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Genre Knowledge

Page history last edited by Lauren Murray 15 years, 3 months ago

 

Genre Knowledge

 

 

What It Is

In literacy, genre is determined by the purpose of the text, with features of that particular type of text following from its purpose.

Shedd, 2008a

Genres are "types of texts that tend to occur in or are associated with specific contexts or social occasions and serve identifiable purposes within those contexts." (Curzan & Adams, 2006).

 

 

My definition: Genre is all encompassing term for the differences between types of text. It is more than just identifying a type of expression occurring in a text (ex: fantasy, historical fiction, biography, etc.) but includes things such as shopping lists, menus, instructional manuals, along with different types of books.

 

 

-         Genre comes from the different social contexts and types of text, infinitely many genres

-      Genre can determine a text's audience, purpose, and the expectations the reader brings to the text

 

-         Examples of genres encountered in a grocery store:

o       Signal (signs throughout the store)

o       Label (on food products)

o       Advertise (promotionals throughout the store)

o       Inform (nutrition labels)

o       Advertise and entitle (coupons)

o       And more…

-         Children can begin to recognize genres from a very early age, demonstrating structural features of genres such as lists, stories, letters, maps, and greeting cards in early stages of writing (scribbling, letter-like forms, etc.)

Shedd, 2008a

Curzan & Adams, 2006

        -      Children will encounter different genres at home and at school and some genres will appear in both contexts, children should be given                instruction in all different kinds of genres and where they can be found to enhance their knowledge of the types and uses of print.

               o     Home: phone books, cookbooks, mail, biblical texts, recipes, receipts, menus, catalogues, TV guides, brochures, comics, money,                               thermometers

                   o     School: diagrams, word walls, charts, poems, subject matter posters, worksheets, personal narratives, story problems,  graphs,

                              webs

                   o     Both: children's books, magazines, signs, labels, names, newspapers, maps, lists, instructions, schedules, songs, calendars

        -      The connection between literacy in the home and literacy at school can be emphasized through the genres that appear in both contexts

Duke & Purcell-Gates, 2003

 

 

Two Main Genres for Students to Know for Comprehension and Composition

-         Narrative text

o       Text that features important elements of characters, settings (place and time), problems, and solutions (Baumann & Bergeron, 1993)

o       This genre includes texts such as picture books (wordless or with words as long as they convey a sense of story), mysteries, historical fiction, folktales, fairy tales, books based on popular media

o       It has been shown that the majority of books that young children are exposed to are in this genre

-         Informational text

o       Texts written with their primary purpose being to inform and convey information about a topic, often about the natural or social world, usually written by a person with more knowledge than the audience they are writing to (Duke, 2003)

o       Includes expository text, procedural text, persuasive text, and wordless picture books that do not convey a sense of story

o       Books of this genre are vastly underrepresented in the repertoire given to young children

-         Other

o       This category basically encompasses all types of text that are not narrative or informational

o       Includes poetry, songbooks, books of nursery rhymes, activity books, biographies, autobiographies, books that don’t fit neatly into the other two categories, and books that are a blend between the two

 

 

Importance of Genre for Comprehension

-         Students need to be able to identify the differences in text features for different genres they are reading, particularly the difference between narrative text and informational text

-         Different comprehension demands exist for both of these genres

-         While a child may have the ability to comprehend what they read in one genre does not mean they can transfer those skills to another genre

-         To comprehend in narrative text, students must learn to identify its features such as character, setting, conflict, and theme

-         Features of informational text include main ideas, points of evidence to support an argument, steps in a procedure, and others. These often vary by the type of informational text.

-         The type of text and a student’s familiarity with it are just as important to comprehension as vocabulary, fluency, and decoding

-         Problems will arise if a child tries to use strategies for comprehending narrative text on a piece of informational text, their comprehension ability with be significantly impaired

o       This often occurs in young children, as narrative text is exposed to them much more frequently than informational

Shedd, 2008a

         -    Multiple genres can be used to write about a single experience or event (ex: a personal narrative can be written about an individual's

               experience playing in a sports tournament, or the organizers of the event can write an objective report about the the event was run)

Strickland and Snow,  2002

Importance of Genre for Composition

-         Many of the same ideas that apply for genre and comprehension apply here as well

-         Students need to understand the distinguishing features between narrative and informational in order to write effectively in both genres

-         Exposure to multiple genres will help provide children with the knowledge they need to write in multiple genres, applying the correct features, moving from personal narrative to third-person narrative, poetry, and expositional writing

Shedd, 2008a

Strickland & Snow, 2002

-         Genres that students are introduced to for composition in school:

o       Narrative writing

         Orient a reader to setting, present important characters, describe a natural sequence of events, develop details of character and plot, eventually learn to add dialogue sequences, and reflections

o       Report or Informational writing

         Introduce a topic and possibly a context, provide organization and structure, convey important main ideas, eventually learn to incorporate diagrams, charts, or drawings

o       Functional and Procedural writing

         Identify context and topic, provide steps for action, include relevant details for the reader, use pictures to provide further explanation if necessary

o       Producing and Responding to Literature

         Writing stories, poems, songs, plays, etc., writing creatively in several fiction genres

         Make interpretations of literature that is read, make comparisons between works, discuss theme across books, make connections between text and real life

o       These genre criteria were taken from the third grade standards of Primary Literacy Standards. Students would obviously build to this point of competency in these genres leading up to third grade and would continue to expand on them as they grow older

New Standards Primary Literacy Committee, 1999

 

 

-         In order to foster strong comprehension and composition abilities in both narrative and informational text, children must be exposed to conventions of both from a very early age

-         Parents and teachers must make an effort to promote this broad exposure

 

Resources

Baumann, J. F., & Bergeron, B. S. (1993). Story map instruction using children's literature: Effects on first graders' comprehension of central narrative elements. Journal of Reading Behavior, 25, 407-437.
 
Curzan, A., & Adams, M. (2006). How english works: A linguistic introduction. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
 
Duke, N.K., & Purcell-Gates, V. (2003). Genres at home and at school: Bridging the known to the new. The Reading Teacher, 57(1), 30-37.
 

New Standards Primary Literacy Committee, (1999). Reading & writing grade by grade: Primary literacy standards for kindergarten through third grade. National Center on Education and the Economy and the University of Pittsburgh.

 

Shedd, M. (2008). Concepts of print and genre. Presentation for TE 301 (a), East Lansing, Michigan.

  

Strickland, D., & Snow, C. (2002). Preparing our teachers: Opportunities for better reading instruction. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press. 

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