Crafting mentor texts for reading using Google Gemini | Teaching with Technology

Mentor texts are invaluable tools for reading comprehension. These concrete models allow students to apply reading skills and strategies within teacher-selected examples using modern AI tools like Google Gemini.

However, finding suitable mentor texts can be time-consuming, as it often requires extensive review and selection processes to identify texts that accurately address instructional goals and resonate with students. This process can be especially challenging when teachers lack access to printed materials.

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In such cases, Google Gemini, an AI-powered tool, can make the search unnecessary by generating customized text excerpts tailored for specific instruction.

Here’s how to use this technology for teaching:

Step 1: Use these questions to determine text criteria.

Google Gemini is an AI model capable of understanding and responding to prompts as a human would. Teachers must provide specific parameters and clearly outline their needs as if describing the ideal text to a colleague. Even though teachers instinctively consider factors like skill focus, student suitability, and text structure when selecting mentor texts, specifying these elements in the AI prompt ensures that Gemini can accurately generate texts that align with instructional needs and meet designated learning objectives.

Step 2: Type into AI a list or paragraph of the text critera.

Once the criteria for the mentor text are clear, write the prompt as a list or in sentence form.

For example, a prompt might look like this:

Objective: Create a mentor text for teaching…

Standard Focus: Identifying the main idea
Reading Level: 2nd Grade
Length: 3-5 paragraphs
Content: Make it about the Summer Olympics
Text Considerations:

Repeat the topic.
Include several supporting details that reinforce an obvious main idea that is repeated throughout the text.
Use age-appropriate vocabulary and sentence structures.
Or, this:

Create a mentor text for 2nd-grade students to practice identifying the main idea in an informational text. The text should be between 3-5 paragraphs. Make it about the Summer Olympics. Be sure to repeat the topic. Include several supporting details that reinforce the main idea. Use age-appropriate vocabulary and sentence structures.

Either way, what matters most is that the prompt specifies the key elements and criteria needed for the mentor text.

Step 3: Watch as AI generates your text.

Step 4: Refine the mentor text

While the initial text Google Gemini generates may work, there are ways to revise and refine it for a better fit. Gemini offers a ‘drafts’ feature, allowing users to choose their preferred version from multiple drafts.

Teachers can also refine the content by providing additional prompts or adjusting the original prompt. For example, a teacher might ask Gemini to increase the story’s length, include a specific number of supporting details per paragraph, or note the particular text structure (e.g., chronological order, problem-solution, etc.).

NOTE: While Gemini offers a promising approach to mentor text creation, carefully evaluating the generated text is critical. Not all AI-generated content is perfect. Human judgment always comes first. Teachers should carefully review the text for suitability and accuracy before using it with students.

Mentor text excerpts for reading

Mentor texts created with Gemini are versatile across the instructional stages. The brevity of mentor texts is one of their key advantages, making them particularly valuable for modeling, small-group work, and independent practice. Short texts are easier for students to read and analyze in a single sitting and offer multiple exposures to apply skills.

For example, these concise texts are valuable for modeling during Step 2 of a mini-lesson from The Comprehension Playbook, where teachers demonstrate specific skills or strategies to the whole class. Remember, however, that mentor texts during a mini-lesson should be short and familiar (the mini-lesson should not be the first time students have seen the text). So depending on the length of the mentor text provided by AI, it may be necessary to revise or refine it to the least amount of text possible to exemplify the skill.

In small-group work, short, concentrated texts provide more time to engage with the skill in a supportive setting. Additionally, text excerpts are ideal for independent practice, giving students a manageable amount of familiar content to work through while reinforcing the concepts learned.

Regardless of the instructional stage, using these texts alongside Smekens graphic organizers and tools offers students opportunities to learn, practice, and apply reading comprehension skills.

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