Genre is one of those topics that ALWAYS appears in testing! Doesn't matter what type of test - accelerated reader, NWEA Map, state, there will always be a question that relates to genre! It's also one of those topics that is very hard for students to memorize. 

In our classrooms we don't so much as teach genre as we experience genre! These great posters are hanging up in the room and as we have small group one of the graphic organizers to work on skills is asking the students to identify the genre of the text we are working on. 

Another great way that we experience genre is through daily check-ins. Prior to independent reading 4 or 5 students are asked what book they are reading, what page they are on, and what genre the text is. This is a great way to have the students experience genre in the moment. If the student is struggling (let's be honest, some books are HARD to classify....) the class turns to a shoulder partner to discuss the genre and then sticks are picked to call on someone. 

You can get the genre posters for FREE by clicking HERE and the graphic organizers can be found at our Teachers Pay Teachers Store! 

Graphic organizers help construct meaning during reading instruction. They organize thinking. 

When can they be used?

     * Pre-reading to prepare students for the text they are about to read.
     * During reading to organize their thoughts about what they are reading. 
     * After reading to summarize information. 

We use these graphic organizers that work for both fiction and non-fiction! They can be found at our TpT store! 

Text features are in important part of informational text. A Text Feature Walk can help students comprehend the text. 

What is a Text Feature Walk? 
 
The teacher guides the students through a picture walk of the text. In using an informational text the teacher previews the book by looking at the pictures along with the text features. 


Often we use this graphic organizer to help the students complete the picture walk and locate the text features on their own. 

They can be found HERE at our Teachers Pay Teachers site!

We also use these text feature posters to help highlight all of the text features students need to know! They can be hung up as posters, or they can be shrunk to make personal posters to use in small group or at their seat. Get the posters for FREE at our Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Click HERE!