author mentors

Authors as Mentors for Peer Critique Groups

Denise Johnson, Matthew Kirby, Eric Luper, Linda Urban & Kate

Messner

Research Supports Authors As Mentors

• IRA OUTSTANDING DISSERTATION AWARD FOR 2011:The Impact of Interactive Read-Alouds on the Writing of Third Graders During Writing Workshop

 • While reading mentor texts, students learned to

read like writers as they and their teacher noticed andexamined the author’s craft. 

 • The teacher facilitated the conversation by guiding

students’ responses and explaining the purpose of craft features as well as interconnecting students’ reading and writing experiences.

Research Supports Authors As Mentors

• Within this study, the teacher and students were acommunity of writers who learned how to craft their writing from publishedauthors as well as from each other.  •  It is important for teachers to 

help students to perceive themselves as writers and foster the various mentoring relationships within the literacy classroom. 

Author Critique Groups

“As for their critiques–they have saved me from overwriting, underwriting, and no writing. They have encouraged me and instilled courage in me when I needed it. Stopped me from making a fool ofmyself with editors. Theycan be ruthless with their criticisms and yet couch it in the terms of love.”   

                    ~Jane Yolen

Fostering Mentoring Relationships

"The peer group is a powerful enough force in our classrooms that it can damage as well as support our students' engagement in writing."     ~ Lucy Calkins "A critique group is more than just what is beingread. It is also about the personalities, tastes, backgrounds, and critical acuity of the members.”                          ~Jane Yolen

Panel of Award Winning Authors...

 Matthew Kirby     Eric Luper     Linda Urban   Kate Messner

Matthew Kirby http://matthewjkirby.com/kirbside/

Eric Luperhttp://ericluper.com/

As a writer, I have learned not only from being critiqued, but from critiquing others.

I have had the opportunity to critique with different sorts of writers including non-fiction, adult thrillers, romance, poetry,

picture books, sci-fi/fantasy, graphic novels and I have learned different, unexpected things from each.

Writers learn by engaging in the active process of critiquing.

Seth Baumgartner's Love Manifesto(Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins)

The experience of writing a novel is like reading your favorite book 100 times in a row. - You memorize parts of the book- You skip words and stop reading critically- You forget which passages are still in the manuscript and which ones you've deleted- The surprises stop being surprising- The jokes stop being funny

Put simply, your brain becomes mush!!

Jeremy Bender vs. the Cupcake Cadets(Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins)

The same thing happened!!

Everyone needs to work hard at helping everyone else.Stress that critiquing is not a personal attack; Rather, it

must always remain constructive. And, it's something even the most veteran writers do!

Author 'First Page' Critiques

1. Get a panel of 'experts' in the room.2.Have a neutral reader read the first page of a story aloud.3. It is important the writer is anonymous.4. Have the panel respond with a "compliment sandwich."        - compliment        - constructive suggestion        - compliment

Linda Urban http://lindaurbanbooks.com/

Kate Messnerwww.katemessner.com

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Coming in April!

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How to Critique a Friend’s Writing:Lessons from the Pros

•Start with the positive.

•Tell the writer what you’ve read.

•Ask questions.

•Be specific in your feedback.

•Note where the writer might add sensory details

•Point out where things don’t make sense.

•Wrap up on a positive note.

More on the Stenhouse blog…

Student Critique Partners: Bring on the Highlighters & Post-Its!

• Trade papers with a partner.• Use highlighter to mark it up:

o Pink =Consider cutting this parto Green = I'm confused hereo Orange = Use more descriptive, vivid

languageo Yellow = OMG Love this part!

• Use Post-It Notes for longer suggestions/explanations of your ideas.

Authors as Mentors for Peer Critique Groups

Denise Johnson, Matthew Kirby, Eric Luper, Kate Messner, & Linda Urban