Entry #11- Genre Instruction in the Classroom

As the semester is starting to wrap up, I am beginning to reflect on the variety of genres we have discussed in class and how I will incorporate them in my classroom. Each week, I have felt that my knowledge of reading as a means of writing instruction has grown, as well as my knowledge of each genre. So far, one of the most beneficial parts of the genre discussions we have had has been the incorporation of mentor texts. I have learned a great deal about how to utilize mentor texts in the classroom for each genre. With that being said, I have also noticed that many mentor texts that have been brought to class have been repeated for multiple genres. Some examples include "Rollercoaster" and "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive The Bus." At first, I was very confused how one text could fall under multiple genres, however, as my knowledge expands, it makes sense that one text could be considered more than one genre. 

A specific mentor text that I wish to discuss is "Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type" by Doreen Cronin. (Please click here for a video of a read aloud of this story!). This mentor text was used in our discussions of personal (letter) writing and persuasive writing. I thought it was interesting how this text can be used for both genres, and how the minilessons to use this mentor text for each genre would be different. In this book, the cows are writing persuasive letters to the farmer, hence the consideration in both genres. This text could also be argued to fit into the descriptive genre due to the descriptive language used. In one of our genre expert presentations, I briefly talked with my group mates about this overlap that exists between genres. We noticed the descriptive genre was the most versatile and could be intertwined with the most other genres. 

As we approach our final genre expert presentation, I am left wondering a few things about how to best teach writing through reading in the classroom. Reflecting back on my previous entry about Marissa's blog post, the article she mentioned discussed how one must read the genre to write the genre. I definitely agree with this quote, as articles I have read for my own genre pieces project reflect that. Both of our articles focused on a genre study approach, which was successful in their respective classrooms. However, with there being so much emphasis on catching students up to where they should be, and such little time, there is hardly any time for adequate and explicit writing instruction. I am wondering, how can we as teachers best introduce and teach these genres, when there is little to no emphasis on genre instruction in school? In my school's curriculum, there are certain writing topics we must focus on. For example, right now we are working on informational writing, but it is in combination with our previous science unit. We are given 30 minutes a day for writing, which is hardly enough to do an entire genre study, as discussed in mine and Marissa's articles. With that being said, I have previously mentioned how one mentor text can be used for more than one genre. For time's sake, can we combine teaching multiple genres with one mentor text? Or would that not be beneficial to students? How can we best incorporate genre instruction with such little time? I am hoping that as my confidence grows as a teacher, I am able to find the answers to these questions and incorporate genre instruction into my classroom in a meaningful way.

References

Cronin, D. (2000). Click clack moo. Simon & Schuster.