5 Simple Steps to Reading Like a Writer

I often wonder where we went wrong in teaching students to write. Which came first, the high stakes state assessment or the boxy formula for writing an essay?

In the course of my work over the past several years, one of the greatest obstacles teachers face is their own hesitance to step outside-of-the-box to teach writing any other way than that of a 5-paragraph essay. Well, I love a good challenge and this one has me wondering, 

How can we get teachers to look at state assessment writing as a genre rather than the only way to write?

Not sure about you, but for me, there’s nothing more magical than opening up a book, a magazine article, or a blog on the Internet, and reading words that touch you to your core. I’ll never forget reading Ocean Vuong’s “On Earth We are Briefly Gorgeous“, for the first time, and literally feeling the words in my mouth. They just tasted good on the tongue. Now I know that sounds absolutely insane to people who aren’t word geeks like myself, but there are words that just sound good together, essays that just jump off a page. That’s the magic of writing and there’s no formula for that. 

We need to trust the process of exposing students to good writing over, and over, and over again. Reading texts from all different authors, all different genres, and letting them imitate it.

I remember as a little girl watching the Winter Olympics on TV. I would sit, mesmerized watching Dorothy Hamill in her pale pink leotard and pixie haircut as she twirled in her famous ‘Hamill camel’ spin. It was all I wanted to do. She was all I wanted to be. I’d jump up off that rug, race out to the garage to grab my clunky metal roller skates, and swiftly head to the sidewalk out front, imitating what moves I had managed to memorize in my head.  I was convinced that I would one day achieve her grace and ability.  I felt like Dorothy Hamill. I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill.

We can create that same desire in our students when it comes to writing. Now,  not every text we analyze and try to mimic will speak to our kids in the same way Dorothy Hamill and her ice skating spoke to me, but at some point, if we read enough text with our students, analyze them, and practice writing with them, they’re bound find one that speaks to them. 

So, the tough question is, 

How will they know how to write when it comes time for the test?

Well, that too, should be part of what we analyze, and mimic. But first we try it with rich texts, with rich vocabulary, without formulas and parameters on the number of paragraphs and sentences that must be contained within.  Let’s allow them to see how words can dance on a page.  Let’s give them the chance to fall in love with the process of writing, rather than drowning out their creative juices to the tune of test scores.

Here are the five basic steps I use to plan for a mentor text-analysis getting my students to read like writers. 

Step 1: Pick a text you love

Find a text that speaks to you personally. When you love the text, that will shine through when you’re reading it, sharing it, and analyzing it with your students.

Step 2: Look for the patterns 

Where do you see positive connotations? Highlight that in one color. Where do you see negative connotations? Highlight that in another color. Where do you see themes, messages, and central ideas? Annotate that in the margin of the text. Where do you see punctuation being used for a particular effect? Where do you see transitions? Does it look like something else you’ve seen before?  Note all of this.  

Reading like a writer means identifying and noting the intentional, distinct moves an author makes to create a particular effect.

Step 3: Name that pattern and label it

If you see a pattern like positive – negative – transition – punctuation, use symbols to associate those patterns. Not sure what I mean? Notice how we’ve labeled the N-T-P-T pattern in the poem annotated here.

Think about creating a template, or sentence frames, that allow students to fill in the blank for the text. This might be especially helpful for younger learners, struggling students, and our multi-language learners.

Step 4: Write in front of your students 

This one’s a tough one and it’s OK to be vulnerable in front of your kiddos. As a matter of fact, I have found that being vulnerable and exposing my own thinking process and mistakes in front of my students lent to the times they learned the most. We need to mimic the style of writing from the author that we’ve just analyzed, using what might be considered ‘approved plagiarism’. You’ll of course use a different topic but the patterns that are present in the mentor text should be what we are emulating when we are modeling this for our students.  

Here’s an example of what I mean…

During this process, you’ll be borrowing some terms and phrases from the mentor text yet infusing your own at the same time to make it yours. Our students often feel like they have to get it right the first time. What they need to see is the messiness of that process on paper. Kick it old school, break out the pen and paper, and that overhead projector if need be, so they can see you work through that messiness. 

Step 5: Celebrate it 

Read it aloud by doing a side by side. Place the original work on the left and your new work on the right and analyze yours in the same way you did the mentor text to find those same patterns. Is it meeting the pattern? Does it use the same techniques?

Regardless of the genre, whether it be poetry, an argumentative essay, a business letter, or a state assessment paper, analyzing text using the process of reading like a writer is what we should do to build stronger writing skills for our students. 

Clearly, I’ll never be as graceful as Dorothy Hamill, nor will I have the eloquence of Ocean Vuong, but analyzing what makes them great, and attempting to emulate what sets them apart from others, is definitely moving in the right direction.  Moving our students away from the formula and into a love of writing and real-world application is critical to their success. I challenge you to trust that process.  

You just might just find it works!