1
Comparing
Genres
Concept
Teaching
Point
Preparation
Suggested
Materials
Essential
Question(s)/
Lesson
Framing
Quotes
Lesson 6
Comparing the different perspectives gained by
each genre
Different genres offer us different perspectives on a
topic or theme


Make copies of the handout Comparing Genres.
Optional: Prepare small copies of the lessonframing quote(s) for students to tape into their
readers/writers notebooks.
The Comparing Genres handout, partially
completed to use as a model
 How do different genres offer us different
perspectives on the same topic or theme?
“For truth is always strange; stranger than fiction.” Lord Byron
“A good book has no ending.” – R.D. Cumming
Moodle Activity / Resource
Overview / Purpose, Tips & Alternatives
Activity / Resource Type: Page (teacher-only)
Title: “Lesson 7 Activity Notes”
n/a
n/a
Activity / Resource Types:
1.
Popup Page
Title: “What Do Different Genres Offer?”
Overview / Purpose: Students reflect on the quotes and
framing question as preparation for analyzing the
differences that genres create. Students then hear and
see their teacher model comparing genres by beginning
to fill out the “Comparing Genres” handout.
Tips & Alternatives: Because many students are devoted
to one or another genre, and given that they will be
tasked with comparing genres’ strengths and
weaknesses in relation to their novel, it might be useful
to begin (prior to the teacher-modeling but after reading
the quotes) with small-group then whole-class discussion
on students’ perceptions of the strengths and
weaknesses of different genres.
2.
Choice
Title: “What’s Your Favorite Genre as of Lesson 6?”
Overview / Purpose: Students vote for their favorite
genre. (Among other things, this helps reinforce the idea
that their identity as readers may be changing.) Display
the results and ask if anyone has changed their thinking
since Lesson 1. And why have they changed (or not
changed)?
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools
2
Comparing
Genres
Teaching
Point
Lesson 6
Different genres offer us different perspectives on
a topic or theme.
Moodle Activity / Resource
Overview / Purpose, Tips & Alternatives
Activity / Resource Type: Page
Title: “Compare Genres”
Active
Engagement
Teacher Model and Think-aloud: Model how you
would begin to fill out this handout, revealing what
differences you found between genres as you
learned about your topic.
Active Engagement: Students work with a partner to fill
out one column on their chart. Teacher circulates and
assists as needed.
Overview / Purpose: Students see how you would fill
out the “Comparing Genres” handout.
Then they work with a partner to find a nonfiction
resource and begin to fill out a column of the
“Comparing Genres” handout.
&
Independent
Practice
Independent Practice: Students complete the rest of
their chart individually. Teacher circulates.
Tips & Alternatives: As students work together to fill out
one column, circulate and assist students who are
struggling. Also find examples to hold up as positive
models for the whole class.
Continue circulating as students work independently,
assisting students who are struggling and asking probing
questions of those who may understand the task but
may not be challenging themselves sufficiently.
Share
Students volunteer or are nominated to share some of
their findings with the class about learning about a
theme, topic, or idea through reading multiple genres.
Activity / Resource Type: Page
Title: “Share Your Genre Findings”
Overview / Purpose: First in pairs, then small groups,
and finally in a whole-class discussion, students share
their findings on how genre can influence learning about
a theme, topic, or idea.
Tips & Alternatives: Styled as face-to-face discussion,
this could also have an online component, either to be
completed ahead of time (with students posting their
ideas before being able to see others’ ideas—a “Q&A”style forum / discussion in Moodle), or to be completed
in-class after the partner-level discussions.
If students have made comments in an online discussion,
a fruitful way to use their discussion posts in-class is to
ask students to review the discussion and find
interesting, provocative, or question-generating ideas
and bring them to the group’s attention in live
discussion.
2
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools
3
Comparing
Genres
Assessment/
Extension
Independent
Practice
& Extension
Lesson 6
Students may need additional time to complete the
chart as homework.
The charts could be used as an exit slip for teachers to
examine and use them as the basis to adjust instruction
or reteach before students move on to the summative
assessment.
Independent Practice: Students read independently for
the rest of the class period. They continue to track
progress on their Reading Log and fill out their
Collecting Text Bookmarks.
Extension: Students read at home for 30 minutes and
complete the Collecting Text Bookmarks.
Students should have repeated opportunities to read
and discuss their novels over a span of several days.
Moodle Activity / Resource
Overview / Purpose, Tips & Alternatives
Activity / Resource Type: Assignment
Title: “Submit Your Genre Comparison Work”
Tips & Alternatives: This 20-point Moodle Assignment
assumes students will upload / attach their filled-in
“Comparing Genres” handout.
Alternatives may be useful here, especially if many /
most students will handwrite on the handout. In that
case, you may want to have students hand in the paper
or do partner-check / check-off grading.
Activity / Resource Type: Page
Title: “Read Your Novel *and* Related Nonfiction,
Conference With Your Teacher”
Overview / Purpose: Devote substantial class time, and
out-of-class time, to students’ reading to emphasize its
importance in building fluency, volume, vocabulary, and
comprehension, plus a love of reading
Tips & Alternatives:
Throughout this unit, as students read, the teacher
circulates around the room and confers with students
about their reading lives, using the “Questions for
Conferring” handout as a guide. The first time they
confer, teacher and student should discuss student
reading goals and identities, and work to help support
them in attaining those goals in the unit. By the second
week, teachers should meet with students again in order
to see if they have met those goals. Conferences are not
intended to be graded observations. They are brief
opportunities for students to name and provide
feedback to the teacher about what they are thinking
and using and what strategies, habits, or processes they
are using to read the text. They are also intended to
provide a moment for the teacher to guide the student.
3
Copyright © 2010-2014 by the Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators and Oakland Schools