Genre is like a category, a group of things with similar traits. As a reader, understanding genre will help you to form expectations of a text. This will allow you to make better predictions. You will also be able to tell when an author is playing with the conventions of a genre. It is useful as a reader and a purveyor of culture to understand genre.
Here are a variety of online genre practice tests. It is simple to assign these if the technology is available. Just link students to anyone of the assignments below. They will read ten descriptions of different texts. Based on the descriptions of the texts, students will determine the genre of the text. They will select from six multiple choices. Then, they will explain their answers. At the end of the test, students’ score sheets and answer explanations are available. These score sheets can be printed, saved, or emailed as a PDF file.
Have your students email their results as a PDF and check their scores at your leisure. Or, have students test in class and then review their scores before the end of class. Give instant feedback. Have students share one or two of their explanations and discuss their responses. There’s no better way to target genre skills.
Online Genre Practice Tests
Click the links below to start the practice tests.
Genre Practice 1
Genre Practice 2
Genre Practice 3
Genre Practice 4
Genre Practice 5
Genre Practice 6
Genre Practice 7
Genre Practice 8
Genre Practice 9
Genre Practice 10
I hope that these activities give students the practice that they need. I have lots more online reading activities too.
Common Core State Standards Related to Genre and Subgenre
Expand to View All Common Core State Standards Related to Genre and SubgenreCCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.9 – Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
ELA Standards: Literature
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.K.9 – With prompting and support, compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.9 – Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.2.9 – Compare and contrast two or more versions of the same story (e.g., Cinderella stories) by different authors or from different cultures.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.9 – Compare and contrast the themes, settings, and plots of stories written by the same author about the same or similar characters (e.g., in books from a series)
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 – Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.9 – Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9 – Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
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Common Core Lesson and Unit Plans
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Genre Worksheets
Genre Activities
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