Mentoring Adolescent Writers

Secondary students often find writing boring and intimidating. How can teachers meet the individual needs of their students and help them see the purpose, power, and possibilities that writing offers?

Mentoring Adolescent Writers: Texts as Teachers introduces the EASE strategy, an innovative step-by-step process, that breaks down the artistic skill of writing. Students learn to explore and analyze inspirational models in order to hook the reader from the onset, create unique visuals, use dialogue to display emotion, structure the essay or story, argue with solid evidence, and more. Cynthia Dollins provides clear criteria for selecting exemplary texts across various genres that students examine for author craft and structure and then apply to their own independent writing. Cynthia breaks down the key components of narrative, informational, and persuasive writing in a way that resonates with students.

Featuring detailed lesson plans, creative student samples, and a variety of approachable and high-interest mentor texts, Mentoring Adolescent Writers is a valuable resource for all middle and high school English Language Arts teachers.