Grabbing the right genre (78 out of 365) #blogaday #sol15

SOL day 27

I started reading a new mystery book as well as receiving a different ghost story one in the mail this week – it sparked my interest in how certain genres draw readers in, and how to encourage students to broaden their focus. I am usually interested in mysteries, but there are so many types of books that fit into this category (detectives, ghost stories, historical fiction, etc). If children are interested in one particular genre, what can be done to allow them to see other books and authors? I have found my own niche with animals as narrators. It is important to really pay attention to what the students are reading, and find them similar books that might be from a different genre. How an author writes can also affect enjoyment because not everybody wants to read the same tone of writing. If you find an author you like, it can be a safe bet that they have other books or recommendations on Amazon. Especially with authors of children’s books, they often write a series to keep the readers’ attentions. Since I was much more of an active-play kind of child, rather than the sitting and reading kind, I am often interested by what “makes” children want to read. I know that finding the right genre is a large part of it, but am not sure how to know that children are reading the wrong one (rather than needing more assistance). I guess it comes down to knowing your students well enough, and talking to them about their interests. I will start to understand more of the logistics with reading once I have my own class, and have started teaching students on my own. It is difficult to understand what the children looked like at the beginning, middle, and end of the year when I wasn’t with them throughout the whole process. I look forward to understanding more hopefully next school year!