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How do I teach the term "genre?"
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How do I teach folktales?
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promoting literacy, how do you recommend I teach the alphabet?
"How do I
teach genre ... what that word means to kids in grades 2-4?"
GENRE:
pronunciation: zhän'ra:
Genre, defined as
“a type or category, as of art, literature,” is closely related to the math and
reading skill of classification (classify by color, shape, use…). Therefore,
the same techniques you already use when having children sort objects by appearance,
function, or any other characteristic can also be adapted when conveying to the children
this literary term.
Keep in mind that cognitive
development plays a role in when a child achieves the understanding that
something can be a member of two or more classes at the same time. For example, a
book can be classified as an adventure and as fiction. To simplify the
concept for those students not yet successful in this skill, you may want to spend some
time writing class charts in which students sort books by title, subject, genre, or any
other feature discussed in the class.
"I am creating a unit on folktales and would like some
information on how I can incorporate this unit with various cultures throughout the world?"
FOLKTALE: a story handed down orally from generation
to generation. Folktales include fairy tales, myths, legends, and tall tales.
The teaching techniques best
suited for a unit on folktales include the following:
- focus less on the characters and more on the strong plot; stress the story line
- how the story started, the problem or conflict, and the resolution.
- have students compare different versions of the same folktale (folktale
variants), or rework the tale to fit their own culture or generation.
- encourage students to write new endings to old tales, considering the
consequences of a character's behavior or other aspect of the story.
- help students develop a classification system finding similarities and
differences between and among their cultures and those of the countries you mentioned,
comparisons about the stories' lines or plots, etc. Charting your month long unit
with these specifics may add to your discussions in character education, ethics, and
multicultural issues.
- consider word origins and cultural expressions, both in reference to the
folktales and in consideration of the expressions your students use every day.
You may want to devote an entire classroom wall to this project, charting or
graphing some of the issues discussed above. In addition to these analytical
issues, remember to include the more concrete issues such as cultural food, clothing,
art, and customs.
note: some of the information above was taken from
"Creating Reading Instruction for All Children," by Thomas G. Gunning
Within educational circles during the past two decades, there
has occurred a great debate concerning the order in which the letters of the
alphabet should be taught. One faction believes that these
tools of literacy should be introduced in sequential order, correlating with the ABC song
every kindergarten child croons. Others
believe that letter discrimination occurs best when letters are introduced in groups based
on visual or auditory similarity. (For example: q with p, h with n, or b with d …)
Several years ago
Yale researchers published the results of a study concerning children with dyslexia, a
learning disorder affecting up to 20 percent of Americans. The results supported the importance of teaching phonics and establishing an
orderly system through which children could associate letter names with letter sounds. These findings, in conjunction with other research
on learning and the brain, point to introducing the ABC’s sequentially. This method seems to hold an advantage in brain
organization and auditory/visual discrimination association (see How Young Children Learn.)
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