Lessons in Identifying Genres

Some of my students enter middle school already having read hundreds of books, having favourite authors and genres, and knowing clearly what they hate reading. Others, however, don’t identify as readers. They say they’ve attempted to read a book or two, but completed none. They say books are so boring they put them right to sleep. 

As the year progresses, the gap between readers’ and non-readers’ vocabulary, background knowledge and comprehension usually becomes apparent. This is when I start identifying lessons I can teach to ever-so-slightly narrow that gap. 

Here, I share one such set of 5 lessons that help students identify genres more accurately. The lessons are:

1. Prior Knowledge Check
2. Genre - Meaning and Types
3. Realistic Fiction vs. Fantasy vs. Historical Fiction
4. Fantasy vs. Science Fiction
5. Science Fiction vs. Dystopia

The slides are available in both PDF and editable PPTX formats.