Using Mentor Texts to Deconstruct Text Sets

Abstract

We recognize that students need literacy practices that transcend grade levels and content areas as well as multiple opportunities to showcase and to see their culture(s) in the texts they read. Therefore, in this chapter, the authors consider how culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy can help support literacy experiences for students and help educators better understand how to teach in ways that honor culture and language in a modern society. The chapter has three main goals: define mentor texts and review the literature on mentor texts across content areas, identify mentor texts across content areas and point to how teachers and teacher educators can use them to demonstrate a clear understanding of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy, and provide professional resources for teachers and teacher educators to utilize as they create literacy experiences that build knowledge around mentor texts for the purpose of developing cultural awareness.