Sigh. Not like I have in the past, but yes. Totally. The authors I seem to gravitate towards for writing lessons are the same ones I look to for reading lessons. Here are a few staples:
~ Cythnia Rylant (Every Living Thing is an amazing collection of short, snippet stories-worth purchasing).
~ Lester Laminack's Saturdays and Teacakes (mentor text). We've visited this one many times this year.
~ Kate DiCamillo. I use her a lot because many of the books have been read by my students, and we read The Tiger Rising as a class. I really like her focus on character struggles and incorporation of symbolism and complex themes (mentioned in the post).
~ Leonard Pitts- The Miami Herald. Why? He won the Pulitzer, is entertaining yet complex (he wrote a piece on PB&J Uncrustables, but it is REALLY a piece about how all these conveniences have made our lives less convenient).
I hope that helps. More importantly, find the authors you love and can read like a writer and use this for writing lessons. For example, I have used portions of Jumpha Lahiri's work for lessons before (The Real Durwan found in her Pulitzer Winning book- Interpreter of Maladies).
Brittney,
Sigh. Not like I have in the past, but yes. Totally. The authors I seem to gravitate towards for writing lessons are the same ones I look to for reading lessons. Here are a few staples:
~ Cythnia Rylant (Every Living Thing is an amazing collection of short, snippet stories-worth purchasing).
~ Lester Laminack's Saturdays and Teacakes (mentor text). We've visited this one many times this year.
~ Kate DiCamillo. I use her a lot because many of the books have been read by my students, and we read The Tiger Rising as a class. I really like her focus on character struggles and incorporation of symbolism and complex themes (mentioned in the post).
~ Leonard Pitts- The Miami Herald. Why? He won the Pulitzer, is entertaining yet complex (he wrote a piece on PB&J Uncrustables, but it is REALLY a piece about how all these conveniences have made our lives less convenient).
I hope that helps. More importantly, find the authors you love and can read like a writer and use this for writing lessons. For example, I have used portions of Jumpha Lahiri's work for lessons before (The Real Durwan found in her Pulitzer Winning book- Interpreter of Maladies).
Angela