Text Structures From the Masters
50 Lessons and Nonfiction Mentor Texts to Help Students Write Their Way In and Read Their Way Out of Every Single Imaginable Genre, Grades 6-10
Gretchen Bernabei
- Consultant, Educator, Trail of Breadcrumbs
Jennifer L. Koppe
- Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy (San Antonio, TX)
Purchase
eBook
ISBN:
9781506332857
Available from
January 0001
Paperback
ISBN:
9781506311265
Available from
January 0001
Description
Gretchen Bernabei asks students to derive possible text structures from examining mentor texts. Instead of that one format students are given—the five-paragraph essay—she gives us fifty, and doesn’t pretend that’s a complete list. She changes the landscape students can work in from one of poverty to one of wonderful excess. She shows us that as writers we are playing a game with lots of moves. —Thomas Newkirk
School writing has nothing to do with my life…If that sounds like your students, then you need this book, because it will prove to your students that writing counts in our world— and always has.
In Text Structures from the Masters, Gretchen Bernabei and Jennifer Koppe provide 50 short texts by famous Americans who put pen to paper driven by what Peter Elbow described as “an itch” to say something. The book includes Sojourner Truth’s Speech (itch: join a heated debate), FDR’s Pearl Harbor message (itch: pick up the pieces), JFK’s inaugural address (itch: give a pep talk) . . . along with 47 more pieces and their explicit purposes.
By examining the structure of these mentor texts, students suddenly see that the itch is something they have in their own lives, too! And the 50 companion lessons invite students to use the text structure of each the famous documents to express that itch.
Each 4-page lesson includes:
- A planning sheet that reveals the structure of the mentor text, giving students an X-Ray like device for looking at the piece of writing.
- Brainstorming boxes that invite students to discover their “itchiest” topic
- A method for “kernelizing” their own essay—making an outline of what they will write using the text structure as a guide.
- Student examples of both kernel essays and finished pieces.
- The bonus? Students report the historical document comes to life as they can see textual map that holds it together—and have used that map themselves.
Text Structures from the Masters shows students how writing can help get the work of their lives done. They don’t need to be poised to send someone into the battlefield to have the desire to express something to others—just the itch to say it well.
Contents
Foreword by Tom Newkirk
Foreword by Tom Newkirk
Introduction
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
Lesson 1
Lesson 1
Structure: Stepping Up to a New Role
Structure: Stepping Up to a New Role
Source Document: Hippocratic Oath, 400 BCE
- Lesson 2
Structure: Can't We Just Get Along?
Structure: Can't We Just Get Along?
Source Document: Speech to Captain John Smith, Chief Powhatan, 1609
- Lesson 3
Structure: Team Promise
Structure: Team Promise
Source Document: Mayflower Compact, 1620
- Lesson 4
Structure: Humble Request for Help
Structure: Humble Request for Help
Source Document: Plymouth Plantation, 1624
- Lesson 5
Structure: No, Thank You
- Source Document: Letter to William and Mary College, The Indians of the Six Nations, 1744
- Lesson 6
Structure: Lighting a Fire Under a Procrastinator
Structure: Lighting a Fire Under a Procrastinator
Source Document: Speech, Patrick Henry, 1775
- Lesson 7
Structure: How Bullying Works
Structure: How Bullying Works
Source Document: "Journal of a Lady of Quality," Janet Schaw, 1775
- Lesson 8
Structure: Problem-Solution Message
Structure: Problem-Solution Message
Source Document: Declaration of Independence, 1776
- Lesson 9
Structure: Time for a Real Solution
Structure: Time for a Real Solution
Source Document: Common Sense (Excerpts), Thomas Paine, 1776
- Lesson 10
Structure: Letter From Home
Structure: Letter From Home
Source Document: Letter to Her Husband John Adams, Abigail Adams, 1776
- Lesson 11
Structure: How Bad Is It? (A Description)
Structure: How Bad Is It? (A Description)
Source Document: Letter to George Washington, Benjamin Rush, 1777
- Lesson 12
Structure: Reprimanding a Group
Structure: Reprimanding a Group
Source Document: Speech to Angry Officers, General George Washington, 1783
- Lesson 13
Structure: Purposes of an Action
Structure: Purposes of an Action
Source Document: Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
- Lesson 14
Structure: Charm Check
Structure: Charm Check
Source Document: "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, 1814
- Lesson 15
Structure: S.O.S.
Structure: S.O.S.
Source Document: "Victory or Death" Letter From the Alamo, William B. Travis, 1836
- Lesson 16
Structure: Sightseeing
Structure: Sightseeing
Source Document: "Observations on a Steamboat Between Pittsburg and Cincinnati," American Notes, Charles Dickens, 1842
- Lesson 17
Structure: Tour of an Unfamiliar Place
Structure: Tour of an Unfamiliar Place
Source Document: "Factory Life," Labor Reformer, 1846
- Lesson 18
Structure: Breaking Into a Heated Argument
Structure: Breaking Into a Heated Argument
Source Document: "Ain't I a Woman?" Speech, Sojourner Truth, 1851
- Lesson 19
Structure: Controversial Decision
Structure: Controversial Decision
Source Document: Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
- Lesson 20
Structure: At the Moment of a Milestone
Structure: At the Moment of a Milestone
Source Document: Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
- Lesson 21
Structure: We're Both Wrong; We're Both Right
Structure: We're Both Wrong; We're Both Right
Source Document: Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1865
- Lesson 22
Structure: Letter to an Author
Structure: Letter to an Author
Source Document: Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, 1868
- Lesson 23
Structure: Fighting Unfairness With Logic
Structure: Fighting Unfairness With Logic
Source Document: “Women’s Rights to the Suffrage" Speech, Susan B. Anthony, 1873
- Lesson 24
Structure: Valuable Advice
Structure: Valuable Advice
Source Document: "Advice to Youth" Speech, Mark Twain, 1882
- Lesson 25
Structure: Comforting a Friend in Pain
Structure: Comforting a Friend in Pain
Source Document: Letter to a Friend, Henry James, 1883
- Lesson 26
Structure: I Want More (While I Have the Chance)
Structure: I Want More (While I Have the Chance)
Source Document: Letter to Professor Baird, William G. Hornaday
- Lesson 27
Structure: First Earnings
Structure: First Earnings
Source Document: Hard Times Cotton Mill Girls (Excerpt), Bertha Miller, b. 1890
- Lesson 28
Structure: My Symbol
Structure: My Symbol
Source Document: The Pledge of Allegiance, 1892
- Lesson 29
Structure: Narrative: Just the Facts
Structure: Narrative: Just the Facts
Source Document: On Lynchings (Excerpt), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1895
- Lesson 30
Structure: Letter of Recommendation
Structure: Letter of Recommendation
Source Document: Letter to Jessie Gladden, Clara Barton, 1898
- Lesson 31
Structure: Why Something Goes Viral
Structure: Why Something Goes Viral
Source Document: "A Modern Day Devil Baby" (American Journal of Sociology, 20(1), (117–118), Jane Addams, 1914
- Lesson 32
Structure: Understanding the Scars of Our Elders
Structure: Understanding the Scars of Our Elders
Source Document: "Remembering Slavery" (Excerpt), Tonea Stewart, 1930
- Lesson 33
Structure: Objects of Affection
Structure: Objects of Affection
Source Document: "The Pleasure of Books," William Lyon Phelps, 1933
- Lesson 34
Structure: True or False? Neither
Structure: True or False? Neither
Source Document: Letter From Phyllis, Albert Einstein, 1936
- Lesson 35
Structure: How an Experience Changed Me
Structure: How an Experience Changed Me
Source Document: It's a Great Life, Robert L. Miller, 1937
- Lesson 36
Structure: A Bad Situation a Lot of Us Are In
Structure: A Bad Situation a Lot of Us Are In
Source Document: "I'd Rather Not Be on Relief," Lester Hunter Song, 1938
- Lesson 37
Structure: Picking Up the Pieces
Structure: Picking Up the Pieces
Source Document: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941
- Lesson 38
Structure: Heads Up From Your Wingman
Structure: Heads Up From Your Wingman
Source Document: Letter to Her Husband, Eleanor Rooseevelt, circa WWII
- Lesson 39
Structure: What Do I Mean? Well . . .
Structure: What Do I Mean? Well . . .
Source Document: "I Love You" Letter, Ayn Rand, 1948
- Lesson 40
Structure: My Advice About Your Strong Feeling
Structure: My Advice About Your Strong Feeling
Source Document: Letter to His Son Thom, John Steinbeck, 1958
- Lesson 41
Structure: Pep Talk
Structure: Pep Talk
Source Document: Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy, 1961
- Lesson 42
Structure: Memory Reflection
Structure: Memory Reflection
Source Document: Black Like Me (Excerpt), John Howard Griffin, 1961
- Lesson 43
Structure: Parting Advice to Your Replacement
Structure: Parting Advice to Your Replacement
Source Document: "Duty, Honor, Country," General Douglas MacArthur, 1962
- Lesson 44
Structure: Bon Voyage
Structure: Bon Voyage
Source Document: Letter to His Astronaut Son, Scott Carpenter, 1962
- Lesson 45
Structure: I Feel Your Pain
Structure: I Feel Your Pain
Source Document: "Ich bin ein Berliner" Speech, John F. Kennedy, 1963
- Lesson 46
Structure: Flashpoint Moment of Truth
Structure: Flashpoint Moment of Truth
Source Document: "And We Shall Overcome" Special Message to Congress (Excerpt), Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
- Lesson 47
Structure: Walking the Walk to Make a Difference
Structure: Walking the Walk to Make a Difference
Source Document: "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Cesar Chavez, 1990
- Lesson 48
Structure: Using a Story to Make a Point
Structure: Using a Story to Make a Point
Source Document: Nobel Lecture (Abridged), Toni Morrison, 1993
- Lesson 49
Structure: New Perspectives From a Photo
Structure: New Perspectives From a Photo
Source Document: "Pale Blue Dot" Speech, Carl Sagan, 1996
- Lesson 50
Structure: So You'll Know Me After I'm Gone
Structure: So You'll Know Me After I'm Gone
Source Document: Letter to My Sons (Preface), Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber, 2012
- Appendices
1. Complete Collection of 50 Text Structures
1. Complete Collection of 50 Text Structures
2. Text Structures Useful as Promises to Others
2. Text Structures Useful as Promises to Others
3. Text Structures of Our Identity
3. Text Structures of Our Identity
4. Text Structures for Travel
4. Text Structures for Travel
5. Text Structures for Important Moments
5. Text Structures for Important Moments
6. Text Structures for Desperation
6. Text Structures for Desperation
7. Text Structures Useful as Persuasion About Some Needed Change
7. Text Structures Useful as Persuasion About Some Needed Change
8. Text Structures Useful for Bad Times
8. Text Structures Useful for Bad Times
9. Text Structures for Times of Conflict
9. Text Structures for Times of Conflict
10. More Ways to Use the Lessons in an English Language Arts Classroom
10. More Ways to Use the Lessons in an English Language Arts Classroom
11. More Ways to Use the Lessons for Academic Play in a Social Studies or History Classroom
11. More Ways to Use the Lessons for Academic Play in a Social Studies or History Classroom
12. Character Project Assignment and Tracking Sheet
12. Character Project Assignment and Tracking Sheet
Resources
Companion Website
https://resources.corwin.com/textstructuresAdditional materials
Description
Gretchen Bernabei asks students to derive possible text structures from examining mentor texts. Instead of that one format students are given—the five-paragraph essay—she gives us fifty, and doesn’t pretend that’s a complete list. She changes the landscape students can work in from one of poverty to one of wonderful excess. She shows us that as writers we are playing a game with lots of moves. —Thomas Newkirk
School writing has nothing to do with my life…If that sounds like your students, then you need this book, because it will prove to your students that writing counts in our world— and always has.
In Text Structures from the Masters, Gretchen Bernabei and Jennifer Koppe provide 50 short texts by famous Americans who put pen to paper driven by what Peter Elbow described as “an itch” to say something. The book includes Sojourner Truth’s Speech (itch: join a heated debate), FDR’s Pearl Harbor message (itch: pick up the pieces), JFK’s inaugural address (itch: give a pep talk) . . . along with 47 more pieces and their explicit purposes.
By examining the structure of these mentor texts, students suddenly see that the itch is something they have in their own lives, too! And the 50 companion lessons invite students to use the text structure of each the famous documents to express that itch.
Each 4-page lesson includes:
- A planning sheet that reveals the structure of the mentor text, giving students an X-Ray like device for looking at the piece of writing.
- Brainstorming boxes that invite students to discover their “itchiest” topic
- A method for “kernelizing” their own essay—making an outline of what they will write using the text structure as a guide.
- Student examples of both kernel essays and finished pieces.
- The bonus? Students report the historical document comes to life as they can see textual map that holds it together—and have used that map themselves.
Text Structures from the Masters shows students how writing can help get the work of their lives done. They don’t need to be poised to send someone into the battlefield to have the desire to express something to others—just the itch to say it well.
Contents
Foreword by Tom Newkirk
Foreword by Tom Newkirk
Introduction
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
Lesson 1
Lesson 1
Structure: Stepping Up to a New Role
Structure: Stepping Up to a New Role
Source Document: Hippocratic Oath, 400 BCE
- Lesson 2
Structure: Can't We Just Get Along?
Structure: Can't We Just Get Along?
Source Document: Speech to Captain John Smith, Chief Powhatan, 1609
- Lesson 3
Structure: Team Promise
Structure: Team Promise
Source Document: Mayflower Compact, 1620
- Lesson 4
Structure: Humble Request for Help
Structure: Humble Request for Help
Source Document: Plymouth Plantation, 1624
- Lesson 5
Structure: No, Thank You
- Source Document: Letter to William and Mary College, The Indians of the Six Nations, 1744
- Lesson 6
Structure: Lighting a Fire Under a Procrastinator
Structure: Lighting a Fire Under a Procrastinator
Source Document: Speech, Patrick Henry, 1775
- Lesson 7
Structure: How Bullying Works
Structure: How Bullying Works
Source Document: "Journal of a Lady of Quality," Janet Schaw, 1775
- Lesson 8
Structure: Problem-Solution Message
Structure: Problem-Solution Message
Source Document: Declaration of Independence, 1776
- Lesson 9
Structure: Time for a Real Solution
Structure: Time for a Real Solution
Source Document: Common Sense (Excerpts), Thomas Paine, 1776
- Lesson 10
Structure: Letter From Home
Structure: Letter From Home
Source Document: Letter to Her Husband John Adams, Abigail Adams, 1776
- Lesson 11
Structure: How Bad Is It? (A Description)
Structure: How Bad Is It? (A Description)
Source Document: Letter to George Washington, Benjamin Rush, 1777
- Lesson 12
Structure: Reprimanding a Group
Structure: Reprimanding a Group
Source Document: Speech to Angry Officers, General George Washington, 1783
- Lesson 13
Structure: Purposes of an Action
Structure: Purposes of an Action
Source Document: Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
- Lesson 14
Structure: Charm Check
Structure: Charm Check
Source Document: "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, 1814
- Lesson 15
Structure: S.O.S.
Structure: S.O.S.
Source Document: "Victory or Death" Letter From the Alamo, William B. Travis, 1836
- Lesson 16
Structure: Sightseeing
Structure: Sightseeing
Source Document: "Observations on a Steamboat Between Pittsburg and Cincinnati," American Notes, Charles Dickens, 1842
- Lesson 17
Structure: Tour of an Unfamiliar Place
Structure: Tour of an Unfamiliar Place
Source Document: "Factory Life," Labor Reformer, 1846
- Lesson 18
Structure: Breaking Into a Heated Argument
Structure: Breaking Into a Heated Argument
Source Document: "Ain't I a Woman?" Speech, Sojourner Truth, 1851
- Lesson 19
Structure: Controversial Decision
Structure: Controversial Decision
Source Document: Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
- Lesson 20
Structure: At the Moment of a Milestone
Structure: At the Moment of a Milestone
Source Document: Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
- Lesson 21
Structure: We're Both Wrong; We're Both Right
Structure: We're Both Wrong; We're Both Right
Source Document: Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1865
- Lesson 22
Structure: Letter to an Author
Structure: Letter to an Author
Source Document: Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, 1868
- Lesson 23
Structure: Fighting Unfairness With Logic
Structure: Fighting Unfairness With Logic
Source Document: “Women’s Rights to the Suffrage" Speech, Susan B. Anthony, 1873
- Lesson 24
Structure: Valuable Advice
Structure: Valuable Advice
Source Document: "Advice to Youth" Speech, Mark Twain, 1882
- Lesson 25
Structure: Comforting a Friend in Pain
Structure: Comforting a Friend in Pain
Source Document: Letter to a Friend, Henry James, 1883
- Lesson 26
Structure: I Want More (While I Have the Chance)
Structure: I Want More (While I Have the Chance)
Source Document: Letter to Professor Baird, William G. Hornaday
- Lesson 27
Structure: First Earnings
Structure: First Earnings
Source Document: Hard Times Cotton Mill Girls (Excerpt), Bertha Miller, b. 1890
- Lesson 28
Structure: My Symbol
Structure: My Symbol
Source Document: The Pledge of Allegiance, 1892
- Lesson 29
Structure: Narrative: Just the Facts
Structure: Narrative: Just the Facts
Source Document: On Lynchings (Excerpt), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1895
- Lesson 30
Structure: Letter of Recommendation
Structure: Letter of Recommendation
Source Document: Letter to Jessie Gladden, Clara Barton, 1898
- Lesson 31
Structure: Why Something Goes Viral
Structure: Why Something Goes Viral
Source Document: "A Modern Day Devil Baby" (American Journal of Sociology, 20(1), (117–118), Jane Addams, 1914
- Lesson 32
Structure: Understanding the Scars of Our Elders
Structure: Understanding the Scars of Our Elders
Source Document: "Remembering Slavery" (Excerpt), Tonea Stewart, 1930
- Lesson 33
Structure: Objects of Affection
Structure: Objects of Affection
Source Document: "The Pleasure of Books," William Lyon Phelps, 1933
- Lesson 34
Structure: True or False? Neither
Structure: True or False? Neither
Source Document: Letter From Phyllis, Albert Einstein, 1936
- Lesson 35
Structure: How an Experience Changed Me
Structure: How an Experience Changed Me
Source Document: It's a Great Life, Robert L. Miller, 1937
- Lesson 36
Structure: A Bad Situation a Lot of Us Are In
Structure: A Bad Situation a Lot of Us Are In
Source Document: "I'd Rather Not Be on Relief," Lester Hunter Song, 1938
- Lesson 37
Structure: Picking Up the Pieces
Structure: Picking Up the Pieces
Source Document: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941
- Lesson 38
Structure: Heads Up From Your Wingman
Structure: Heads Up From Your Wingman
Source Document: Letter to Her Husband, Eleanor Rooseevelt, circa WWII
- Lesson 39
Structure: What Do I Mean? Well . . .
Structure: What Do I Mean? Well . . .
Source Document: "I Love You" Letter, Ayn Rand, 1948
- Lesson 40
Structure: My Advice About Your Strong Feeling
Structure: My Advice About Your Strong Feeling
Source Document: Letter to His Son Thom, John Steinbeck, 1958
- Lesson 41
Structure: Pep Talk
Structure: Pep Talk
Source Document: Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy, 1961
- Lesson 42
Structure: Memory Reflection
Structure: Memory Reflection
Source Document: Black Like Me (Excerpt), John Howard Griffin, 1961
- Lesson 43
Structure: Parting Advice to Your Replacement
Structure: Parting Advice to Your Replacement
Source Document: "Duty, Honor, Country," General Douglas MacArthur, 1962
- Lesson 44
Structure: Bon Voyage
Structure: Bon Voyage
Source Document: Letter to His Astronaut Son, Scott Carpenter, 1962
- Lesson 45
Structure: I Feel Your Pain
Structure: I Feel Your Pain
Source Document: "Ich bin ein Berliner" Speech, John F. Kennedy, 1963
- Lesson 46
Structure: Flashpoint Moment of Truth
Structure: Flashpoint Moment of Truth
Source Document: "And We Shall Overcome" Special Message to Congress (Excerpt), Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
- Lesson 47
Structure: Walking the Walk to Make a Difference
Structure: Walking the Walk to Make a Difference
Source Document: "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Cesar Chavez, 1990
- Lesson 48
Structure: Using a Story to Make a Point
Structure: Using a Story to Make a Point
Source Document: Nobel Lecture (Abridged), Toni Morrison, 1993
- Lesson 49
Structure: New Perspectives From a Photo
Structure: New Perspectives From a Photo
Source Document: "Pale Blue Dot" Speech, Carl Sagan, 1996
- Lesson 50
Structure: So You'll Know Me After I'm Gone
Structure: So You'll Know Me After I'm Gone
Source Document: Letter to My Sons (Preface), Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber, 2012
- Appendices
1. Complete Collection of 50 Text Structures
1. Complete Collection of 50 Text Structures
2. Text Structures Useful as Promises to Others
2. Text Structures Useful as Promises to Others
3. Text Structures of Our Identity
3. Text Structures of Our Identity
4. Text Structures for Travel
4. Text Structures for Travel
5. Text Structures for Important Moments
5. Text Structures for Important Moments
6. Text Structures for Desperation
6. Text Structures for Desperation
7. Text Structures Useful as Persuasion About Some Needed Change
7. Text Structures Useful as Persuasion About Some Needed Change
8. Text Structures Useful for Bad Times
8. Text Structures Useful for Bad Times
9. Text Structures for Times of Conflict
9. Text Structures for Times of Conflict
10. More Ways to Use the Lessons in an English Language Arts Classroom
10. More Ways to Use the Lessons in an English Language Arts Classroom
11. More Ways to Use the Lessons for Academic Play in a Social Studies or History Classroom
11. More Ways to Use the Lessons for Academic Play in a Social Studies or History Classroom
12. Character Project Assignment and Tracking Sheet
12. Character Project Assignment and Tracking Sheet
Resources
Companion Website
https://resources.corwin.com/textstructuresAdditional materials
Reviews
Text Structures From the Masters
50 Lessons and Nonfiction Mentor Texts to Help Students Write Their Way In and Read Their Way Out of Every Single Imaginable Genre, Grades 6-10
February 2016 | 248 pages | Corwin
| Format | Published Date | ISBN | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback | 01/01/2025 | 9781506311265 | $40.95 |
| Lifetime | 01/01/2025 | 9781506332857 | $37.00 |
Gretchen Bernabei asks students to derive possible text structures from examining mentor texts. Instead of that one format students are given—the five-paragraph essay—she gives us fifty, and doesn’t pretend that’s a complete list. She changes the landscape students can work in from one of poverty to one of wonderful excess. She shows us that as writers we are playing a game with lots of moves. —Thomas Newkirk
School writing has nothing to do with my life…If that sounds like your students, then you need this book, because it will prove to your students that writing counts in our world— and always has.
In Text Structures from the Masters, Gretchen Bernabei and Jennifer Koppe provide 50 short texts by famous Americans who put pen to paper driven by what Peter Elbow described as “an itch” to say something. The book includes Sojourner Truth’s Speech (itch: join a heated debate), FDR’s Pearl Harbor message (itch: pick up the pieces), JFK’s inaugural address (itch: give a pep talk) . . . along with 47 more pieces and their explicit purposes.
By examining the structure of these mentor texts, students suddenly see that the itch is something they have in their own lives, too! And the 50 companion lessons invite students to use the text structure of each the famous documents to express that itch.
Each 4-page lesson includes:
- A planning sheet that reveals the structure of the mentor text, giving students an X-Ray like device for looking at the piece of writing.
- Brainstorming boxes that invite students to discover their “itchiest” topic
- A method for “kernelizing” their own essay—making an outline of what they will write using the text structure as a guide.
- Student examples of both kernel essays and finished pieces.
- The bonus? Students report the historical document comes to life as they can see textual map that holds it together—and have used that map themselves.
Text Structures from the Masters shows students how writing can help get the work of their lives done. They don’t need to be poised to send someone into the battlefield to have the desire to express something to others—just the itch to say it well.
Table Of Contents:
- Foreword by Tom Newkirk
- Introduction
- Acknowledgments
- Lesson 1
- Structure: Stepping Up to a New Role
- Source Document: Hippocratic Oath, 400 BCE
- Lesson 2
- Structure: Can't We Just Get Along?
- Source Document: Speech to Captain John Smith, Chief Powhatan, 1609
- Lesson 3
- Structure: Team Promise
- Source Document: Mayflower Compact, 1620
- Lesson 4
- Structure: Humble Request for Help
- Source Document: Plymouth Plantation, 1624
- Lesson 5
- Structure: No, Thank You
- Source Document: Letter to William and Mary College, The Indians of the Six Nations, 1744
- Lesson 6
- Structure: Lighting a Fire Under a Procrastinator
- Source Document: Speech, Patrick Henry, 1775
- Lesson 7
- Structure: How Bullying Works
- Source Document: "Journal of a Lady of Quality," Janet Schaw, 1775
- Lesson 8
- Structure: Problem-Solution Message
- Source Document: Declaration of Independence, 1776
- Lesson 9
- Structure: Time for a Real Solution
- Source Document: Common Sense (Excerpts), Thomas Paine, 1776
- Lesson 10
- Structure: Letter From Home
- Source Document: Letter to Her Husband John Adams, Abigail Adams, 1776
- Lesson 11
- Structure: How Bad Is It? (A Description)
- Source Document: Letter to George Washington, Benjamin Rush, 1777
- Lesson 12
- Structure: Reprimanding a Group
- Source Document: Speech to Angry Officers, General George Washington, 1783
- Lesson 13
- Structure: Purposes of an Action
- Source Document: Preamble to the Constitution, 1787
- Lesson 14
- Structure: Charm Check
- Source Document: "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key, 1814
- Lesson 15
- Structure: S.O.S.
- Source Document: "Victory or Death" Letter From the Alamo, William B. Travis, 1836
- Lesson 16
- Structure: Sightseeing
- Source Document: "Observations on a Steamboat Between Pittsburg and Cincinnati," American Notes, Charles Dickens, 1842
- Lesson 17
- Structure: Tour of an Unfamiliar Place
- Source Document: "Factory Life," Labor Reformer, 1846
- Lesson 18
- Structure: Breaking Into a Heated Argument
- Source Document: "Ain't I a Woman?" Speech, Sojourner Truth, 1851
- Lesson 19
- Structure: Controversial Decision
- Source Document: Emancipation Proclamation, Abraham Lincoln, 1862
- Lesson 20
- Structure: At the Moment of a Milestone
- Source Document: Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1863
- Lesson 21
- Structure: We're Both Wrong; We're Both Right
- Source Document: Second Inaugural Address, Abraham Lincoln, 1865
- Lesson 22
- Structure: Letter to an Author
- Source Document: Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe, Frederick Douglass, 1868
- Lesson 23
- Structure: Fighting Unfairness With Logic
- Source Document: “Women’s Rights to the Suffrage" Speech, Susan B. Anthony, 1873
- Lesson 24
- Structure: Valuable Advice
- Source Document: "Advice to Youth" Speech, Mark Twain, 1882
- Lesson 25
- Structure: Comforting a Friend in Pain
- Source Document: Letter to a Friend, Henry James, 1883
- Lesson 26
- Structure: I Want More (While I Have the Chance)
- Source Document: Letter to Professor Baird, William G. Hornaday
- Lesson 27
- Structure: First Earnings
- Source Document: Hard Times Cotton Mill Girls (Excerpt), Bertha Miller, b. 1890
- Lesson 28
- Structure: My Symbol
- Source Document: The Pledge of Allegiance, 1892
- Lesson 29
- Structure: Narrative: Just the Facts
- Source Document: On Lynchings (Excerpt), Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 1895
- Lesson 30
- Structure: Letter of Recommendation
- Source Document: Letter to Jessie Gladden, Clara Barton, 1898
- Lesson 31
- Structure: Why Something Goes Viral
- Source Document: "A Modern Day Devil Baby" (American Journal of Sociology, 20(1), (117–118), Jane Addams, 1914
- Lesson 32
- Structure: Understanding the Scars of Our Elders
- Source Document: "Remembering Slavery" (Excerpt), Tonea Stewart, 1930
- Lesson 33
- Structure: Objects of Affection
- Source Document: "The Pleasure of Books," William Lyon Phelps, 1933
- Lesson 34
- Structure: True or False? Neither
- Source Document: Letter From Phyllis, Albert Einstein, 1936
- Lesson 35
- Structure: How an Experience Changed Me
- Source Document: It's a Great Life, Robert L. Miller, 1937
- Lesson 36
- Structure: A Bad Situation a Lot of Us Are In
- Source Document: "I'd Rather Not Be on Relief," Lester Hunter Song, 1938
- Lesson 37
- Structure: Picking Up the Pieces
- Source Document: Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1941
- Lesson 38
- Structure: Heads Up From Your Wingman
- Source Document: Letter to Her Husband, Eleanor Rooseevelt, circa WWII
- Lesson 39
- Structure: What Do I Mean? Well . . .
- Source Document: "I Love You" Letter, Ayn Rand, 1948
- Lesson 40
- Structure: My Advice About Your Strong Feeling
- Source Document: Letter to His Son Thom, John Steinbeck, 1958
- Lesson 41
- Structure: Pep Talk
- Source Document: Inaugural Address, John F. Kennedy, 1961
- Lesson 42
- Structure: Memory Reflection
- Source Document: Black Like Me (Excerpt), John Howard Griffin, 1961
- Lesson 43
- Structure: Parting Advice to Your Replacement
- Source Document: "Duty, Honor, Country," General Douglas MacArthur, 1962
- Lesson 44
- Structure: Bon Voyage
- Source Document: Letter to His Astronaut Son, Scott Carpenter, 1962
- Lesson 45
- Structure: I Feel Your Pain
- Source Document: "Ich bin ein Berliner" Speech, John F. Kennedy, 1963
- Lesson 46
- Structure: Flashpoint Moment of Truth
- Source Document: "And We Shall Overcome" Special Message to Congress (Excerpt), Lyndon B. Johnson, 1965
- Lesson 47
- Structure: Walking the Walk to Make a Difference
- Source Document: "Lessons of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," Cesar Chavez, 1990
- Lesson 48
- Structure: Using a Story to Make a Point
- Source Document: Nobel Lecture (Abridged), Toni Morrison, 1993
- Lesson 49
- Structure: New Perspectives From a Photo
- Source Document: "Pale Blue Dot" Speech, Carl Sagan, 1996
- Lesson 50
- Structure: So You'll Know Me After I'm Gone
- Source Document: Letter to My Sons (Preface), Lieutenant Colonel Mark Weber, 2012
- Appendices
- 1. Complete Collection of 50 Text Structures
- 2. Text Structures Useful as Promises to Others
- 3. Text Structures of Our Identity
- 4. Text Structures for Travel
- 5. Text Structures for Important Moments
- 6. Text Structures for Desperation
- 7. Text Structures Useful as Persuasion About Some Needed Change
- 8. Text Structures Useful for Bad Times
- 9. Text Structures for Times of Conflict
- 10. More Ways to Use the Lessons in an English Language Arts Classroom
- 11. More Ways to Use the Lessons for Academic Play in a Social Studies or History Classroom
- 12. Character Project Assignment and Tracking Sheet
Recent Product Reviews:
"Text Structures From the Masters is a good investment! It will become a valuable resource for teachers of English and/or social studies since the lessons may be used for both writing or reading." —
Anne Anderson, MiddleWeb
“[Text Structures from the Masters] contains fifty short texts from famous Americans, identifying them as "Mentor Texts" that, when paired with simple four-page lesson plans, can point the way to more meaningful reading and writing. Contributions by other young writers accompany an invitation to students to learn what topics and approaches excite and inspire them.”
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