<p><em>&quot;When we value kids' writing enough to use it to teach other kids, all kids grow into stronger writers. Thanks, Lisa, for writing this important book. I needed it, teachers need it, and the field needs it.&quot;</em><br><strong>-Stephanie Harvey</strong></p><p><em>&quot;If students know we believe in them, that the content of their writing matters, more kids will take a risk and try some new things-even if they don't know how to spell all the words or punctuate all the sentences correctly.&quot;</em><br><strong>-Lisa Eickholt</strong></p><p>Let's face it: Mentor texts are fantastic, but children's literature is the perfect product of adult authors. When we work students' writing into the mentor-text mix, amazing things happen-especially for struggling writers.</p><p>&quot;I have spent my career working with kids who hate to write,&quot; writes Lisa Eickholdt, &quot;when we use our students' writing as a mentor text, we are helping them identify themselves as someone who writes.&quot; In<em>Learning from Classmates</em>, Lisa shows you how this simple but powerful idea can help you:</p><ul><li>deepen your students' engagement during writing time </li><li>build their writing identities </li><li>give them the willingness to take the risks necessary for making progress. </li></ul><p>&quot;Time and again,&quot; Lisa writes, &quot;I've watched reluctant and unenthusiastic writers become more eager and willing after their writing was used as a model for other students.&quot; The need is great, so her book helps you integrate student writing as mentor texts right away with suggestions for how to: </p><ul><li>select student writing to share with the class </li><li>assess your writers and match student writing to individual, small-group, and whole-class needs</li><li>use student work in writing conferences and minilessons </li><li>plan power-teaching moves that target writers' needs and build their writing identities.</li></ul><p>Read <em>Learning from Classmates</em> to discover how your writers grow when they see what their peers can do and say, &quot;I can do that, too!&quot;</p>