Instructions
A genre is a type or category of story. Read the definitions in the Genre Key below. Then, read each short passage and decide what its genre is. Write the correct genre on the line below each passage.
Genre Key
Fiction: A story that is made up from the author's imagination. It is not real.
Non-Fiction: A text that is true and gives facts or real information about a topic.
Fantasy: A type of fiction that has magic, talking animals, or other things that cannot happen in real life.
Biography: The true story of a real person's life, written by someone else. This is a type of Non-Fiction.
Fairy Tale: A type of fiction that often starts with "Once upon a time," and has royalty (kings, queens), magic, and a happy ending.
What's the Genre?
Read each passage and write its genre on the line.
1. The Emperor Penguin is the tallest and heaviest of all penguin species. They live in the freezing cold of Antarctica. To stay warm, thousands of them huddle together in a big group. The father penguins are the ones who keep the eggs warm until they hatch.
Genre:
2. Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, a kind princess lost her golden ball in a pond. A small frog hopped up and promised to get it for her if she would be his friend. The princess agreed, but when she got her ball back, she ran away from the poor frog!
Genre:
3. Barnaby the bear pulled his wizard hat down over his ears. With a wave of his twig wand, he shouted, "Pinecones, become cookies!" He waited, but nothing happened. His friend, Squeaky the squirrel, chattered from a branch above. "You forgot the magic word, Barnaby!"
Genre:
4. Amelia Earhart was a famous American pilot. Born in 1897, she loved adventure from a young age. She became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her courage inspired people all over the world.
Genre:
Be the Author!
Now it's your turn. Write one sentence for each genre below.
1. Write one sentence that could start a FANTASY story:
2. Write one sentence that gives a fact for a NON-FICTION text about sharks:
Answer Key
What's the Genre?
- Non-Fiction
- Fairy Tale
- Fantasy
- Biography
Be the Author!
Answers will vary.
Example for #1 (Fantasy): The tiny dragon peeked out of the teapot and yawned a puff of sparkly smoke.
Example for #2 (Non-Fiction): The Great White Shark can have up to 300 sharp teeth at one time.