Entry #12 * Genre, Genre, which one stands out?

Throughout this semesters, we were asked to engage and explore many different genres and their characteristics through Tompkins (2012) and peer led presentations. I have to say how valuable of an experience it was to receive direct instruction paired with engaging activities for each of the genres.  This alone allowed me the opportunity to feel more comfortable teaching the reading and writing process. As I think back to a genre that took me away, it would have to be the journal genre and letter genre (personal writing). 

I knew about the personal writing genre before we came to LTED 618, I knew and had experienced journaling and writing letters before the course as well. What I had never took the time to consider was the way I use it everyday in my life, or how the powerful of a learning experience the personal writing genre can be to teach students. 

For example, the Journal Genre presentation that Dr. Jones familiarized us with was fascinating to me because of how many different ways you can use a journal to say what you are thinking. In the presentation, we used double entry journals as a way to explore a mentor text further using the authors craft. Tompkins (2012) states that "students become more engaged in what they are reading and become more sensitive to the author's language" (p. 114). During this activity in class, I felt extremely engaged in my mentor text Diary Of A Fly by Doreen Cronin. I appreciated that this activity also allowed me to think deeper about authors craft in a way I wouldn't with maybe another genre. The ability to predict, confirm, and give evidence can aid in a deeper understadning of the text itself. Using what I learned from Journal Genre presentation will help me as a teacher to guide my students in a deeper understanding of their readings as well. 

Amanda and Lauren presented on the Letter Genre that is also classified in the Personal Writing genre. Again, I knew about this genre before, however, I never realized how much I used it in my everyday life. Sending a text, email, letter to my family member, are all ways I can incorporate this genre into my daily life. In this genre presentation, I learned about the elements form and audience and how they are critical components to this genre. I learned that typically, in a letter, you need to have a form where there is a specific heading and closure. The form is important because of the purposes and audiences. I have to ensure that when I am writing a letter, I know why we are writing it and to whom. There also needs to be an audience. This is because I am writing the letter to at the very least, inform my audience of something. These are points I did not consider before this semester. Amanda and Lauren really intrigued me in this presentation and inspired me to create a genre piece in the form of letters. During the drafting process of this, I became quite frustrated because I knew how important the form and audience was. I just kept changing it. I knew the font had to be in the form of a letter. I was struggling with finding an "authentic audience" for my piece. As I kept drafting and discussing with my writing group, I finally found a great way to incorporate the elements I needed into a well thought out draft of a letter.  (Click the blue hyperlinks to view a draft and a revised draft of this genre piece!) 

Examining mentor texts throughout these the personal writing genre presentations opened my eyes to just how many mentor texts are available to me to use in my teaching. The visual classroom library of mentor texts at the beginning of class is truly a beautiful thing. I can now say how deeply I appreciate mentor texts and how they can truly make the learning experience more engaging and exciting. I find that I am able to apply what I have learned when I read through the mentor texts. I am grateful to walk away from this class with a Mentor Text Bibliography of each genre to use in my teaching career!