English and Media Faculty Key Stage 3 English Introducing / Revisiting Genre Duration: 1 week (4 lessons) This mini-unit of work aims to introduce students to genres in literature. It also serves as an introduction or reminder of the kind of work students do in English (i.e. reading, writing and speaking and listening, including drama) and the different ways of working they will engage in (i.e. individual, paired, group and whole class). NB: Most of the genres referred to in this unit are fictional, though students may think about non-fiction, such as biography and autobiography. At Key Stage 2, students are often introduced to ‘genres of writing’, meaning they think of types of genres in terms of text types (e.g. writing to describe, argue, instruct, inform etc.) It may be worth discussing this, but students should be steered towards the literary genres they need to be familiar with. Outcome 1-2 paragraphs written in a particular style and using particular features from a genre of the individual student’s choice (see Lesson 4). This is not an assessed piece of work but it needs to be checked and commented on by the class teacher. Lesson 1 Starter / Settling / Recap Introduce mini-unit of work, which explores genre in fiction and non-fiction. Ask what is genre? Can students give e.g.s of genres of film or music? Whole-class brainstorm of genres in writing (teacher to guide and prompt). Introduction Development Explain that, in English, when we refer to ‘features’ we often mean ingredients. In prose texts we may think about: Settings Characters Words (language). Brainstorm ‘Ingredients for a horror story’. Teacher hand out genre extracts (on powerpoint slides). Group / paired: Students to annotate extracts, examining one per group or pair (Year 7 may need to be guided in how to annotate). Try to identify genre by looking at key features in terms of settings, characters, language etc.) Students to choose one of the genres mentioned in this lesson. Students should attempt to write the first 2 or 3 sentence of a story. English and Media Faculty Extension (if time): Group work: Each group allocated a particular genre of literature (perhaps from those suggested by the class at the beginning of the lesson). Group to suggest key features of the genre (i.e. what they would expect). Plenary Play ‘Guess the genre’ using students’ own first sentences. Discuss. Lesson 2 Starter / Settling / Recap Play film trailer clips of movies belonging to different genres. Class to identify genres and discuss why they think the film belongs to that genre. Extension: Do genres overlap? Do any of the movies belong to more than one genre? Extension: What advantages does film have over literature? What advantages does writing have over film? (e.g. the ability to produce sensory descriptions etc.) Introduction Group drama activity. In groups of 4-5, students should devise a freeze frame which represents a genre of writing. Encourage students to represent not only characters but objects, settings etc. See 2-3 good examples. Class to guess which genre is being represented. Development Students should now develop their freeze frame into a 2-3 minute polished improvisation. Inspired by the film trailers they saw earlier in the lesson, students could use their voices to make sound effects / a soundtrack appropriate to the genre. Plenary See some of the polished improvisations. Set homework. Homework Evaluating my performance / participation. See powerpoint slide. Lesson 3 Starter / Settling / Recap Class questioning: What are your favourite genres? What kind of books do you like to read? Students should give examples of books they have read (at school, or in their free time) and suggest the genre which they belong to. Introduction Paired work: In pairs, students are going to create a plotline for a story belonging to a particular genre (Year 7 in particular will need to be reminded about what plot lines are). Recall – Features of plotlines (e.g. ‘beginning, ‘middle’, ‘end’ – ‘exposition’, ‘conflict’, ‘resolution’). Development What is a book blurb? What are the features of a book blurb (e.g. historical present tense, rhetorical questions, cliffhangers etc.)? Show examples. Students (in pairs, or this could be done individually) write a short book blurb based on their plotline. Teacher to circulate the class, supporting and scaffolding written work. English and Media Faculty Extension: Can students think of any texts (audio/visual or written) which do not obey this traditional story structure? If students are struggling to produce their blurbs, these could be finished for homework and the plenary for this lesson could serve as a starter for the next. Plenary Students to vote for the best blurb on their table, judging it on why it is engaging and effective (i.e. in making them want to read this ‘book’). Class to hear the winning blurbs and vote for their class favourite. The winner may be rewarded! Lesson 4 Starter / Settling / Recap Revisit genre extracts. Students to pay close attention to their favourite genre. Introduction Put students in groups according to their favourite genre. Groups brainstorm features (or ‘ingredients’) of their favourite genre. Remind students that they should think about context, setting, character and language. Development Students to individually write 1-2 paragraphs which could be from a particular genre. They might write the opening or (if they wish to challenge themselves) an extract from the middle or end of the story (it may be the final paragraph, for instance). Plenary Students to vote for the best writing on their table, judging it on why it is engaging and effective, and how it incorporates ingredients you would expect to find in that genre. Class to hear the winning pieces of writing and vote for their class favourite. The winner may be rewarded! If there is not time to complete paragraphs, read what students do have. In order to satisfactorily complete this unit, all students must have this piece of writing completed before they begin the new unit of work. Some suggested extension activities / differentiation… Library Challenge: Working in groups, individuals from each group in the class could use the library to search for texts which belong to a particular genre. They might think about how genres overlap and features from various genres are found in a single text (e.g. Year 8, who are revisiting genre, not starting it afresh). Storyboarding (this may help students who are not confident writers, or any students who are struggling to think of a plot during Lesson 3). Having a wide range of extracts from different genres, at different levels of challenge, will help all students consolidate their understanding in this mini-unit. Extracts from really good writing, particularly from fiction for children and teenagers is available online. There are lots of good extracts which are suitable for Years 7 and 8 on the children’s section of the Random House website, for instance (http://www.randomhousesites.co.uk/childrens/funstuff/extracts.htm). Love Reading for Kids (www.lovereading4kids.co.uk) is another really useful website.
