Brisk, M. E. (2015). Engaging students in academic literacies: Genre-based pedagogy for K-5 classrooms. New York, NY: Routledge.

Brisk, the author of Engaging Students in Academic Literacies: Genre-Based Pedagogy for K-5 Classrooms (2015), is a professor at Boston College and is originally from Argentina. She is an expert in bilingual education, literacy development, and writing instruction, and has a vast number of book and journal article publications in the field of teaching English as a second language. In her book about genre-based pedagogy, she writes from the context of a school whose writing curriculum was extremely lacking, and about how a switch to genre-based pedagogy provided students with many skills that helped them succeed for future writing tasks in various genres. She argues that genre-based pedagogy rooted in systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is a more holistic approach to teaching writing while integrating content from students’ other subject courses. Her book serves as a road map for teachers who are looking for a fresh, new approach to writing instruction that is rooted in empirically researched theories.

The book is intended for K–5 teachers to teach them the value of writing instruction through genre-based pedagogy and how to implement this pedagogy into their classrooms by collaborating with other content teachers. It is tied to theories from research in writing instruction and is packed with lesson plans for genres common in K–5 classrooms. It contributes knowledge to the field of second language writing because it gives practical ideas on how SFL and genre theories belong in writing classrooms, with some consideration given to young second language English learners and the challenges that they might face. The book is targeted toward classrooms primarily comprising native English speaking children; however, the author specializes in bilingual education, so there is some information in each chapter regarding nonnative-English-speaking children and the specific difficulties that they may encounter in each genre.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is dedicated to giving a general overview of SFL theory and genre-based pedagogy, explaining the need for a change in the way writing is currently instructed, and providing a breakdown of the organization of the following chapters. The main argument of SFL is that language must be contextualized and focused on meaning. This book supports this theory well in that it intends to supplement teachers’ current curriculum by providing lessons that make language contextualized by recalling genres that students are exposed to in other subject courses, which in turn provides meaning to the writing assignments that students are asked to complete. Part 1 provides a strong justification as to why this pedagogy is useful and effective for K–5 writing classrooms by citing numerous studies in the field of writing instruction.

The second part includes chapters that explain common genres taught in K–5 writing instruction across various subjects, such as procedures, recounts, reports, explanations, arguments, and fictional narratives. The chapters about genre include descriptions about uses, language, grammar, and difficulties that students may encounter. After the description, there are dozens of lesson plans to use from the beginning stages of writing to the conclusion of a writing assignment. Lesson plans are labeled according to their appropriate age group and are comprehensive and easily replicable. Within some of the lesson plans, Brisk provides anecdotes from teachers who have used the lesson plans before and how they adapted them to fit their classroom settings; these are helpful and make lessons more accessible. Some of the anecdotes provide perspectives of the teachers using these sample lessons which makes each of the lessons more engaging for teachers. Some challenges that teachers have overcome in their classrooms while implementing these lessons are also included so that teachers know what to expect if they decide to make the switch to genre-based pedagogy.

Part 3 is merely three pages long, and it is intended to describe how a school-wide genre based writing curriculum could be applied throughout other schools. It includes a chart about which genres are best for specific age groups, as well as a chart about which genres occur in specific subjects. The charts have extremely useful information, but this section falls short in providing information on how teachers should meet to discuss lesson plans throughout the school year. It is difficult for teachers to coordinate their own class’s content, let alone coordinate all teachers’ lesson plans so that every course that students have is linked according to language criteria. It would be beneficial if this book provided more information about how teachers should collaborate in lesson planning in order to emphasize the genres taught in each of their classes. Another consideration is that some teachers of subjects other than writing may not see a value in changing their curriculum, or they may see no value in genre-based pedagogy for writing in general. More information about the challenges to expect regarding working with content teachers of science, mathematics, and history, among others, should be included in Part 3 for it to truly be helpful to teachers interested in using this curriculum.

Even if teachers do not necessarily understand the theory behind the practice of genre-based pedagogy, they could still pick up this book and be able to teach in a genre-centered curriculum. The lessons are clear and concise, and they thoroughly walk teachers through each stage of the writing process specific to the genre. Within each genre, there is some mention of issues to expect with English language learners, but from a second language writing class standpoint, the lessons may not be sufficient because that is not necessarily the purpose of the book.

Furthermore, the book is not always rhetorically accessible or convincing to an audience of teachers who may not necessarily be research oriented. The audience is intended to be elementary school teachers; however, the summary of theory behind the pedagogy would be difficult for teachers to digest if they have no background in reading or understanding research writing and research design. The overall prose seems a bit impractical for the audience that the author is trying to reach. On the contrary, teachers who are familiar with reading research theory or are interested in understanding research theory should find this book to be extremely informative, concise, and practical.

Another shortcoming of the book is the overall organization of content. Sometimes there is a lack of transition from topic to topic throughout the chapters that makes it difficult for the reader to follow, especially in the first part where research theories are introduced. Furthermore, there are many areas of prose that could benefit from a table to display information in a clear and visually appealing way. In the places where tables were present, some seem cluttered and difficult to comprehend. For example, the first page of each chapter about genres provides a table called a chapter map. It is difficult to understand the purpose of these tables as they are not clearly labeled and they contain too many words without sufficient organization. Aesthetically, the content throughout the book can sometimes be a bit overwhelming and disorganized.

However, with these shortcomings, Engaging Students in Academic Literacies: Genre-based Pedagogy for K-5 Classrooms is still an innovative guide for bringing a new perspective of writing to schools that prioritizes genre theory. It converts empirically researched theories into practical classroom applications for teachers to easily be able to blend into their writing instruction.

Anna Davis has a BA in Spanish and is an MA student in teaching English as a second language at Oklahoma State University. She has worked as a writing center tutor for native and nonnative speakers of English, has taught international composition courses at the university level in the United States, and is currently an English instructor at a university in China.