1. Deborah Copher ED,S,
Oakwood Elementary – Hall County

2. Deborah Copher
Currently 3rd Grade teacher
Oakwood Elementary
Hall County, Georgia
20th year of teaching
K-5 experience
Personal Professional Goal this Year:
Improve the Writing Environment in the Classroom

3. A New Approach to Writing

4. My kids, my grandson, and my husband.

5.  A teacher… write my own personal mentor texts?
Absolutely!
 Today is interactive!
 Today is a day to consider something new!
 Today most of you will see yourself as a real
writer – after all, our students all do!
 Today I will show just a glimpse of personal
mentor text writing with:
◦ “Zooming in on a moment”
◦ “Building a story of character (s), not just telling a tale
from beginning, middle and end.
◦ If time, non-fiction writing
◦ Finally, closing with a powerful tribute to mentor text
writing from my students.

6.  Quick!
 Write down 5-10 words or short
phrases that honestly describe you
as an writer (good or bad) – Go!
Now turn and talk with the person
next to you and share your top three.
 Share out with whole group common
themes.

7.  Cool
Persuasive *Has stamina
I have nice handwriting

  Imaginable *Satisfying
Confident *Shows individuality
 I want to write cursive 
 Positive *Character is important
 I like to write 

Focused
Graceful
*Adventurous
*Safe
 Hate it 

Brave
Emotional
*Full of Ideas
*Organized
 I don’t know what to 

Diligent
Passionate
*Surprising
*Simple
write about  Full of Action *Has my opinion
 Interesting characters *Accurate
 Can I draw?  Enjoyable *Rich with details
 Durable *Mysterious
 How many sentences?  Have a story to share *A treasure
 Loves a message inside *Forgiving
September - 2012 March - 2013

8.  My children: “Are you EVER going to write
down these stories you tell us?”
 Time?
 Where do I start?
 I enjoy writing-
 What’s considered a good story?
 How do I choose?
 What motivates me to tell a family story with
my class?

9.  Project Video
 Stephanie Jones, with the Classroom Project from UGA, observed a
writing lesson in my classroom about a story I was writing about my
sister’s new venture with raising chickens.
 Using Graphic Organizer – journals
 Her Observations:
 “When you told the story orally, they were completely engaged.”
 “They were begging to ask questions and clarify details. They were
predicting, inferring, drawing conclusions automatically orally.”
 “Everything fizzled out when they went back to their seats to write.”
 “’Why the disconnect? Even with conferring during individual writing
time, the students got quiet, not reflective, writer’s block.”

10.  Stephanie – “If you could choose anything to
work on to improve your teaching, what would
you choose?
 Me – “I want them to learn to love to write.”
 Stephanie – “Exactly!
 “Suggestion? You have got to write these stories
down. They are memories that needs preserving,
they are stories that the kids can connect to, they
love to hear them! They couldn’t wait for you to
tell them the ending. They want to hear more.”
 We talked about how I plan writing lessons,
student needs, conference observations,etc.
 Then her one question for me at the end…

11.  Writing the story before? Not a little each day on
chart paper? What would be the purpose of that? How
will that make it more meaningful?
 Stephanie’s Challenge: Find a time everyday to write
– even 5 minutes. Write your next story completely.
Then write your lesson plans. See what happens to
the intent of your lessons.
 Sure enough – as I wrote the story, the craft lessons
the students needed (conferencing data), started
presenting themselves as I wrote. I made notes as I
wrote, but wrote the complete story. But the lessons,
I realized were all student focused on their
individualized needs.

12.  “Bird by Bird – Some Instructions on Writing
and Life” by Anne Lamott
 “Let the Polaroid develop; in other words,
observe, watch, listen, stay in the moment,
until you understand what you want to write
about.” –Anne Lamott
 Article – “14 Writing Tips from Anne Lamott”
Handout in folder 

14.  ZOOM IN!
 Quickly choose a moment, a
snapshot, in your memory
and just write until I say
stop.
 Share?

15.  Flip over your writing and list several
writing craft lessons that come to mind
from student conferences.
 Build craft lessons into the story as you
write it with the class (chart paper).
 Ask students for comments and questions.
 Use those suggestions to make the writing
stronger.
 Differentiating for students? Absolutely!

16. Intentional Craft
Lessons:
*”Zoom” in on a
moment
*Getting the
reader’s
attention (hook)
*Sound words
for description
*Flashback
*Dialogue
*Variety of word
choice for
“said”.
*Transitions
*Figurative
Language
*Possible
conclusions

17. In order to put
myself in their
shoes as writers,
they had to see
me as a writer
like them. How?
*I asked for
feedback. They
loved that!
*Quality of
questions,
wonderings,
suggestions,
comments
developed
rapidly.
Quality of
writing
improved
dramatically.

18.  “What’s a “Kodak Moment”?
 “Is it ok to put a quote from the song, “Singing in
the Rain”? You could put it right here.
 “Why were they in the rain?” (This provided the
flashback opportunity)
 “Let’s put the sound of the wood-chipper – like
“RRRRRrrrr” in there. That would be cool!
 “Why do people say, “raining cats and dogs”?
 This is a memory for you and Mr. Copher! I’ve
got a great idea for the conclusion– put the
picture at the end as the moment you clicked the
camera!

19. “This rain, that had teased us all day, suddenly
appeared as if the heavens had opened up and
overflowed. The thunder ceased when the rain
began. It was truly raining cats and dogs.”
“ So this is how it came to be that three kids, troupers
for the duration of a Saturday project, , suddenly
found themselves soaked to the skin, dancing and
singing in the rain.”
“Todd and I snuck closer, hiding under the dripping
umbrella, and I put my camera in place, finger ready
to snap the moment that was to come…Click! My
finger snapped the button just at the right moment …

21. “Let the plot grow out of the characters.
If you find that you start a number of stories or
pieces that don’t get finished, it may be that
there is nothing at their center about which
you care passionately for. Put yourself at
THEIR center – you and what you believe to be
true or right.”-Anne Lamott

22.  Story Idea –
“Mama’s Quilt Top”
 Story Web #1 -

23.  “Drama moves forward and upward”-Anne Lamott
 “I write with the thought of discovering a story, not
just telling one.” –Terry Kay, award winning novelist,
journalist, playwright.
 Not happy with the story, and how it was coming
together, I went back to the idea that this story was
really about my mother – not my memory, or the
quilt. I drew a timeline in my journal of the quilt
top’s journey, and what was happening in her life.
 Called and talked to her. Very interesting facts she
filled in that I never knew.

24. Traveling Back in Time Early 1970’s –
Move houses-
Quilt stays in
storage.
Late 1960’s
Top stored away in box
Mama raising family plus
New baby (me)
Mid-1960’s –
Quilt top assembled-
Not finished
Mama gets quilt pattern
from G’ma Daisy (my dad’s
Grandmother)
“Road to Oklahoma” pattern
Early 1960’s –(special family meaning)
Fabric Scraps
From Homemade Clothes

25. But…
Jan. 1997-
Time moves on… Quilt put away…too
painful to look at.
Dec. 1996
Christmas
Present
July-Aug 1996 –
With help, I
preserve the quilt
and finish it.
June1996-Mama has moved. I drive out to
Help her move in; unpacking boxes. I find the
“lone” box. Unpack it and find the quilt top
I never knew existed. Mama shocked-tears-
doesn’t want to see it. I realize why, finally.
30 Years… I asked to bring it home and have it finished.
Box moved, never unpacked

26. The quilt’s journey was a
story to tell…but the
discovered story is journey
of my mother in concert
with the quilt. Her
character travels through a
Another 15 years go by… story of joy, happiness,
loss, sorrow, pain, and
finally comfort. That’s the
story.
“It’s on my bed, of course. I like having it
near me now. I get so lonely with your
brother and sister gone, Jim and you so far
away. It helps me feel like a part of all four
of you are here.”
Quilt top has come full circle – Once planned
as a future treasure, it now is – although for
Oct. 2012 a different reason.
“Mama, what ever happened
to that quilt I finished for you?”

27. New graphic
organizer
start-

28. New focus-
 Develop her character
 What is most important to her as the
character?
 What do I see through her character’s eyes;
emotions ; life
 Set up story…
 Built forward and upward…
 Payoff or conclusion

29.  “Oh, that’s just an old thing I made years ago, from extra
scraps of material I had.”
Her comments stopped suddenly with a large pause. Then
she went back to unpacking the box she had just unwrapped,
and made herself “noticeably” busy, pulling newspaper from
glass figurines. I sensed her hesitation.
 “Mama? Would you mind if I laid it out and looked at it?” My
question was hesitant, bracing myself for the reaction
coming. “Well, I guess so. But I don’t want to see it. I’ll go
upstairs and start some lunch. Make sure to fold it up and put
it in the box when you are done.” And with that, she walked
quietly to the stairs and slowly climbed up them.

30.  Soon, I began to remember seeing some of the
material scraps hidden away within my
childhood memories. The black and white
print from my sister’s square dance dress, the
plaid from my brothers’ pj’s, pink material
from an Easter dress my sister had her picture
made in when she was little…
Within moments I began to realize these fragile
scraps were really precious memories of a
young mother with three little kids, trying to
make ends meet. This was pieced long before I,
the youngest, ever came along.

31. This quilt had begun as a keepsake, a record of
time and happy occasions to be treasured for
generations.
 Now a piece of history, a silent reminder of
overwhelming sorrow and loss for the two
children who passed away as early adults –
within three years of each other. Her own
painful divorce near the same time. Looking
at this now was terribly painful for her, and
also for me, as I wiped tears from my eyes.

32.  Turn and talk about what you know about
this character. How do you know?
 What questions are arising?
 What is not said, but is understood? (Inferred)

33.  Researching/asking about family and stories
 Developing the character
 Asking “What if?”
 Descriptive language to display emotion
 Dialogue
 Questioning Skills as you are writing
 Re-wording sentences to make stronger emotion.
 Importance of illustrations in text.
“Make writing a want to…not a must too!”
-Terry Kay, novelist.

34.  Why is she alone?
 What if the movers had lost that box?
 I think you should use “hesitation” there instead
of the word “worry”
 How about saying, “My curiosity was overflowing
with questions”, instead of “grew even more”.
 You need more dialogue from your mom. What
else did she say?
 Where’s the quilt? What does it look like?
 Don’t you have a picture of the quilt?
 Let’s just call your mom. She can tell us.
 Maybe she can email a picture of it to us?
 Is she still sad?

35.  Why are you frustrated? How can I help?
-I’m frustrated about the story and
spelling the words.
 How did people feel when this happened?
“She felt……” – Hey buddy! Don’t tell me
that! Write it down-that’s good stuff.
 Hey-you’ve had something really important
happen in your family. You should contrast
how your family was before the divorce, and
now how you just told me you are learning to
be happy in a different way.

37. “For Mama, Gail June Heath Piper
Quilt presented by your daughter
Deborah Annette Piper Copher
Pieced by you – circa 1960 – Lamar, CO
Quilted and Completed by Me
September, 1996 – Oakwood, Georgia
With all my love”

38.  “This is our goal as writers, I think; to help others
have this sense of…wonder, of seeing things anew,
things that can catch us off guard, that break in on
our small, bordered worlds.” – Anne Lamott
 “Anyone who wants to, can be surprised by the
beauty or pain of the natural world, of the human
mind and heart, and can try to capture just that-the
details, the nuance, what is.”-Anne Lamott
 When we see what catches us off guard, and when we
write it as realistically and openly as possible, it
offers hope.” – Anne Lamott

39.  How did she become a best friend? Why?
 What if she moved away? What would you do?
 Is something about her character like yours?
 What’s that word? Could you use a different
word that might have more meaning or add some
“Pizzaz”
 I think you should change this word in the
sentence. It doesn’t sound right. It doesn’t go
with the meaning.
 You need to add more details to this. You could
put much more effort into this. I’m not sure what
the point is to your chapter.

40.  Whales
 Quote:
 Craft Lesson: Text Features
 Student Samples

41.  Its important for them to design their journal with
their own keepsakes and reminders of personal
stories. Gives them immediate ownership.
 It is powerful to see the change in the student’s
writing, and approach a variety of topics, and feel
safe enough to do so.
 My vulnerability to share my stories, sad or happy,
helps level the playing field and write WITH the
children. The comfort level of all have increased.
They feel confident to question and draw
conclusions, correct grammar mistakes, etc.
 Writing teams are awesome! They can build a story
together.
 I am not just a teacher anymore, I am a writer!

42. These Items are in your folder:
 14 Writing Tips from Anne Lamont 
 Short Biography and Writing Thoughts from
Terry Kay 
 Looking for the Best Way – Post from Avi,
author
(active writing blog post) 

43.  Based on the mentor text, In My Family by
Carmen Lomas Garza
 www.cophermentortextwriting/weebly.com