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Genre Types Teacher Resources
Find teacher approved Genre Types educational resource ideas and activities
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Is it a biography or an autobiography? Kids discover point of view as they listen to you tell a story about yourself (first person) and then hear two volunteers retell the story: one to you (second person) and one to them (third person). They apply these concepts, comparing and contrasting biographies and autobiographies. Use the lecture notes to explain prefixes in each word and context strategies to define a passage as one of the two genres. There are two short passage examples you can use. Do one together, asking kids to point out clue words that helped them identify the genre. As an added extension, find a reading packet for The Story of Jackie Robinson, Bravest Man in Baseball; kids begin by deciding the genre and can continue completing the packet as they read.
Before beginning F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, create a historical context of the Roaring 20s with this lesson. Set up a gallery walk with the provided PowerPoint, which features 10 topics related to the 1920s. Then begin a multi-genre research project (from Tom Romero's Writing With Passion), which asks writers to include in their project poetry, drama, interviews, letters, articles, or any other genre of writing.
Take a trip through history with a lesson on historical fiction. With instructions for games, reading activities, and literary analysis assignments, this resource would be a great addition to any reading unit with a historical fiction novel. The lesson is designed for The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, but you could modify the instructions for any historical fiction novel.
Young writers work together to develop specific writing skills. After identifying the characteristics of different writing genres, class members select a genre and draft an original piece. Exercises in peer editing and revising follow, and the unit concludes when the polished pieces are published on the Internet.
Have your class examine the characteristics of various writing genres using the Writing with Writers online project. Detailed instructions for how to introduce, discuss, and develop a piece of writing for each genre are included. Class members complete the online activities independently but work in groups to edit their written work before handing it in. Finally, they publish a final piece of writing online.
Fourth and fifth graders explore literature genres. Working in small groups, they are assigned one genre to investigate. They then create a poster including the characteristics and examples of books in their genre. Finally, they participate in a scavenger hunt around the library to find genre examples. As an assessment, individuals complete a quote sort to show what they know.
Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this anticipatory activity into the nonfiction genre, and kids explore six types of autobiographies using a graphic organizer. They learn about how to identify a book as an autobiography using book features like the back cover summary. There are sample covers included that you can display or hand out, asking kids to look for genre clues. Writers synthesize these concepts by using one of four sentence starters to write a memoir of their own, taking on one of the autobiography types that resonated with them. There are six sample autobiography excerpts included for guided practice. Which words clues readers in to the genre?
Differentiate between the various genres in the visual arts world, particularly in Western painting. Your class can view and discuss, in small groups, paintings published on the National Galleries website. Then each student individually identifies genres of paintings in an online exercise.
Explore genre, subgenre, and author's purpose in this helpful learning exercise. Middle schoolers read several summaries of books and short stories, and identify the genre and subgenre. They also determine if the author's purpose is to entertain, persuade, or entertain. Use this activity as a class activity or homework assignment.
Engage learners in a creative and collaborative writing project to demonstrate your class's knowledge of the 11genres of fiction. This ambitious lesson begins with a starter activity which reviews elements of each genre. Then, small groups collaboratively write an example of each genre. Groups rotate between computers, contributing to each genre. More optional review activities are available at the end of this task.