










































Georgia Journal of Literacy 
2025, Vol. 47(2), pp. 46–51 
https://doi.org/10.56887/galiteracy.198 
ISSN: 2833-7611 

Teaching Tips  

 
 

 

CONTACT Dr. Jolene Reed, Associate Professor, School of Teaching and Learning, Sam Houston State University, 
Huntsville, TX; email jreed@shsu.edu. Dr. Melinda Miller, Professor, School of Teaching and Learning, Sam Houston 
State University, Huntsville, TX; email mmmiller@shsu.edu. 
 

Mentor Texts as a Bridge to Independent Writing: 
Supporting Young Writers Through Sentence 
Imitation and Craft Study in the Elementary 
Classroom 
 
Jolene Reed 
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 

Melinda Miller  
Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 

 
ABSTRACT 

This article explores the use of mentor texts as a powerful strategy for developing 
independent writing skills in elementary students. Drawing on classroom experience 
and inspired by the sentence composing approach of Don and Jenny Killgallon, the 
authors demonstrate how mentor texts can be used to support craft study and 
sentence imitation across a range of writing skills--from prepositional phrases and 
parallel structure to adjective and adverbial clauses. The article provides practical, 
developmentally appropriate examples for teaching students how to analyze and 
mimic writing moves of professional authors. It also illustrates how mentor texts can 
be used to teach students to craft engaging leads and build narrative depth. Through 
a gradual release of responsibility, students gain confidence and independence as 
they begin to internalize sophisticated writing techniques. The authors conclude by 
emphasizing the importance of thoughtful scaffolding, patience, and high 
expectations in helping students of all levels grow as confident, capable writers. 

KEYWORDS 

mentor text; 
elementary 
writing 
instruction; 
gradual release 
of responsibility 

 
 common frustration of the classroom teacher when trying to elicit good writing from 
students is helping the student understand how to hone their craft. This is consistent from 
the beginning Kindergartener to the student on the university campus. An effective and 

practical approach is to use mentor texts that model professional writing, allowing students to 
analyze and practice diverse styles found in published works. This can be done not only at the 
sentence level, but also at a larger level to add interest to the writing and engage the reader.  
 Mentor texts provide examples of well-crafted writing, allowing students to observe how 
authors use different writing techniques. By analyzing these techniques, students can learn how to 
incorporate that craft into their own writing. When students see what is possible in writing, they 
are more likely to experiment with their own ideas and styles. Mentor texts can serve as 
springboards for creative writing activities, encouraging students to explore their own 
imaginations. 
 Our work regarding the use of mentor text was highly influenced by Don and Jenny 
Killgallon’s (2008) Story Grammar for Elementary School: A Sentence-Composing Approach. In 
this book, the authors give multiple examples from texts that are familiar to the students, then 

A 

mailto:jreed@shsu.edu
mailto:mmmiller@shsu.edu


Reed & Miller 47 
 

   
 

break down the structure of the professional sentence, and finally ask the students to create an 
original sentence using a similar structure. In this article, we will illustrate the same process 
beginning with some simple examples and moving to more complex sentences. We have 
experienced great success with this approach with students of various ages and abilities, beginning 
in the third grade and continuing through university courses. We have been able to help students 
learn to imitate sentences written by professional writers. In addition, we have helped students 
realize that different placements of prepositional phrases can make their writing more interesting, 
and that moving prepositional phrases around creates a more pleasing flow to their writing piece. 
Finally, we were able to introduce the concept of incorporating adjective and adverbial clauses 
through the context of literature, a more interesting approach than isolated “drill and kill” 
instruction.  
 
Teaching with Mentor Text Using Gradual Release of Responsibility 
This section describes examples of teaching different types of sentences and clauses using excerpts 
from literature. Working with students on the following examples requires patience, support, and 
a belief that the students will perform. In reflecting on our use of mentor texts, we realize how 
nicely this technique fits into the gradual release of responsibility (Pearson & Gallagher, 1983). 
We start with the author’s text, we model with our own writing, and then we work through 
examples with the class as a whole or in small groups. Over time, students develop independence. 
In the beginning, students need us to show our thought process as we delineate the “formula” used 
by the author. Eventually and gradually, we pull back, and progressively, students take control of 
more and more of the process of looking closely at how the author developed their craft. They are 
eventually able to easily (sometimes not so easily) emulate the style of the author. The process 
takes patience and perseverance on the part of both teacher and students. However, the process 
should always be underscored by our belief in their ability to succeed. 
 
Sentence Imitation 

In our first example, we give a very specific illustration of the process we went through to guide 
children through the procedure of using a mentor text to write a more precise sentence. The 
remaining examples can follow the same general steps.  
 We begin with an example of a third-grade class using a sentence taken from Stuart Little 
(White, 1945): “When the people in Central Park learned that one of the toy sailboats was being 
steered by a mouse in a sailor suit, they all came running” (p. 43). We selected this sentence 
because the book was being used as the read aloud to the class and was meaningful to the children. 
We displayed the model sentence using the document camera. We then demonstrated to the 
students how to analyze this sentence by thinking of it as the following: When the (who) (where) 
(learned/saw) that (what) (doing what/where) (what was he wearing?) (what did they do?). We 
gave an example of a sentence written in the same format. Using a think-aloud process, we wrote 
our own sentence as a model for the students: 

When the mother saw that the child was playing in the mud while still wearing his 
best Sunday clothes, she screamed at the top of her lungs.  

 Once the children saw the process modeled, the class, as a whole, created a different 
sentence following the same pattern. Together, the class came up with the sentence:  



48 Georgia Journal of Literacy 47(2)  
 

   
 

When the piano student at the recital learned that one of the other piano students 
had spilled punch all over her recital music, she burst into tears and ran out of the 
room.  

 Notice that even though we did not follow the exact planning format, we were given the 
opportunity to discuss how they do not always have to follow the pattern precisely. They can make 
it their own. This realization helps the students not to be intimidated by the process. Next, we had 
each student (or pairs of students) write their own sentences based on the pattern. Students 
volunteered to share their example sentences with the whole class. The final step was for the 
students to find a sentence in their own creative writing pieces and revise it to follow the pattern 
they had been working on. Mimicking this example, one student wrote the following to be 
incorporated in their piece:  

When the dogs in the schoolyard saw that the children had treats in their 
outstretched hands, they all ran to get their share.  

 Notice that this example does not exactly follow the guide that the students were given. 
The student made it their own. To follow it verbatim and talk about what the dogs were wearing 
would have detracted from the beauty of what they did write.  
 Another craft utilized in writing is that of parallelism. Parallelism in writing is a powerful 
technique that enhances clarity, balance, and rhythm, making sentences more engaging and easier 
to read. It can be introduced and modeled for students by beginning with examples from 
professional writing. One such example can be found in Flight 116 is Down! (Cooney, 1992). 
“Pieces of tree, pieces of metal, pieces of seat and airplane wing gleamed in the moonlight” (p. 
48). Students can be led to discover that in this example of parallelism, there are three items listed, 
each of which uses a three-word phrase. The example ends by telling what those items were doing. 
As instructors, we came up with the following to model parallelism: 

Bowls of peaches, bowls of tomatoes, and bowls of half-eaten spaghetti were spread 
across the table. 

Imagine our delight when the students came up with this sentence:  
 

Fans dressed in purple, fans dressed in red, and fans waving banners poured down the 
streets to the playing field. 
 

Prepositional Phrases 

Our students were very familiar with prepositions and prepositional phrases because we had 
discussed and identified them previously through the context of reading and writing. Prepositional 
phrases can occur at multiple points within a sentence. You will find them at the beginning, in the 
middle, and at the end. Using mentor texts, we were able to demonstrate examples of all three 
locations of prepositional phrases. In addition, we had practiced adding prepositional phrases to 
simple sentences. We displayed examples of prepositional phrases with subject/verb splits in texts, 
and we had students practice making their own on sentence strips.  
 As our example of a prepositional phrase at the beginning of a sentence, we used the 
following from Bad Boys (Palatini, 2003): “With Betty’s prodding, they queued up next to each 
other in back of two long lines of sheep.” When we asked students to begin a sentence with a 
prepositional phrase using the same process we described earlier by showing examples on the 
document camera, one animal enthusiast wrote the following sentence: 



Reed & Miller 49 
 

   
 

Like a sloth in its natural state, the boy slowly slid out of bed.   
 We used The Witch of Blackbird Pond (Speare, 1958), with its beautifully written text, to 
introduce the use of a prepositional phrase with a subject/verb split. “Captain Eaton, in his good 
blue coat, was shouting orders from the quarterdeck” (p. 3). One student incorporated this 
technique when they changed an original sentence from:  

The grizzly bear walked to the lake. 
 Into the more stylistic sentence: 

The grizzly bear, with lumbering movements, made his way down to the lake.  
 The student was extremely pleased with the way this simple change enhanced their writing 
and seemed to make the grizzly bear come alive.  
 Our last work with prepositional phrases focused on placing them at the end of the sentence. 
We chose the following excerpt from The House on Mango Street (Cisneros, 1984) for our example 
of this sentence type. Sandra Cisneros described the sudden development of a teenage girl’s hips 
by stating, “One day you wake up and they are there. [They are] Ready and waiting, like a new 
Buick with the keys in the ignition” (p. 49). Notice that this quote ends with three prepositional 
phrases in a row. The three prepositional phrases are: “like a new Buick,” “with the keys,” and “in 
the ignition.” Our students, in following this pattern, created the following:   

Galloping on horses refreshes your mind as the wind blows against your face, 
through your hair, and down your spine.  

The House on Mango Street is adolescent literature. Notice, however, that the level of the book 
from which your examples are derived is not that important. You could also use picture books 
when teaching at the secondary level or secondary texts as examples for primary children.  
 
Clauses for Sophisticated Sentences  

Adjective and adverbial clauses are types of dependent clauses that add depth and detail to writing. 
They help to create more sophisticated and precise sentences. Using these clauses allows writers 
to connect ideas smoothly, show relationships between thoughts, and add layers of meaning. The 
clauses make the sentences clearer, richer, and more engaging.  
 An adjective clause contains a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone as a sentence. It 
is used to modify a noun, just as individual adjectives do. The following quote comes from The 
Polar Express (Van Allsburg, 1985): “We traveled through cold, dark forests, where lean wolves 
roamed.” “Where lean wolves roamed” is the adjective clause describing the forest. After seeing 
this example, one student wrote:  

We sat by the lake where the fireflies sparkled.  
 Like the adjective clause, an adverbial clause contains a subject and a verb. However, the 
adverbial clause must play the part of an adverb. The following example is from Frog and Toad 
Are Friends (Lobel, 1970): “He ran up the path to Toad’s house because he wanted to see Toad” 
(p. 4). “Because he wanted to see Toad” modifies the verb ran. In describing his family’s trip to 
Tanzania, our student wrote: 

We rode in the hot air balloon because we wanted to see the Serengeti. 
 

 



50 Georgia Journal of Literacy 47(2)  
 

   
 

Crafting Interesting Leads 

In addition to working at the sentence level, mentor text can also be utilized to help students hone 
their craft in a bigger picture, such as developing provocative leads. In the following examples of 
using texts as models of leads, we will start simple and move to the more complex. A fun book to 
begin with is Roger the Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist (2004). This book begins as follows, “Before 
anyone had heard of Black Beard, Long John Silver, or Calico Jack, there was a pirate named 
Roger.” To use this text to support students, begin by pointing out the structure of this lead. The 
text starts by saying “Before anyone had heard of . . .” and then it names three individuals who 
have something in common. It then says, “There was . . .” and names the main character of the 
story. This is a fairly simple pattern that is easily followed by students. We invited students to 
follow this format to introduce a story. We received some amazing results. One aspiring rock star 
thought of her own future career and began as follows: 

Before there was Cher, Madonna, or even Beyoncé, there was Eloise!   
Another dog lover wrote about his favorite, using the lead:  

Before there was Lassie, Rin Tin Tin, or even Benji, there was the best dog of all—
Max, the black lab. 

The class could then more fully understand the importance of an attention-grabbing lead 
that immediately engages the reader and compels them to read on.  

Another book we have used for a model of an interesting lead is Albert the Bear 
(Butterworth, 2002). This is an excellent text to teach the craft of flashback. The story begins, 
“From the front, Albert the Bear looks very sad indeed. He has the saddest eyes you ever saw. 
Which is strange, because Albert . . . But wait. Let’s tell his story from the very beginning.” Notice 
how the story really begins at the end, and now the author is going to nostalgically recall and tell 
a reminiscence to continue the story. We encourage students to think about how their story would 
end so that they can do the same. One young sports fan wrote: 

The crowd roared and cheered as #19 threw the pass to its intended receiver, who 
turned and ran for the winning touchdown. Which is remarkable, because everyone 
thought #19 would actually be playing in the World Series . . . But wait. Let’s start 
from the beginning and tell this young man’s surprising journey to fame.  

The young author then proceeded to tell the rest of his hero’s story.  
You will notice that we started with a somewhat simple lead that was easily replicated, 

then went to an example that was somewhat more challenging by introducing the flashback. The 
truth is that any book can have its lead imitated. Different leads lend themselves to different stories. 
Children can learn to use the lead from any story they enjoy to create the beginning of their own 
story.  

Let us look at an example of a lead that might be a little more challenging to deconstruct. 
Zachary’s Ball (Tavares, 2000) offers a bit more of a challenge. The book begins as follows: 

I had never been inside a ballpark until that day. Everything felt so close to me–the 
outfield fence, the players warming up, even the man who watered the field. I was 
jealous of him because he got to walk on the same grass as Buck Spoonwell and all 
the other heroes my father talked about so often. 
Let us take a close look at how Tavares began this story. The author begins by bringing us 

into the setting. He then uses a listing technique to describe what he sees. The list is followed by 



Reed & Miller 51 
 

   
 

a feeling. One student was excited to share her travels to the Grand Canyon. She began her story 
with this:  

This was my first visit to the Grand Canyon. Everything was overpowering, vibrant, 
and strange–the distance to the wall on the other side, the colors of the rocks, even 
the knowledge that it creates its own weather! Standing at the precipice and gazing 
out across the horizon, I immediately knew why it was called the Grand Canyon.  
 

Conclusion 
Mentor texts are powerful tools that help students internalize the techniques of skilled authors. If 
teachers carefully select professional examples of craft they would like to see emulated, students 
can be taught to deconstruct what the writer created. Once the deconstruction has occurred, 
students can learn to produce new writing using the professional writing as a model. If this process 
is used on a regular basis, students will learn over time to internalize more sophisticated crafting 
moves. With thoughtful scaffolding, students of all ages and abilities can use these models to 
enhance their writing. Through patience, encouragement, and practice, we can help all students 
grow as writers. 
 
References 
Killgallon, D., & Killgallon, J. (2008). Story grammar for elementary school: A sentence-

composing approach. Heinemann. 
Pearson, P. D., & Gallagher, M. C. (1983). The instruction of reading comprehension. 

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 8(3), 317–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-
476X(83)90019-X 

Literature Cited 
Butterworth, N. (2002). Albert the bear. Harper Collins.  
Cisneros, S. (1984). The house on Mango Street. Random House.  
Cooney, C. (1992). Flight 116 is down! Scholastic. 
Helquist, B. (2004). Roger the jolly pirate. Harper Collins.  
Lobel, A. (1970). Frog and Toad are friends. Harper & Row. 
Palatini, M. (2003). Bad boys. Harper Collins.  
Speare, E. G. (1958). The witch of Blackbird Pond. Dell Publishing.  
Tavares, M. (2000). Zachary’s ball. Candlewick Press.  
Van Allsburg, C. (1985). The polar express. Houghton Mifflin.  
White, E. B. (1945). Stuart Little. Harper & Brothers. 
 
 
Received: July 10, 2025 | Accepted: September 10, 2025 | Published: December 12, 2025 

https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476X(83)90019-X
https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-476X(83)90019-X

	Teaching with Mentor Text Using Gradual Release of Responsibility
	Sentence Imitation
	Prepositional Phrases
	Clauses for Sophisticated Sentences
	Crafting Interesting Leads

	Conclusion
	References
	Literature Cited

