students analyze their own use of the crafts and strategies and think about how their writing will affect the reader.

       I learned that Touchstone and mentor texts are chosen by the instructor as a teaching tool. These texts need to have a lot of teachable moments within the text for students to notice and analyze their affects. These texts help build community within the classroom because the teacher is sharing a text that they really love and the whole class can discuss it. I liked the ways that the teachers introduced the text because it showed the class that they had a strong relationship with the text so it meant more to them.

      I loved the amount of workshop time that all the students received in each section of the book. This time was used for them to apply the knowledge that they just learned while reading. It gave them independence on the topic of their writing but inspired them to try something new. I also really liked how one of the teachers help conferences with each student during the workshop time. This allowed the students to verbally think through their work and analyze it’s affects. The teacher in the video emphasized having respect for your students choices while reading their writing and I think that was an important aspect. Students would dread conference time if the teacher tore apart their work every time.

       Overall, I really like the teaching strategies used in the video because the lesson incorporated a lot of reading and writing which showed how connected they are.