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Teaching Writing Genre

  • Sept. 30, 2014, 4:15 p.m.

Teaching writing is a challenging task in itself, but throw in genres and conventions, and you have taken expertise to a new level! As a fourth grade teacher I know the struggles of teaching writing first hand. Teaching the difference between writing a personal narrative and imaginary story or an expository piece is tricky. Make students develop knowledge in concrete and visual ways. Create an anchor chart to keep posted and have students can create their own notes about the key points after you have taught the genre. Checklists are easy tools to use as a study guide or reference. I created a checklist for students to keep in their writer's notebooks as an easy reference tool. To access my checklist. CLICK HERE!

The basics of Personal Narratives

  • It's a REAL story (no fantasy elements)
  • It's about YOU!
  • It's a story (Problem/Solution or Problem/Theme)

The basics of Expository

  • It's NONFICTION or true, factual information;
  • It's NOT a story; and
  • It EXPLAINS.

The basics of Imaginary Stories

  • It is a story;
  • It has FANTASY (Not Real);
  • It has CHARACTERS and a SETTING; and
  • It can be about others or yourself.

Happy teaching,
Randi Anderson