Why do we teach...

One summer afternoon my daughter asked me to review a comprehension kit. We talked about the purpose of the kit, how and when to use it, and why it is important to have kit. After our conversation I asked her, “Why do we teach genre?”  She responded with, “I don’t know, why?” Here is where I used the tough love of a mother; I told her that if she didn’t know why she is teaching something then she should not be teaching it.  I asked her to think on it and give me a call later. As I was getting into my car she said, “So they can understand”.  I responded with, “That is a weak answer”. This has been a common response when I've asked teachers this very question.

I too have pondered on why we teach what we teach.  Many years ago I was leaving a school after conducting a presentation on comprehension and I asked myself a similar question, “Why do we teacher character, setting, problem, and solution?” I went home and started reading and thinking about it. Here is what I have concluded.

Different genres have a different story structure. For example, narrative text has character, setting, problem, and solution; whereas fairy tales’ structure includes once upon a time, good vs. evil, and magic. Readers depend on the genre’s structure to predict, anticipate, ask questions, summarize, etc. By knowing the structure of the genre, one is more prepared to use their reading strategies to get to deep understanding as well as it provides them with a tool to interact with the story.

To support student learning consider:

·       Creating a bulletin board with the student illustrating the structures of genre’s read.

·       Asking questions that rely on them to use the structure to answer.

·       Having students predict based on the genre structure.

·       Have students identify the genre based on the structure.

·       Discuss and model for students how the genre structure supports deep understanding.

Structure provides a map (conceptual understanding) for new learning. You may even consider teaching the structures of genre as a scaffolding technique.

Sonya Louviere