Teaching Sentence Structure through Mentor Sentences

Teaching Sentence Structure

through Mentor Sentences

Shannon Beck

✗ Annotating & labeling “parts of language” eg. noun/verb/adjective/conjunction, is only part of the picture.

✗ Look at the purpose or effect of the parts of a strong sentence.

✗ Pull apart the structure to see how the parts are working.

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Scaffolding LiteracyWith thanks to Misty Adoniou

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Text Orientation

➢ Teacher verbally tells the story of the text.

➢ Struggling readers understand the plot/content before attempting to read the text.

➢ They can analyse the language without worrying about understanding the content.

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Dear brothers and sisters, do remember one thing. Malala day is not my day. Today is the day of every woman, every boy

and every girl who have raised their voice for their rights. There are hundreds of Human rights activists and social workers

who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality.

Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.

So here I stand.... one girl among many. I speak – not for myself, but for all girls and boys. I raise up my voice – not so that I

can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.

Those who have fought for their rights:

Their right to live in peace.

Their right to be treated with dignity.

Their right to equality of opportunity.

Their right to be educated.

So here I stand.... one girl

among many.

I speak – not for myself,

but for all girls and boys.

Language Orientation

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➢ Cut up excerpt➢ Remove phrases/words & re-

read➢ Discuss how the effect

changes when certain words are removed

➢ Discuss what that word is actually doing

I raise up my voice – not so

that I can shout, but so that

those without a voice can be

heard.

Students identified:➢ “Up” seems more

hopeful than just “I raise”

➢ “Shout” seems rude/obnoxious

➢ “Without a voice” is a metaphor

I highlighted:➢ “Not …. But …” pattern➢ Repetition as persuasive

technique

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I raise up my voice - not so that I can

shout,

but so that

those

without a voice

can be heard.

What is the language doing?

Metaphor of

rising -

hopeful,

positive

individual “Not so” Contrasts

her action as an

individual with the

group she

represents

Contrast -

highlights

next phrase

Directs

attention

Metaphor for

opportunity, freedom,

autonomy

Student’s turn

I call upon our

government

not to cage and

condemn the

world’s most

vulnerable people,

but to give

them

access

to the dream we all

share.

Language Transformation

Teacher verbally tells the story of the text

Read the text together

Discuss the structural features by annotating the text in pairs

Text Orientation: Rosie Batty

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Learning Intention: to understand the function of the parts of the sentence.

Language Orientation

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Language Transformation

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Text What it’s doing Your version

Visibly grief-stricken,

Rosie

nonetheless

showed admirable

compassion for Anderson,

saying, “Nobody loved Luke

more than Greg.”

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