A touchstone text is a piece of writing selected by the teacher to serve as an outstanding example for modeling teaching points such as style, form, conventions, text structure, word choice, craft, and genre. During a unit of study, a teacher will select between one to three texts to serve as the “touchstone.” 

These texts are presented to the class as the “authority” on the elements of writing being studied. Touchstone texts are examined closely and referred to again and again by the teacher and students during whole-group conversation and discussion. 

While some touchstone texts are specific to only one unit of study, some touchstone texts can be used in several units of study.   The better a person knows a text, the more closely it can be scrutinized and studied to support writing growth. 

Many educators use the term mentor text interchangeably with touchstone text; however, there is a subtle difference between the two. During the immersion phase of a unit of study, a teacher will expose children to several examples of texts within a genre. A text becomes a touchstone text when it is the one selected to undergo close analysis for the purpose of developing a class lingo and context for understanding how written text is generated in a given unit of study. A mentor text is selected by an individual to support further exploration and understanding of the concepts and ideas studied by the class.