This unit is designed to be taught at the start of Year 7 to equip students with a detailed understanding of narrative genre. The lessons provide students with foundational learning which will underpin the reading and writing of fiction throughout KS3 and KS4. A more detailed explanation of our rationale can be found here: The National Association for the Teaching of English , Literary Gourmands: Teaching genre to improve students’ literary response and enjoyment
The British Library has a range of resources available which trace the origins and evolution of specific genres over time. These could be useful subject knowledge materials for teachers.
Vocabulary lists have been suggested as homework tasks and low-stakes quizzes/recall activities within the scheme of learning. These lists will be used to introduce students to different genres.
Lesson 15 – Text Transformation
Diagnostic assessment opportunities are highlighted in green throughout the scheme of learning, and focus on short writing tasks rather than guiding students to produce an extended narrative. Students should be provided with regular feedback on these writing tasks through teacher and peer assessment.
Teachers may wish to also build in longer writing opportunities at regular intervals to allow students to fully develop their ideas.
Explain what genre is Identify genres from a range of book covers and blurbs and select evidence to support my assertions Explore why fiction texts are categorised in this way |
Display a range of different genres on the board and ask students to identify what these words have in common. These should include: romance, adventure, crime and detective, science-fiction, fantasy espionage, horror, realism, and dystopia. Gauge students’ existing knowledge of the term ‘genre’ and, if necessary, form a definition as a class. Share LQ. Display the same list of genres along with definitions. In pairs, ask students to match the genre to its definition. Use feedback to address any misconceptions about genres which may share similarities, and to ensure all students understand new terminology. Then, discuss: How can we identify the genre of a book? Organise students into groups of 3 and display a range of book covers/blurbs around the room. Assign one to each group and ask them to identify the genre based on paratextual details on the cover and the information provided within the blurb. Teachers should model this process with their own example first. Then, guide groups to justify their assertions. First, introduce the term denotation and ask them to annotate what the different clues on the covers and blurb denote. Next, introduce the term connotation. Live model how to explain the connotations of the clues, (ensuring that students understand the difference between the two terms), before prompting them to do the same. Take feedback from each group by asking them to explain what genre their cover belongs to and how they know. Encourage students to make links between the different texts by posing the following questions:
It would be useful to take whole-class feedback after each question. |
Guide students to discuss the following key questions about their own reading:
HW: Ask students to learn the definition and spelling of the following words for homework, in time for Lesson 2: Sinister, Clue, Motive, Investigation, Curious, Moral, Covert, Sensational. They could use vocabulary.com to access student-friendly definitions. These should then be recorded in their books.
Reflect on our knowledge and experience of crime and detective fiction
Identify conventions of the genre and explain why they are important
Evaluate why this is the most popular genre in the world
Complete a quiz to assess students’ understanding of the words that they have learnt for homework. This could be done by providing students with definitions and asking them to record the corresponding word in their books.
Share LQ and ensure that students understand the term ‘conventions’ (a recipe analogy is often helpful for this).
Organise students in four (or eight) groups to complete a carousel of some of the conventions of the crime genre, particularly focusing on characters, themes, settings and events. Provide each group with an extract and each student with a question grid. Teachers could complete one convention with the class in order to model (a) how to select precise quotations and (b) how to use ‘because’ to develop full explanations.
Circulate the resources until groups have had an opportunity to explore all the different conventions.
Show students a trailer for the film See How They Run (Knives Out is also an option but includes swearing). Ask students to discuss where/how different conventions of the genre have been used, which ones are missing, and why this might be. Then, guide students to consider why we enjoy crime and detective fiction and why it is the most popular genre in the world. Teachers may find this article It’s no mystery that crime is the biggest-selling genre in books useful and may wish to share the headline from it to prompt students’ discussions. |
