Our most recent presentation was on the biography genre. It ties back into our first discussion on the first day (second?) of class. We talked about how Tompkins supports author chosen topics because the author becomes more engaged and more interested in the topic. It is so much easier to write when you care about, or are interested in, the topic.
I mean this all in the best way possible Stephanie...
My beautiful presentation partner, Stephanie, came up with an interesting - if accidental - perspective on biographies. She picked up a book from the expoistory genre, contributed by someone who wasn't sure about the guidelines for bringing in books for that class. While reading over the book about coral reefs, Stephanie thought that she could see the book as written from the fish's perspective, as sort of a biography of the fish through a lens of his habitat. It started me thinking...
How could incorporate the biography genre into my students' learning of science. Yes, students could read about the life and times of famous scientists. But honestly, that offers little to no perspective for the students. It becomes just another thing to do, another person to memorize. Writing biographies of scientists is a little bit better, because it forces the students to take on the mindset of the scientist and formulate understanding of why that person did what he did.
But what if I make lemonade from Stephanie's unintentional lemons? What if students took on the perspective of a plant, or animal, or person living through an earthquake? Or the earthquake itself? Or a water molecule as it travels through the water cycle? They would then be using that marvelous practice that we have been striving for: to have students use writing to understand reading. It's more than reading about the water cycle and using that knowledge to create a biography genre piece; it's using the perspective to enhance understanding of the water cycle.
This sounds exactly like a RAFT assignment. Are you familiar with this type of instructional writing assignment, Michelle? If not, I know you would enjoy using these types of activities in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteI also think it is good for students (and teachers) to recognize that there are a wide range of texts which may be written to inform the reader on a particular topic (like a plant, an animal, etc) but they are written in a way that personifies the content. [The book, Diary of a Worm, is a great example of this.] These types of texts are often being labeled as multigenre or blended-genres in order to help students see how the writer may draw elements from various forms in order to best fulfill his/her purpose for writing.