Genre Confusion

     Every year I have kids who read and read but then have no idea what kind of text they read. It usually happens like this. Question: What genre, or type of text, was this passage? Answer: It was a good story. Seriously!?! So then, self reflection happens. Why don't they know? Maybe because I did not explicitly teach them the different traits of the genres. So, I have tried to rectify that situation. I wanted the kids to have some ownership of their learning. So there are several activities that require them to apply their knowledge. This one was one of my favorites. I asked my son to help me out here. He said, "Mom, I'm on break from school. Do I have to be your test monkey?" He is a riot! But, after a little coaxing, he created this sample for you to see.

Little Man was all upset about his shark's eye being too big.
He is such a perfectionist that he was freaking out about
it being on the internet. I think it looks great though. :)

I included anchor cards for every genre I could think of. You can print them as a book, show them as a presentation on a SMARTboard, or post them as anchor cards. I also made a booklet that you can build depending on which genres your students need. They all have black line images so that students can color or decorate their own books.

Here is a sample of the folktale anchor card and the corresponding booklet page.

I also found a great video from Almost a Third Grader. I totally love this video series! You can find them on Pinterest and YouTube. Click here to view the video on genres of literature. I love how they show multiple genres about one subject!

You can check out my genres of literature product by clicking here.

    So do your kiddos struggle with identifying genres, too?  What have you found to be helpful? I would love to hear your thoughts!