More importantly, however, the book blurbs and the discussions that followed served as excellent book talks. After each lesson, I saw students quietly picking up many of the books on the slides. I pretended not to look, of course.
Category: independent reading
Identifying Genres: Fantasy vs. Science Fiction
I didn’t give them the definitions in the beginning this time. This allowed them to use the learning from the last two lessons and hypothesise what the differences ought to be. The book blurbs on the slides, much like last time, were our opportunities to discuss, argue, ask questions and share our confusion. Towards the end, when clarity was just within reach, I provided the definitions.
Identifying Genres: Realistic Fiction vs. Fantasy vs. Historical Fiction
My main aim in this lesson is to get students comfortable with identifying boundary conditions of a genre in the face of ambiguity.
Identifying Genres: A Lesson Series
In this series, I share one such set of 5 lessons that help students identify genres more accurately. The lessons are:
L1: Prior Knowledge Check
L2: Genre – Meaning and Types
L3: Realistic Fiction vs. Fantasy vs. Historical Fiction
L4: Fantasy vs. Science Fiction
L5: Science Fiction vs. Dystopia.
Build Your Bookshelf: Young Adults Literature and Their Maps
Kelly E. Tumy is a consultant in Texas, former president of TCTELA, one of five editors of the journal English in Texas. She was a 20-year high school English teacher, 8-year district coordinator, and a 6-year county-wide curriculum director. You can find out more about Kelly here or connect with her on Instagram @kellyreads_tx What draws your attention […]
Core-Concept One-Pagers: A Fast, Meaningful Content Wrap-Up
To be honest, this isn’t really a writing post. Students do write in this activity, but truly this has much more to do with reading comprehension and synthesis. It was a lightning bolt that struck me at just the right time to help me quickly wrap up a reading unit, so I wanted to share […]
“Letting Glow” Part Two: An Update on Our Independent Study
With one month left in the school year and just a few weeks remaining before my IB seniors take their exam, we are nearing the end of our independent studies, and I am excited by the results of this experiment! Earlier this week, students gathered in small discussion groups to talk about their independent study […]
We are BURSTING with New Synchronous Virtual Learning Opportunities!
We are adding EVEN MORE opportunities for live, virtual professional development this spring! We hope that you’ll join us for one or more of these sessions! March 5 Poetry Pauses to Rouse Your Writers Next Week Brief “poetry pauses” not only build students’ capacity for critical reading + stamina for writing, but they can also […]
moving writers 