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Literary Genres

Danielle P. Tu

College of Education - Grand Canyon University

ELM 580 - Methods and Strategies of Teaching English Language Arts

Dr. Sherrie Robbins

October 27, 2021

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Literary Genres

Part 1: Matrix

Fiction Non-Fiction

Definition: 1. Fairy tale - A story 1. Biography - a book

that features magical that talks about a
and enchanted person’s life and
characters. The setting history written by
of the story is usually another person
magical and generally 2. Narrative Nonfiction -
has a happily ever a true story that is
after ending. being written in a style
2. Science Fiction - a that is fictional
fictional story that is
based in science.

Examples: K-2 K-2

1. Little Red Riding 1. A Picture Book of
Hood Jackie Robinson

2. If You Decide to Go to
2. Sewing the Rainbow
the Moon
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3-5 3-5
1. Ella Enchanted 1. Cleopatra

2. Robert Bateman: The

Boy Who Painted
2. Aliens for Breakfast Nature

6-8
1. The Diary of a Young
Girl (English Version)

6-8
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1. Robin Hood

2. Diary of a Tokyo Teen

2. The Martian
Chronicles

Text Integration Strategies 1. Graphic Organizer: 1. Biography Summary

Teachers can Graphic Organizer:
distribute a graphic Students can use this
organizer of a castle, graphic organizer to
where each part of the fill out the following
castle represents a information: 1) Who
story element of the is the person? 2) What
story: characters, did the person
setting, beginning, achieve? 3) When did
middle, end, conflict, the person become
and solution. The well-known? 4)
graphic organizer will Where did the person
give students a visual live and work? 5)
on how each of these Why is this person
concepts relate to one important? 6) How
another. will this person be
2. Visualization: remembered?
Teachers can read the 2. Reading Self-
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story aloud while Reflection: Students

students are listening will read the text and
and creating imagery take some time to
mentally. After reflect on what they
reading, the teacher have read. They will
can assign students to write their reflection
do a drawing activity on a sheet of paper as
where each student a journal entry.
draws a picture that
resembles what they
think the characters
look like and write a
small description
about what is
happening.

Technological Application 1. Listening Centers: 1. Movie Time: Students

Strategies: With fairytales, can watch a movie
students can listen to about the person and
the story via CD or take notes while
mp3, while reading watching the movie or
the story using the video about this
book. person. Then, students
2. Movie Time: Students can draw a picture of
can watch science this person and write a
videos that are related small description
to a specific science about him or her.
topic that was 2. Book Creator Diary
mentioned in the Project: Students can
stories. For instance, go onto Book Creator
students who are and create their very
reading If You Decide own journal or diary.
to Go to the Moon They will spend
teachers can show Monday through
them a video of the Friday creating their
Magic School Bus digital diary that
show where Ms. includes a summary of
Frizzle took the class what they did during
to outer space. the day or something
bizarre that occurred,
and add pictures to
decorate.

Technological Tools: 1. Listening Center: 1. Movie: Some tools

Some tools that that teachers may need
teachers may need are to do the activity is a
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headphones (unless computer and screen

the teacher has an projector.
audio player and can 2. Book Creator:
turn up the volume for Students will need
the whole class to access to a computer,
hear), recording of the laptop, or tablet. Each
book, copies of the student will need to
book for each student create an account and
or enough to share. enter the class code to
2. Movie: Some tools join the instructor’s
that teachers may need library. Students will
to do the activity is a spend five class days
computer and screen working to create and
projector. type in their diary.

Part 2: Reflection

Reading is a fundamental aspect to student learning because it allows a child to

understand what is being written on a newspaper, medicine bottle, articles, and many more.

Davis (2011) says that reading is important to student learning because “it develops the mind.

The mind is a muscle. It needs exercise.” Like how we need to exercise to keep our muscles

strong and live a healthy life, students need to read so they can exercise their brain and make

their minds grow. “Teaching young children to read helps them develop their language skills,”

says Davis (2011). In fact, reading helps students discover many new things. Reading various

literary texts can inspire students to become better independent readers. Some of the traditional

texts that young children read, whether it is at school or at home, includes fiction, non-fiction,

fairy tales, fables, folklore, biographies, and many more!

One strategy that I would implement in my future classroom when teaching students

comprehension in reading is using graphic organizers. Graphic organizers are a helpful learning

tool for students of all ages because they help students organize and clarify information visually.

Graphic organizers help students construct an understanding of what they have read and explore
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the relationships between concepts. Wise and Cooper (2019) comment that “[t]eacher-generated

organizers are a useful scaffold to support student learning.” With reading fairy tale stories, for

instance, students can use a graphic organizer to write descriptions for each story element such as

characters, settings, beginning, middle, and ending, conflict, and solution. Similarly, students

who are being exposed to reading biographies can also use graphic organizers to gain a better

understanding of that historical figure. For instance, students who are reading Cleopatra can use

a graphic organizer that contains the following questions: 1) Who is the person? 2) What did the

person achieve? 3) When did the person become well-known? 4) Where did the person live and

work? 5) Why is this person important? 6) How will this person be remembered? Graphic

organizers are beneficial to student learning, especially when doing a reading activity, because

they help students stay engaged in learning and reading. Of course, graphic organizers are not the

only strategy to help students visualize what they have read. Students can also do mental imagery

when listening to stories and draw a picture to reflect what they have listened to, what the

characters look like, and more.

Implementing technological tools is another way to boost student engagement and

motivation in reading a variety of literary texts. When students are reading books or texts that are

science fiction, they can watch educational videos such as The Magic School Bus or Bill Nye the

Science Guy to learn more in detail about these scientific things. For example, students who are

reading, If You Decide to Go to the Moon, can watch an episode of The Magic School Bus show

where the teacher brought the class to outer space. Another technological tool that students can

use is using online softwares, such as Book Creator, to allow students to be creative and reflect

on what they have learned. Whether it is for reading fairy tale books, science fiction books,

biography, or narrative non-fiction books, students can use Book Creator to recreate the story
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they have read. For example, students who are reading, Diary of a Tokyo Teen, can create their

own digital diary using Book Creator. On Book Creator, students can input the date, type a brief

5-7 sentences of what events that have occurred that day or how they are feeling, and decorate

the page with images. By embedding technology in the classroom, students will be more engaged

in reading and become proactive readers.

Getting to know the students first and understanding what kind of learning styles they

have is important when encouraging students to read and develop interest in reading because no

two students learn the same way nor have the same interests. Taking the time to understand what

students like and how they learn would help teachers differentiate instruction to meet all

students’ learning needs and increase their motivation; this also includes reading. As mentioned

previously, graphic organizers are great learning tools for students to organize their thoughts and

see how each content relates to one another. To add on top of that, graphic organizers are

beneficial to students who are visual learners. I would give students graphic organizers because

not only does it help all learners understand the stories, it would also help students see the

connections more clearly.

Next is implementing technology. Some educators believe that integrating technology in

the classroom is not a great idea because it is easy for students to stay off-task and get distracted.

However, there are others who believe that technology is beneficial in the classroom because it

can help turn traditional classrooms into a fun and engaging classroom. In fact, technology can

help teachers connect with their students. To help support students’ reading comprehension,

teachers can use technology in the classroom to inspire students to read more and stay engaged.

A technological software I would use to help my students stay engaged is Book Creator and

provide supplemental videos that are related to the reading content. Students have such creative
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minds and are often eager to share their imagination. Students can use Book Creator to create

their own version of the book and embed images and videos. With supplemental videos, I can

share students educational videos where students can gain an insight and better understanding of

the concept. Additionally, supplemental videos can be integrated in any literary genre and by

embedding other learning tools, such as graphic organizers, students will gain a better

understanding of what they have read.

It is important for teachers to be creative in the way they keep students engaged in

reading a variety of literary texts. However, it is also equally important that teachers choose the

right text and appropriate genres to support students’ reading and comprehension skills. Many

students do not have the interests or motivation to read because they either find reading generally

boring or have learning difficulties. By taking the time to understand each of the student’s

learning styles and reading levels, teachers can implement differentiation to foster student

engagement and boost students’ interests in reading and help them reach their reading goals.

Additionally, teachers should also give students alternative ways to complete their reading task

because no two students learn the same way. For example, students can show their understanding

of what they have learned or read through self-reflection or create a visual, like a poster. There

are numerous ways that teachers can inspire students to read and they can start by getting to

know what students are interested in reading and understanding their reading levels.
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References:

Davis, G. (2021, April). Why is reading important? Learn To Read. [Link]

[Link]/[Link].

VisikoKnox-Johnson, L. (2016). The positive impacts of fairy tales. [PDF file].

[Link]

[Link]

Wise, M., & Cooper, C. (2019, January 22). Increasing the value of graphic organizers.

Edutopia. [Link]