When learning how to write well, there is nothing more powerful than examining the work of the writers we admire. Real writers need mentors, those writers who inspire us and demonstrate through their style and craft how we, too, can be successful writers. In Writing with Mentors, Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli, authors of Mentor Texts and Nonfiction Mentor Texts, take us inside two Pennsylvania classrooms and show us how we can use children's literature effectively to teach both informational and narrative writing. Lynne joins fifth-grade teacher Dan Monaghan to teach a lesson on effective leads in nonfiction. They model the "Sharing a Secret" lead, where students transition from telling secrets about themselves to using these secrets as a lead in longer essays to effectively hook readers. Rose joins two second-grade teachers in their fully-inclusive classroom to teach students all about the importance of setting and place in a good piece of narrative writing.

This video contains two programs, each over an hour long, that show how a writing lesson evolves over two days. Viewers will see master teachers in action, demonstrating modeling, shared writing, whole group lessons, small group and one-on-one conferences, using writer's notebooks, and the all-important reflection upon the lesson. Real-world writing and real writers don't follow a script. Join Lynne and Rose as they show us how to teach writing the way it was meant to be taught.

195 Minutes/2 discs.