The article deals with the problem of teaching preface and afterword in school lessons of rhetoric and speech development. The author substantiates the relevance of addressing these genres: effective use of the reference apparatus of the book in children's speech practice. Gives a comparative characteristic of the preface and afterword, identifying common and distinctive features on the basis of genre-forming factors (purpose, place in the book, structure, formal organization, communicators, nature of evaluation of the primary source) and genre-defining features, including examples of structural components. Describes teaching methodology: basic communicative skills, didactic framework, lesson summaries, sample assignments.