As I have been reading the chapters for this class, the one text that I can't seem to get off my mind is the Blending Genre, Altering Style by Tom Romano. When Jessie first said that this book is a quick read, I didn't really know if I believed her, but when I picked it up for the first time, I ended up staying up until 2 am reading it! Now all I can think about when considering writing is how I will incorporate a multigenre paper into my future lessons. For this post, I'm sure I am supposed to lean more towards the Writing Process book rather than Romano's text, I want/need to discuss it now. While I think that this type of paper is an awesome option that English teachers can offer to their students, I still am a bit hesitant as to how I would introduce this type of paper to my classes.
I was discussing the idea of multigenre papers with my fiance, and I was trying to describe to him what exactly goes into this type of writing. What I got back was the most confused look that I had ever seen on his face. Romano first tries to describe the multigenre paper as "composed of many genres and subgenres, each piece self-contained, making a point of its own, yet connected by theme or topic and sometimes by language, images, and content" (p. xi). When I first opened the book, I was really confused by this description, but after reading the first example paper I fully understood what Romano meant. I really liked how before Romano went into great depth discussing multigenre papers, he didn't assume that his audience had a great understanding of what this type of paper is. This way of introducing the mulitgenre paper is a great way to do it in a class. While my future students may know how to write in all of the differnt genres separately, putting them together as one collective piece may be a bit mind boggling for them. Next week I'll probably touch a bit more on the idea of using this type of paper in the classroom after I have completed the text book.
RESOURCE LINK
http://thereflectiveteacher.wordpress.com/2006/12/07/the-multi-genre-paper/
Since I am on the topic of multigenre papers, I googled it and found a blog post from a teacher who used multigenre writing in her own classroom. She provides a worksheet to help students understand how to use the different writing style to write about the same theme/topic.
I agree completely about the initial looks of confusion that would surely reign down from our students. In the long run, I think the key to making this work is great scaffolding, constant feedback, and peer motivation. In this sense I see the Dornan text complementing Romano well. The worksheet found on your link is great- I instantly saved a copy of that for near future use!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jen's comment in that scaffolding is needed, however, with any new concept or idea, scaffolding is needed. I thought the idea of the multigenre paper as a`whole is wonderful, exposing students to a wide range and style of writing while interweaving it with a central theme or idea. Aside from scaffolding, I would also be conscious of time... I fear that one theme or idea may grow old on students if they need to spend too much time on it, regardless of a shift in genre. And yes, the worksheet is wonderful! Kudos
ReplyDeleteGreat point about how Romano sets up his book. Perhaps you could introduce the idea of the multigenre paper to your students by first having them read one and describe its elements.
ReplyDeleteBtw, totally fine that you wrote about Romano and not Dornan. Even if we don't his book extensively this week, the blog is yours and any related topic works for me :)
Kate, I totally agree that Romano's text seemed a little confusing in the introduction but when he started explaining it, I found myself compelled to keep reading. His text is full of excellent ideas and legitimate lesson plans, and I didn't once have to keep highlighting in order to stay awake. I think the multigenre project is a great way for students to, as you touched on, get all the different types of genres explored in one final project.
ReplyDeleteI hope that as the text goes on that there will be a place for explaining assessment and how we grade (if we even should..Atwell seemed against assessing her students' writing)