How to Teach Literary Genres in Middle Grades With Activities That Really Work

Teaching genres at the beginning of the school year makes sense.  But I'd argue it makes as much sense to review it - or teach it - in the middle of the year. You and your students are familiar with books at your grade level now, and their understanding of genres can be deepened. Below you'll find activating strategies to get students thinking, a complete lesson plan with standards connections, and extension activities you can use the same week.

Why Teach Genres in Middle Grades?

Understanding genre helps students approach new texts with a framework. When a student knows they're reading historical fiction, they bring different expectations to the text than when they're reading fantasy or an autobiography. That awareness improves comprehension, supports text-to-text connections, and gives students vocabulary for talking about what they're reading. It can also help reluctant readers find an entry point. Many of my students who claimed they hated reading just hadn't discovered their genre yet.

Genre Activities - Activating Strategies

Here are some great activating strategies that get kids up and moving - or thinking - about genres they like, and why

1. Discuss your favorite kinds of books and ask students about theirs
2. Mention a genre and have students line up across your classroom, with one end being "Never want to read it" and the other being "It's my favorite genre."
3. Have students give the names of books they've recently finished, and as a group, come up with the genre.
4. Describe a genre without naming it and see if students can identify it.

Genre Lesson Plans

Objective: Students will be able to identify and differentiate between various literary genres based on their qualities

- CCRA.R.5: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text relate to each other and the whole.
- CCRA.R.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

1. Introduce the concept of genre and explain why it's important:  Today, we're going to learn about genres of fiction and nonfiction books.  A genre is a specific type of writing that follows similar rules.  You might have some ideas about specific genres that you like.  (I've sometimes found kids say they don't like a particular genre before they've discovered a book that changes their mind!)
2. Give them notes on each genre that you want them to know.  
3.  Break students up into groups and have them identify books that you put in front of them.  You could do this as a book-tasting and have the books already set out around the room, or just break students up into groups and hand them a few books.  Listen as they work together to see where they look for clues.
4. Have students share their results with the class.  Or maybe only share the ones they struggled with (many books cross into several different genres.  When that happens, I suggest they look for the dominant one.  When all else fails, I go to library websites and look there.
5. Exit slip (optional) - give students the title of a familiar book and have them explain the genre and why.

Genre Definitions for 5th, 6th, and 7th Grades

The genres I used for 6th graders were: 

• Adventure: A story driven by action, danger, and exploration, often featuring a hero on a physical journey or quest.

  Biography and Autobiography: Nonfiction accounts of a real person's life. A biography is written by someone else; an autobiography is written by the subject themselves.

  Drama: A story written to be performed, told through dialogue and stage directions rather than prose narration.

  Fantasy: A story set in an imaginary world with elements that couldn't exist in reality, such as magic, mythical creatures, or supernatural powers.

  Graphic Novels: Stories told through art and dialogue, combining visual and written storytelling in a single narrative.

  Historical Fiction: A fictional story set in a real historical time period, often featuring a mix of invented characters and real events.

  Mystery: A story centered on solving a puzzle or crime, usually building suspense through clues and red herrings.

  Myths: Traditional stories from ancient cultures that explain natural phenomena, the origins of the world, or the behavior of gods and humans.

  Nonfiction: Writing based on real events, people, and facts. It can be narrative (telling a true story), explanatory (explaining how something works), or descriptive (describing a subject in detail).

  Poetry: Writing that uses rhythm, imagery, and concentrated language to express ideas or emotions. Poems may or may not rhyme.

  Realistic Fiction: A story with invented characters and plot, but set in the real world with situations that could actually happen.

  Science Fiction: A story that explores the impact of real or imagined science and technology, often set in the future or in space.

Genre Extension Activities

• Give students a variety of short texts and have them identify the genre and why
• Use task cards and have students work together to identify genres
• Create a book-tasting event with books sorted by genre.  Give students 3 - 5 minutes at each station.  They need to pick up a different book every minute (time them) and see if there are any they want to try! This was a very popular activity in my classroom and students either carried their iPads with them to take pictures of interesting books or their Books To Be Read list to write them down.
• Have students imagine how different a book they've read might be if it were written in a different genre.  Write a brief description of what that change would read like.  Or write about why the author might have chosen to write in the genre they chose.
• With a partner or small group, have students create a new genre.  They must explain why their genre would be read by students and what familiar themes it would have.

If you'd rather not build genre notes from scratch, my GenreNotes and Activities resource includes student-ready notes for all of these genres, plus task cards, a card sort, and graphic organizers. Everything you need for the unit, already built.

Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Genres to Middle Grade Students

What is the difference between genre and subgenre?
Genre is the broad category (fantasy, realistic fiction, nonfiction). Subgenre is a more specific division within that category. For example, fantasy includes high fantasy, urban fantasy, and fairy tale retellings as subgenres. For middle grade purposes, teaching the main genres is enough.

What if a book fits more than one genre?
Many books do! When that happens, look for the dominant genre. A historical fiction novel might have elements of mystery, but if the main setting and plot are rooted in a specific historical period, historical fiction is the primary genre. When in doubt, I look online for library catalog entries or publisher classifications as a reliable guide.

What order should I teach genres in?
There's no required sequence. Starting with genres your students are most likely to already read (realistic fiction, fantasy, and graphic novels) builds confidence and enthusiasm before moving into less familiar territory. And that makes a mid-year revisit a great time to review genre precisely because students now have more books in common to use as examples.

👉 Once students have a solid grasp of genre, one-pagers are a great way to deepen their response to whatever they're reading next.  Take a look at what I wrote here about using them effectively for novels (and saving your sanity, too!)