Understanding a genre gives a strength to the reader or writer. By studying the different structures and types of writing within a genre students will be better equipped to comprehend these texts. The same goes for any literacy practice--to understand the big picture will help comprehension. For instance, computer literacy or more specifically, internet literacy, is better understood when the individual using the tool knows why they are using it, understands the components such as internet search tools, media video footage, etc. The same is true for the major genres in reading and writing. Students would benefit from the roadmap that understanding each genre can give to them.
Biographical reading and writing offers students a gateway to thinking about their lives through language. It is one of the first introduced types of writing to young students, which makes it more important to foster clear goals for this writing genre. Students need to be specifically aware about the intricacies of biographies, personal narratives, and autobiographies. Until Carrie’s presentation and activity, I was not entirely clear what constituted a personal narrative. I’m sure I was previously exposed to such writings, but perhaps not explicitly told that it was a personal narrative so I never truly understood the essence of personal narrative until now. Students deserve to be explicitly exposed to the different types of writings within the genres.
As I mentioned in my presentation, expository writing structures are a vital tool for readers and writers. I think the text structures and signal words are key to unlocking the difficulty readers have with expository text. Once a reader has an idea of the type of organization a reading has, it is easier to add information to their schema. I think students with reading difficulties and disabilities would greatly benefit from practice with the structures. It would give them much needed confidence and the skill of at least comprehending the basic meaning of a text. Plus the different types of expository writing that Tompkins (2008) offers gives students a chance to write expository texts without the overwhelming idea of an independent research paper. For instance, a multi-genre project can incorporate factual information in a narrative form of wri After the recent genre presentations, it is evident each genre has key attributes that can enhance student comprehension and composition. To be honest, at first I thought these presentations would simply be a review of the information in the Tompkins chapter. Albeit, most of the information is found in the chapter, yet I still gain something more from the presentations. I think the benefit of the presentations is that we personally can interact with language within the particular genre.
The presentations make me think about each genre and how they operate in a categorized and organized way. Thinking of each genre as a mode of language use with its own general guidelines is helpful and would empower students to feel more confident while reading or writing in that genre. As referenced by Tompkins, “children’s concept of story plays an important role in their ability to comprehend the stories they read” (Stein & Glenn, 1979). I think the same is true for students’ understanding of each genre. A framework for understanding is one of the most important things students can have to better equip them to comprehend a text. It would help them concentrate on overall meaning, not so much decoding the language.
I find myself reinvigorated to experiment within these genres from the class activities we have participated in, which I’m sure students would find engaging too. I am starting to think of myself as more of a writer because of the presentations for some reason too.
I would love to use many of the activities that were highlighted in the presentations. For instance, Jenna’s body biography project was quite useful. It could easily be used in many content areas and for different genres. While I did that activity I was highly engaged and students would likely be as well. There is something about drawing or representing a character without actual text that frees part of the cognitive load, therefore allowing for a deeper connection to content. I also really enjoyed Sophia’s activity where we identified each type of poem. That could easily be turned into a game and students would probably have a lot of fun with it. The added healthy competition would relieve some students of their stress to create a perfect poem or to always be “right.” As a future English teacher, I didn’t usually think about the many different types of poems beyond a haiku. Now, I realize some poems can be short and witty. They can be a great aid to get to know students/teachers, like the bio poem. In a similar vein, Heather’s descriptive genre presentation also opened my eyes to examine language use more closely. I really liked the book Heather highlighted with The Most Important Thing poem about a daisy. There are clearly many simple ways to incorporate descriptive language in student writing.
Overall, as I stated earlier, the presentations were helpful. They helped me slow down my thinking about each genre. Now I feel I understand each genre, the types of writings within each genre, and student activities that would greatly benefit students’ understanding.
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