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 BACKGROUND
- Read aloud the description on the Literary Genres topic page.
- Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
- Have students read one of the Related Reading articles. Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.
Step 3: ENGAGE
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.
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- Make-a-Movie: Make a trailer advertising a newly released movie. Use dialogue and imagery to express the movie’s genre. (Essential Literacy Skill: Determine central ideas)
- Make-a-Map: Make a concept map comparing and contrasting different literary genres. Provide examples of each. (Essential Literacy Skill: Summarize key details)
- Creative Coding: Code a meme representing your favorite literary genre. Use words and images to express the genre’s main theme. (Essential Literacy Skill: Make logical inferences from explicit details)
- Primary Source: Examine video clips and cite evidence to answer accompanying questions. (Essential Literacy Skill: Evaluate content presented in diverse media)
Step 4: APPLY & ASSESS
Apply: Students complete the Literary Genres Graphic Organizer, applying essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.
Assess: Wrap up the lesson with the Literary Genres Quiz.
Step 5: EXTEND LEARNING
Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of literary genres with these topics: Plot, Mood and Tone, and Types of Writing.
Additional Support Resources:
- Pause Point Overview: Video tutorial showing how BrainPOP Pause Points actively engage students to stop, think, and express ideas.
- Modifications for BrainPOP Learning Activities: Strategies to meet ELL and other instructional and student needs.
- BrainPOP Learning Activities Support: Resources for best practices using BrainPOP.
