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Brisk mentions the 7 different genres and lesson ideas for these genres. How do you think you can use the genres or the different lesson ideas to create a lesson plan that combines other subjects?

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Looking back on your own experience, how do you think learning about genres help student writing skills? What were some activities or assignments that you remember that you might be able to use in the future?

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The vignette at the start of the chapter describes some students’ experiences studying empathetic autobiographies (when the author assumes the identity of a historical figure, defined or general). In what ways (from this vignette or in general) could this be problematic or perpetuate harmful historical stereotypes? How can we best avoid this so that students can learn about and write empathetic autobiographies in a meaningful way?

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Brisk mentions that the “more typical voice of academic writing is very difficult for children” when discussing biographies. Why might this be the case? Are there any groups of students who this may be especially difficult for? Do you have any ideas for introducing biographies in a less intimidating fashion?

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Since these 7 genres are very similar to each other, what creative ideas do you have for helping students distinguish between them? Mnemonics, posters, lesson ideas, etc?

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I think that using different genres to teach grammar skills makes lessons more interesting than just simply having students fill out worksheets or memorize rules. For instance, on page 143 the author described an activity that uses recounts and mentor texts to show the importance of adjectives. The teacher covers all of the adjectives in a paragraph and asks the students to describe the character, (which is challenging because there are no specific details) then uncovers them and has them do it again. Especially since personal recounts, autobiographies, empathetic autobiographies are meant for entertainment, utilizing these genres will help kids stay engaged.

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This question is incredibly important for teachers to consider anytime they asking students to take on another individual's point of view. I think working with the other types of recounts first is a good way to avoid harm. For instance, students could write empathetic autobiographies about classmates first. This way, the classmate could critique and clarify any incorrect assumptions made by the writer. It would also help each student see what it feels like to be represented correctly or incorrectly. Then when transferring to historical accounts, the students should write historical recounts or biographies first to show that they are knowledgeable about the specific event or person before assuming their identity.

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I think there are several reasons Academic reading may be more difficult for students. First, the language itself might be more difficult to comprehend because the vocabulary is more advanced. From a technical perspective, these difficulties also provide opportunities to learn. Second, the organization of academic writing is often more elaborate and requires readers to hold an idea in their head before returning to it. Lastly, I think academic writing is simply less engaging than other voices and therefor takes more concentration/focus. For younger readers the focus requirement could be difficult. Because Academic writing is the prominent voice of higher education, students should have lots of practice handling these challenges. Teachers could help with this process by pairing academic writing with more casual samples of the same content. They could also select academic writing with pictures to help students focus and create context for the writing.

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Learning within the context of genres helps students best utilize their own skills. Each genre is slightly different and therefore requires slightly different skills to most effectively comprehend the material. For example, if a class is going through a personal recount together, they should be ready to see and understand the personal pronouns. However, if they are reading a historical recount, they will probably not be encountering as many personal pronouns. I think understanding the genres sets students up to succeed with their reading and interpretation. While I remember encountering these genres in school I do not think they were ever explicitly taught as independent genres. The only exception I can think of was our 3rd grade biography project where we all picked a historical person, read their biography, then presented an oral autobiography to the class in character.

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Brisk connects each of the genres to a content area. She associates personal and imaginative recount and autobiographies with ELA, procedural recount with science and math, and biography, empathetic autobiography, and historical recount with social studies. I think teachers can use this as a starting point and then make connections to other subjects. For example, ELA can be incorporated in a science - or math-oriented procedural recount because students need to learn specific language features. Or, students can write biographies about historical figures that contributed to math and science.

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I agree with Julia that there are many ways to integrate ELA and other subjects. Writing is such an important tool across all subject areas, so there are many natural opportunities to combine different genres and subjects. I think social studies is fairly easy to integrate, because students can write biographies about historical figures or recounts about what they learn. While math and science do not lend as nicely to ELA, students can still use procedural recounts and how-to type writing assignments to show their understanding of math and science topics.

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I agree with Lucy and Julia! There are so many ways that ELA writing can be integrated into other subject areas. There is a natural tendency for some genres to fit certain content areas. I think that can be used as a good launching point for teachers to talk to students about different genres and their purposes and features as well.