This article discusses one teacher's efforts to give their students a mentor text for a persuasive, research-based writing project. The author's shift from assigning predominantly fiction to focusing more on nonfiction came as a result of their efforts to help their students move from students' current writing style -- that of a five-paragraph…

Urges teachers to keep reading and writing alive in the classroom by assigning a variety of books, including the classics, and by integrating written responses with the reading assignments. (DD)