Mentor texts help teachers to model and
teach the skill that is being explicitly taught. Mentor texts can be used to
teach themes, skills, craft and the
various aspects of writing.
The books here pair well with Social
Justice Themes and they can all be used
to teach writing conventions.
This page does not have enough books, Book recommendations are welcome,
please help!
Articles
Ten Quick Ways to Analyze Childrens Books for Sexism and Racism
Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Classroom Children's Books
Heinemann Podcast - Libraries as Healing Spaces with Heinemann Fellow Julia Torres and Janet Damon
https://scenicregional.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding-Glass-Doors.pdf
Refer to the learning progressions found
on the Writing Projects & Genres page for
ideas on skills for each greade level.
Start effectively using mentor
Community Themes
A boy and his friends protest their eviction.
A young girl is sick of a trash heap in her
neighborhood. So she decides to go to City Hall by herself to build a park.
Young people demonstrate the many ways citizens can help their community.
Hey, Wall: A Story of Art and Community A boy begins to see the different meanings of a wall in his neighborhood (can introduce symbolism for walls and representation - for younger students)
Voice
The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade
A young girl notices the world around her and decides to say something about it.
Identity, History, and Civil Rights
A boy dreams of freedom from slavery.
"Black American triumph and tribulation"
John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement
Civil Right Protest History
A girl observes that "some passengers aren't allowed to sit in certain areas."
Perspective Taking
You Don't Know Everything Jilly P.
A young girl learns about her priveledge.
"Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation. "
Power of Symbols
How a Photograph Defined China's Protest Movement
History of the Confederate Flag
An article from Teen Vogue
A girl's protest journey, Black Lives Matter
Rights of Women and Girls
"Amal realizes she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to exact change in a cruel status quo, and if Amal is ever to achieve her dreams."
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
“I’m a simple village girl who has always obeyed the orders of my father and brothers. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today I have decided to say no.”
Climate
A boy's farmland is being taken over by developers.
Consent
Crossing the line
Justice
"Stella tells the story of how she and her community ban together against racism and injustice."
"Three sisters learn about their family, their country, and themselves."
Two young girls are forces to leave their homes during Japanese Internment.
Perspective Taking
The relationship of two young women examine and expose our own assumptions.
"Baca’s post-prison life as a writer and his ongoing work with struggling adolescents, prisoners, and society’s dispossessed"
Girls Write Now: Two Decades of True Stories from Young Female Voices
"Teenage girls tell their most urgent stories"
An anthology of stories and essays by 54 juniors and seniors at San Francisco’s Mission High School
Prejudice
"Spurred by the realization that they had nearly completed high school without hearing any substantive discussion about racism in school, the two young women deferred college admission for a year to collect first-person accounts of how racism plays out in this country every day—and often in unexpected ways."
Beautiful Music for Ugly Children
"He couldn’t ask for more. His only problem? The rest of the world has known him as Elizabeth for the last eighteen years."
Rights for Women and Girls
Human Trafficking, sex slavery
Social Justice Book Lists for
High School
Social Justice Book Lists
Other resources that have
Mentor Texts in them
Write On! Writing for Social Justice
Think outside the box when it comes to mentor texts and writing projects.