Text Forms, Genres and Choosing Texts for a Purpose

Remember from Grade 4

In Grade 4 you described genres like mystery, historical fiction, science fiction, news article, persuasive text, graphic novel and haiku. You met cultural text forms such as haiku and oral stories, and you chose texts by diverse creators for a purpose.

In Grade 5 you will meet more genres, compare genres that look alike (myth or legend? memoir or biography?), and explain how a genre's characteristics help it share meaning.

Hook: Five texts about the moon

All five short texts below are about the moon. They were written for this website. Read each one and ask: What kind of text is this? What clues tell me?

Text A: Why the Moon Hides

Long ago, when the world was new, the Sun and the Moon shared the sky all day. The Sun grew jealous because the people praised the Moon's soft light. So the Sun blazed brighter and brighter until the Moon had to hide. Since that time, the Moon slips away for a few nights each month to rest, then slowly shows her face again.

Text B: The Lantern Keeper of Pebble Point

People in the fishing village say that Old Agnes kept the lighthouse lamp burning for fifty years without missing a single night. Some say she once rowed through a storm with the lamp in one hand and the oar in the other. Some even say the moon came down to light her way. Nobody knows which parts are true, but every child in the village knows her name.

**Text C: from Moon Over the Lake, a memoir**

The summer I turned nine, my grandfather woke me at midnight. "Come," he whispered. We sat on the cold dock in our sweaters, and the full moon laid a silver road across the lake. He didn't say much. He didn't need to. I still think of that night whenever I can't sleep, and I understand now that he was giving me something to keep.

Text D: Our Town Needs Darker Skies (an editorial)

On most nights in our town, you can barely see the moon and stars. The new parking-lot lights shine all night, even when the lots are empty. This wastes electricity and money. Bright lights at night can also confuse birds that migrate in the dark. Council should put the lights on timers. Let's give our sky back to the moon!

Text E: Moon (a free verse poem)

A thumbnail of light caught in the bare arms of the maple. I wait. It doesn't fall.

Genres for Grade 5

• Text A is a myth. It happened long ago, has powerful beings (the Sun and Moon act like people), and explains something in nature: why the moon seems to disappear and come back.
• Text B is a legend. It is about a person and place that might be partly real, but the details have grown bigger and more amazing with each retelling ("some say"). Legends often celebrate a hero a community is proud of.
• Text C is a memoir. It is true, told in the first person (I, my) by the person who lived it. A memoir focuses on one part of a life and tells what it meant (he was giving me something to keep).
• Text D is an editorial. It gives an opinion (council should use timers), reasons and facts (wasted money, birds) and a call to action.
• Text E is a free verse poem. It has no rhyme and no set rhythm. The poet chooses line breaks so some words stand alone, like caught, to make you pause.

Cultural text forms

Many cultures have their own ways of sharing stories and knowledge. Here are some cultural text forms:

• Anansi stories come from the Akan people of Ghana in West Africa, and are also told across the Caribbean. Anansi is a clever spider who often tricks others, and sometimes gets tricked himself. The stories are funny, and they also teach lessons.
• Tanka is a very old form of poetry from Japan. It has 5 lines with 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7 syllables. You learned the haiku in Grade 4; a tanka is a little longer, with room for a feeling or thought.
• Oral stories in First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities are shared aloud by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. They carry history, teachings and values. Each Nation and community has its own stories and its own protocols (rules) about when and how they are told.
• Proverbs are short sayings that carry a culture's wisdom, like Many hands make light work. Families in many cultures pass proverbs down.

Each form fits its culture's purpose. An Anansi story is told aloud, so the teller can make Anansi's voice sly and funny. A tanka's 5 short lines make the reader slow down and feel one moment deeply.

Choosing texts for your purpose

In Grade 5, you read for many purposes. Before you choose a text, ask: Why am I reading? What do I need?

• To enjoy: a novel, graphic novel, poem or adventure story.
• To learn facts for a project in science or social studies: informational books, reliable websites, maps, diagrams.
• To make up my mind: editorials and news articles that show different sides.
• To understand someone's experience: a memoir or biography, or a story by a creator who has lived that experience.
• To follow steps: instructions, recipes, game rules.
• To learn about a culture: texts by creators from that culture, who know it from the inside.

Choose texts by diverse creators: different cultures, languages, abilities, ages and places. Check the author's biography to learn who made the text.