Looking for the History in Historical Fiction: An Epidemic for Reading

Lesson Plans

Student Interactives

Calendar Activities

 

LESSON PLANS

Grades   K – 2  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

From Little House to My House: Exploring History and Family Roles

Blaze a trail to new perspectives on home and family through historical fiction read-alouds. Students compare an episode from one of the “Little House” books by Laura Ingalls Wilder (in picture book format) with the author’s life and with their own experiences.

 

Grades   6 – 10  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

Blending the Past with Today’s Technology: Using Prezi to Prepare for Historical Fiction

To prepare for literature circles featuring historical novels, students research the decades of the 1930s to the 1990s and share their information using Prezi, a web application for creating multimedia presentations.

 

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STUDENT INTERACTIVES

Grades   1 – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Plot Diagram

The Plot Diagram is an organizational tool focusing on a pyramid or triangular shape, which is used to map the events in a story. This mapping of plot structure allows readers and writers to visualize the key features of stories.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Writing & Publishing Prose

Printing Press

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Timeline

Students can generate descriptive timelines that can be plotted with their choice of units of measure (date, time, event, entry, or other).

 

Grades   K – 12  |  Student Interactive  |  Organizing & Summarizing

Venn Diagram

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

 

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CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Grades   7 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  April 5

Pocahontas married John Rolfe on this date in 1614.

Students read "The Chieftan's Daughter" and are shown the fresco that tells the legend of Pocahontas. A class discussion follows regarding fact and fiction and students research Pocahontas.

 

Grades   3 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  June 28

Esther Forbes, author of Johnny Tremain, was born in 1891.

Students explore the genre of historical fiction by writing original works and comparing all of the finished pieces.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  October 28

Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, was born in 1914.

After learning about Dr. Salk, students interview a family member or someone they know who remembers the polio epidemic.

 

Grades   7 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  August 29

Karen Hesse, author of the Newbery-winning verse novel Out of the Dust, was born in 1952.

Students write original short works of historical fiction in verse format, modeling the style Hesse used to write Out of the Dust.

 

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