Teaching Writing through Genre Studies

Teaching Writing ThroughGenre Studies

Riverside District 96 Literacy Support Team

Session Goals

To focus instruction on what matters most in writing.

To plan and implement a genre study.

To create a yearlong scope and sequence.

Riverside Public Schools District 96

Riverside, Illinois

5 schools:

4 elementary

1 middle school

2009-2010 Reading ISAT Results

Before Genre Units

The district writing program was very formulaic.

Our focus was ISAT driven.

We followed the 5 step writing process.

Writing assignments were project based.

Why Genre Units

Reading and writing is a reciprocal process.

Encompasses best practice in writing.

Exposes students a variety of writing.

Gives opportunities for students to develop and deepen their understanding of a genre over time.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Genre Unit: Assess

Find out what students know about a genre before begin unit.

Use their responses to guide unit.

Genre Unit: Vision

Immerse students in a genre with quality mentor texts.

Build definition of genre together by listing characteristics.

Genre Unit: Vision

6th Grade Free Verse Poetry Chart

Genre Unit: Vision

Genre Unit: Vision3/14/11 2:34 PM

Format Dynamics :: Kodak Viewer

Page 1 of 1

http://www.usatoday.com/cleanprint/?1300131234465

Final Word: Thanks, Mrs.

Byerly, wherever you are

Updated 2/8/2011 8:28:37 PM |

By Craig Wilson, USA TODAY

I was a guest on a radio talk show the other

night. The host was in Arizona, so I had to stay

up until 10:30. But that was fine. I got to talk

about myself for an hour and a half. Cheaper

than therapy, that's for sure. Free even. He called

me.

By Craig Wilson

We talked a lot about newspapers and how I got

interested in writing, and before I knew it, I was

listing all the people who helped me along the way.

My mentors, for lack of a better word. High school

English teachers. A college professor or two. One

crusty city editor who cursed. Once he even slapped

me with his pica pole. (Look it up on Google.) Even

a neighbor in Saratoga Springs spurred me on.

But it was Mrs. Byerly, my high school Latin/English

teacher, who had the most influence early on.

In this era of education-bashing — last year's

Waiting for Superman a case in point — it's nice to

be reminded that there have always been great

teachers and there always will be. You just have to

be in the right place at the right time to find one.

I was lucky. Mrs. Byerly was standing right there in

front of me, Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of

Courage in her hand.

She loved words, and she loved sharing them with

her students. Every few weeks I'd walk into her class

and there, scribbled up in the corner of the

blackboard, would be a word I'd never seen before.

Mrs. Byerly hadn't, either.

She came across it in her reading, she'd say. Often it

was a word she discovered in The New Yorker

magazine. I'm not sure I knew what The New Yorker

was back then, but Mrs. Byerly read it, and if Mrs.

Byerly read it, it must have been a fine publication.

Before the formal part of the class would begin, she

would say the word out loud, ask any of us what we

think it might mean, and then discuss the word at

length. She was in her element. We would then have

to use the word in a sentence.

And she was beyond delighted when, a few weeks

later, someone in class would actually try to use the

word in conversation. It often wouldn't work, but

she didn't care. You remembered.

I have often regretted that I never did what everyone

says we should all do — go back and thank the

teacher who made a difference in your life. Send a

valentine, so to speak.

Mrs. Byerly is long gone. I mean, she was old when I

was in high school. I bet she was 45.

If I could say something? I'd say thank you, I love

you, Happy Valentine's Day, and I hope wherever

you are, subscriptions to The New Yorker never

expire.

E-mail [email protected].

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's.

To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor

Brent Jones . For publication consideration in the newspaper, send

comments to [email protected]. Include name, phone number,

city and state for verification. To view our corrections, go to

corrections.usatoday.com.

Advertisement

Genre Unit: Model

Teacher models how the genre works by thinking aloud.

Model about the same length as you expect your students to write.

Avoid taking writing suggestions from the class.

Genre Unit: Model

Even the youngest children realize that books are written for them to read or hear. They are the audience. But many students believe that the teacher is the only audience for their writing. The writer needs to know who the audience is in order to convince the reader to continue reading.

Rebecca Olness

Genre Unit: Shared Practice

Students participate and share ideas while teacher writes.

Refer to genre chart and add characteristics.

Imbed mini-lessons into modeling and shared practice.

Genre Unit: Plan to Write

Brainstorm

Choice

Gather research

Genre Unit: Write

Dedicate time every day for writing.

Immerse and write throughout the curriculum.

Genre Unit: ConferenceFormat (individual, whole class, or peer)

Revision (focus on content)

Editing (focus on grammar, spelling, and punctuation)

Mini-lessons (explicit, focused lessons)

Hand over more responsibility to students.






Genre Unit: Conference

Editing Expectations 3rd period• Spelling

◦ Run spell-check◦ reread (out loud) at least 3-4 times◦ look for things that make sense◦ ask someone else to read it over◦ check your homonyms (they’re/their/there) (your/you’re) (whether/

weather) (to/too/two) etc.◦ use dictionary/thesaurus◦ Google proper nouns◦ go back to any resources you used

• Check for typos• Apostrophes in contractions (don’t, can’t, won’t)• Commas in a list of 3 or more items• Capitalize 1st word in sentence• Capitalize “I”• Capitalize people’s names, specific places (countries, cities, etc.) [proper

nouns]• Capitalize titles• Period, question mark, exclamation mark at the end of every sentence

◦ question mark with a question◦ exclamation mark shows excitement (use sparingly)

• Indent paragraphs• Poems are written in stanzas & lines• Prose (all non-poetry) is written in sentences & paragraphs• Punctuate dialogue correctly

6th Grade2nd Grade











Genre Unit: Celebrate

Publish (with attention to audience and purpose, content, accuracy, form, style, and presentation)

Share (intended audience)

Reflect (self-monitor, self-direct, and self-evaluate to improve writing quality)

Independent Practice- Encourage students to write!


WELCOME! ABOUT MRS. ROSS CULTURAL HERITAGE SHARING PRESENTATIONS

CLASS PHOTO ALBUM 3RD GRADE NEWSLETTERS

READING, WRITING, SPELLING WEBSITES SLICE OF LIFE STORY PODCASTS

MATH WEBSITES SCIENCE WEBSITES SOCIAL STUDIES / GEOGRAPHY WEBSITES

Slice of LifeStoriesThe 3rd Graders worked very hard studying the craft of memoir writing. They

listened to many great books written by published authors and discussed the unique

writing characteristics that made these memoirs great. Students tried their hand at

writing memoirs (or as we’ve called them ‘Slice of Life’ stories). Enjoy!

next

previous

Slice of Life Stories

http://central1.district96.org/~rossc/Ross_Home/Slice_of_Life_...

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3/11/11 2:36 PM


Yearlong Curriculum:Genre Scope and Sequence

K

1

2

3

4

5

Poetry: Free-verse

Simple Memoir: Personal Narrative

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: Class Book

(Expository)

Counting/ ABC/ or Pattern Books

Friendly Correspondence (letters, notes, cards, invitations, emails)

Teacher Choice:•Procedural How-to•Lists

Poetry: Free-verse


(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction:Class or Individual Book

(Expository)

Procedural How-to Friendly Correspondence (letters, notes, cards, invitations, emails, pen pal letters)

Teacher Choice:•Counting/ ABC/ or Pattern Books

Poetry: Couplet, Haiku


(Narrative)

Literary NonfictionIndividual Book

(Expository)

Reviews

(Persuasive)

Folk Tale or Fairy Tale

Teacher Choice:•Friendly Correspondence (letters, notes, cards, invitations, emails)•Fantasy Short StoryPoetry:

Free-verse, Cinquain or Diamante

Memoir: Slice of Life

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: Feature Article

(Expository)

Persuasive Letters/Petitions

(Persuasive)

Realistic Short Story Teacher Choice:•Friendly Correspondence (letters, notes, cards, invitations, emails)•Procedural How-to•Expository Nonfiction•Reviews

Test Writing Preparation

Poetry: Haiku, Ode

Memoir

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: Brochure

(Expository)

Reviews

(Persuasive)

Fable, Tall Tale or Legend

Teacher Choice:•Expository Nonfiction•Biography

Poetry: Limerick, Free-verse

Reflective Memoir

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: Web Page or Wiki

(Expository)

Expository Nonfiction

(Expository)

Persuasive Essay orCommentary

(Persuasive)

Teacher Choice:•Biography•Myth or Legend•ABC Books•Folk, Fairy or Tall Tale•Adventure Short Story


Yearlong Curriculum:Genre Scope and Sequence

6

7

8

Poetry: Free-verse

Reflective Memoir: Slice of Life

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: List Articles

(Expository)

Persuasive Essay, Commentary, Letter, Commercial

(Persuasive)

Myths Teacher Choice:•Business Letters•Reviews•Expository Nonfiction•Literary Nonfiction: Feature Article•Independent Piece


Poetry: Free-verse, Ballad or Sonnet

Reflective Memoir

(Narrative)

Literary Nonfiction: Article Based on Interviews

(Expository)

Persuasive Essay/ Political Cartoon

(Persuasive)

Historical Short Story Teacher Choice:•Monologue Contest•Expository Nonfiction: Compare/Contrast•Animal Fantasy: Children’s Book•Independent PiecePoetry:

Ode, ParodyReflective Memoir

(Narrative)

Expository Nonfiction- Science Fair Report

(Expository)

Persuasive Editorial orCommentary

(Persuasive)

Hybrid Text Teacher Choice:•Speeches•Informative How-to•Oral History•Independent Piece


Yearlong Curriculum:Memoir Expectations

KSimple Memoir-Autobiography• Several sentences• Uses 1st person for strong voice• Understand that writers tell stories from their own lives

5Reflective Memoir• Use small experiences to communicate a bigger message• Write an engaging lead that captures the interest and foreshadows the

content• Understand a memoir as a brief, often intense, memory of an event or

person with reflection

1Simple Memoir-Autobiography• Paragraph• Engaging beginning and satisfying ending• Tell events in order they occurred

6Reflective Memoir- Slice of Life• Write with imagery so the reader understands the feelings of the writer• Understand that a memoir can take different forms (story, poem,

vignettes, slice)• Use dialogue in a way that reflects setting and attributes of self and

others

2Simple Memoir• 2 or more paragraphs• Reveals something about self or life• Describe a setting and how it is related to writer’

7Reflective Memoir• Develop character (self) and show how and why they changed• Describe and develop a setting and explain how it is related to the

writer’s experiences• Write and ending that communicates the larger meaning of the memoir

3Memoir- Slice of Life• Multiple paragraphs• Tells details about the most important moments and eliminates

unimportant details• Use dialogue as appropriate to add to the meaning of the story

8Reflective Memoir • Experiment with different time structures (single day, flashback)• Create a series of vignettes that together communicate a message• Select small moments or experiences and share thinking about them in a

way that communicates larger meaning

4Memoir • Write a personal narrative as a small moment and show how author

changes• Experiment with literary language (powerful nouns and verbs, figurative

language)• Understand the memoirs have many characteristics of fiction

Complete grade level expectations can be found in The Continuum of Literacy by Fountas and Pinnell.

What Matters Most

Time

Gradual Release of Responsibility

Audience and Purpose

Choice

Stamina

Immersion

Model

Whole-Part-Whole

Conferences

Expectations

Celebration

Works Cited

Ray, Katie Wood. 2006. Study Driven: A Framework for Planning Units of Study in the Writing Workshop. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Routman, Regie. 2005. Writing Essentials: Raising Expectations and Results While Simplifying Teaching. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Fountas, Irene C. and Pinnell, Gay Su. 2007. The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades K-8. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Calkins, Lucy. 1994. The Art of Teaching Writing. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Olness, Rebecca. 2005. Using Literature to Enhance Writing Instruction: A Guide for K-5 Teachers. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Fountas, Irene C. and Gay Su Pinnell. 2001. Guided Readers and Writers: Teaching Comprehension, Genre, and Content Literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Wallace, Brenda and Susan Radley Brown. 2008. Genre Studies in the Writing Workshop. Noyce Foundation.

Strickland, Dorothy S. “What's Basic in Beginning Reading? Finding Common Ground." Educational Leadership 55 (1998): 6-10.

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Teaching Writing through Genre Studies