Literary Genres Lesson Plan: Range, Quality, and Complexity
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This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Literary Genres, and supports applying reading standards to a range of text types. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of projects.
Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
Ask students:
- What are your favorite books or movies? What do they have in common?
Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE
- Read aloud the description on the Literary Genres topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Did You Know?” or “Real Life.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS
Assign Literary Genres Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND
Students express what they learned about literary genres while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.
- Make-a-Movie: Make a trailer advertising a newly released movie. Use dialogue and imagery to express the movie’s genre.
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map comparing and contrasting different literary genres. Provide examples of each.
- Creative Coding: Code a meme representing your favorite literary genre. Use words and images to express the genre’s main theme.
- Primary Source: Examine video clips and cite evidence to answer accompanying questions.
More to Explore
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of literary genres with these topics: Plot, Mood and Tone, and Types of Writing.
Teacher Support Resources:
- Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
- Learning Activities Modifications: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
