writing essentials: genre-based writing instruction

ORGANIZE BY GENRE

Links to Assignments in Writable
Elementary Course Assignments
Middle School Course Assignments
High School Course Assignments

Organize information 3 ways

Change the purpose to fit the text structure.

Provide students with the school-day details on flashcards. This allows them to physically sort the information into 3 different genres.

PROMPT | Compare student tasks to those of a teacher.

Decode the prompt to determine the text structure.

Teach genre characteristics

Visualize the body paragraphs per genre.

Grades K-2 Resource

Compare-Contrast Flapbook

Practice 2-step pre-writes.

STEP 1 | List all relevant details. STEP 2 | Organize similar details into groups or categories.

List, Sort, Label within a grocery list.

Anchor Chart
Great Plains v. Woodlands

Reveal single-step graphic organizers.

Introduce consistent and flexible graphic organizers to use in all grade levels and all content areas.

T-Chart: PDF | Jamboard

How do I make Smekens strategies digital and interactive?

Craft strong introductions & conclusions

“Piece” together information.

Dry-erase puzzle pieces demonstrate how different types of information can comprise introductions and conclusions.

Write endings that don’t merely summarize.

Download student writing samples with strong beginnings and endings.

5-6

Informative

• Author Study: Roald Dahl (Literature Response)
• There’s No Place Like Home (Research, American Revolution)
• Ann Sullivan (Biography)
• Unique Wolves (Research)
• Cheating in America (Research)
• Stealth (Explanatory)

11-12

Informative

• Animal Farm (Literary Essay)
• Marching to His Own Beat (Literary Essay)
• MRI (Research)
• McValues (Advertisement Analysis)
• What Confuses Me (Reflective Essay)