Searching for sentences

When reading Jeff Anderson's book Everyday Editing, I remember him mentioning that we should not have students looking for example sentences as they are reading a section of their books for the first time. It would be too distracting. Instead, we should direct them to skim sections they have already read when we ask them to search for examples.

I realized that as a teacher looking for example sentences, I want to do the same. As I read when I think about stopping to make note of the page and enough to remind me of the section, it becomes too much of a distraction, just as I discovered that recording my thinking process as reading a full novel for the first time pulled me out of the reading zone.

I recently read Wintergirls, and I saw so many excellent examples. Laurie Halse Anderson is an outstanding author. Then a thought came to me that I can always skim recently read books when I am looking for a specific type of sentence, but I can also have some core authors to skim. For example, I have always loved Halse Anderson, Sharon Creech, and Pam Muñoz Ryan. I can also think back to books that have really stuck with me, and it is a guarantee that they will be goldmines for excellent examples to share with students. This way I can have my cake and eat it too - I can enjoy great middle grade and YA literature without the distraction of stopping to take notes, but I will also know where to look when I need to find sentences for instruction.