1. An inquiry to genre study: learning from mentor texts -- 2. What is genre study? -- 3. What students need to know about the genres of text -- 4. A workshop approach to genre study -- 5. Learning to process fiction and nonfiction texts -- 6. Understanding fiction texts: exploring realism -- 7. Realism in fiction texts: contemporary realistic and historical fiction -- 8. Fantasy in fiction texts: traditional literature and modern fantasy -- 9. Understanding biography: learning from the lives of others -- 10. Nonfiction texts: purpose, organization, and audience -- 11. Nonfiction texts: analysis of design -- 12. Reading across genres: a close study of hybrid texts, graphica, and multigenre text sets -- 13. Poetry -- 14. Thinking and talking about genre: interactive read-aloud and literature discussion -- 15. Learning about fiction genres through minilessons and group share -- 16. Learning about nonfiction texts through minilessons and group share -- 17. Developing understandings about genre through reading conferences and independent reading -- 18. Writing about reading in a reader's notebook -- 19. Using guided reading to develop understandings about genre -- 20. The reading-writing connection.