Importance of NOVELS and SHORT STORIES:

• they support your curriculum objectives as well as state standards;

• they are part of the so-called “classic” which continues to be relevant
to today’s students;
• they are well written and particularly serve as strong foundations
for the students to enhance their grammar, vocabulary, and
comprehension;
• they contain universal themes which can be integrated into real
life;
• they speak to the students’ interests, concerns, or social issues; and
• they exemplify desired genres or styles of writing
The NOVELS and SHORT STORIES
that you select for your students to read
should depend largely on the following:

L anguage
I nterest
V ariety
E valuation
LANGUAGE

(also known as the “instructional level” of a text) where we

consider the student’s capability to read at least 90% of the
words accurately and be able to understand no less than 75%
of the overall content of a particular literary piece.
What’s “aggravate” mean?
What’s “negligence”? What’s
“morose”? What’s “impertinence”?
What’s “grotesque”?
I don’t care that we’re only on
page 2 – I don’t want to keep
reading this book!
INTEREST

which we focus on the student’s preference or relationship

with the text that motivates them to read and helps them to
find an authentic purpose to keep reading
There’s nothing very interesting
about that pig. It’s just a pig.
And the book is not even really
about the pig.
VARIETY

where we provide the students with an array of

literary genres and subgenres, as well as
introduce them to different perspectives and
writing styles
I don’t want to hear
about any more girls
who are mamas getting
turned into cows or shrubs
or anything else!
EVALUATION

where we assess the student’s

DISTINCTIVE FEATURES OF

Genres
GENRE
a style or category of art, music, or literature which controls
what you write and how you write it. It describes the style and
focus of the text you write. It gives you blueprints for different
types of stories.

** There are four (4) major literary

GENRES, namely: FICTION, NONFICTION,
DRAMA, and POETRY – the ones we know
are called SUB-GENRES.
Why Does Genre Matter?
…because they fulfill reader expectations - reading novels and short
stories give us a sense of belongingness and knowing that we’re on
familiar ground.
Genres reflect trends in society and they evolve when writers push
the boundaries. Readers ultimately decide if the experiment has
worked by buying these books.
The most important part of genre fiction, though, is that it fulfills
our human need for good old-fashioned storytelling. We sometimes
need stories we can rely on to blunt the harsh realities of life.
FICTION SUB-GENRES
• FANTASY • ADVENTURE
• SCIENCE FICTION • ROMANCE
• HORROR • HUMOR
• MYSTERY • CONTEMPORARY
• HISTORICAL • MYTHOLOGY
• REALISTIC • FOLKLORE
 DESIGNING

Activities
 POSSIBLE
Drawbacks
Drawbacks