Historical Fiction (Chapter 8)

Historical fiction offers a window into the past through literature. What a wonderful way to inform an audience of what occurred in a particular time during history than through a captivating piece of literature. One of my favorite types of novels and books to read growing up were written either about The Titanic or The Holocaust. I found both historical subjects absolutely captivating. I have always had curiosity about the past, mainly about how people lived their day-to-day lives. I was very rarely interested in reading a history textbook or sitting through a history lesson, but if I was able to read a book that was well written and told a story of the characters lives, I would instantly begin to feel interested in that time period or even of history. 

Knowing this I would like to run with that idea in my classroom. I have always been someone who believes integrating multiple subjects into one big unit is a very effective way of teaching. I feel that it would be beneficial for the students to read a historical fiction book (or any book depending on the unit!), learn about a period of history, complete art and creative writing projects about the period of history, and even possibly involve math and science within the same unit.

 Even though historical information can be gained and learned through the reading of historical fiction texts, the first purpose of historical fiction is to be a story that is created with a sense of realism to bring the time period alive. Historical fiction has not been a popular genre with children, but has recently began to increase in popularity, being called the "new fantasy".

Some benefits of historical fiction include:

• conveys a sense of life as it was lived
• happens to ordinary people
• broadens perspectives
• helps children understand that the present and the future are linked to actions of the past. 

Historical fiction can help children to understand that everyone plays a role in shaping history, and can help them determine their own role in what will become history. 

When selecting historical fiction texts for student's to read, the teachers should make sure that the book includes strong character development, an engaging plot that is credible, effective writing style, detailed setting, and a relevant theme. All of these aspects should come together to develop a story that brings the period  of history to life. Historical fiction can be used in conjunction with a history or an art history lesson and history textbooks. It can also be used to provide historical backgrounds for discoveries and advances in math and science. 

Top 10 Read Alouds for Historical Fiction: 

• Blood on the River: Jamestown 1607 by Elisa Carbone
• Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman
• Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
• Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz
• I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting
• The Legend of the Bass Reeves: Being the True and Fictional Account of the Most Valiant Marshal in the West by Gary Paulsen 
• The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Garcia Williams
• Whittington by Alan Armstrong
• Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

I hope to include historical fiction books in my classroom library and use them to direct class read alouds and discussions about particular time periods in history. How do you think you would use historical fiction in your classroom?

Nonfiction: Biographies and Informational Books

Of the many genres of text available to read, "informational books" may sound like a boring category, at least to me it does.
In fact there are many myths surrounding the genre: 

• that they are a dry recitation of facts. 

• they are not as good as a method for informing as a text book.

• boys and girls would rather read fiction.

However informational books and biographies offer an extremely broad range of individuals and topics to acquire knowledge about while reading. Nonfiction literature is based on facts that are based on the social and scientific world. The main thing to remember is that they are all based on the truth. Nonfiction books, while having the main purpose of informing, should and can also be a pleasure to read.
As a future teacher, including a variety of biographies and informational books for children to read will provide they type of variety that is needed to satisfy the readers of a diverse classroom. It would be beneficial to know and understand your students interests and passions when picking nonfiction literature to expose them to. For example, many young boys enjoy cars, trucks, boats, machines, and things of that nature. Including books that are about those topics can help inspire those students to read and enjoy literature.
Informational books can also offer a multicultural experience for students. In fact nonfictional books can be read alongside fictional books on the same topic to offer a broader understanding of a particular culture. For example, Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is a fictional novel about the Nazi invasion of Denmark during World War II, it can be read alongside the book Darkness over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews by Ellen Levine, which tells of the lives of 21 Danish people she interviewed who experienced this event in history personally.

Biographies offer a peek into history, whether ancient or recent, by presenting information based on one individual who experienced life during the part of history being discussed. As a future teacher I will consider including many biographies in my classroom library that will be of interest to the students. I will do this by including biographies of children and of people who were influential in a topic that the students find interesting. I personally think that autobiographies are very interesting to read and offer a very personal and detailed recount of what happened in history.

In my future classroom I will choose informational and biographical books wisely and will research my students interests and passions before selecting appropriate books for them to choose from. I hope to instill a love of all types of literature by helping to break the myths and stereotypes surrounding certain genres, such as nonfiction, by only recommending books from this category that the students will hopefully fall in love with.

Realistic Fiction

What is realistic fiction? When I thought about this question the first thing that came to mind was something to read that is fake, but is written in a way that it seems real. However I know that it is much more than that, now. Realistic fiction is realistic because the settings, characters, and events could actually happen and they are believable. What makes them fictitious is that the aforementioned elements did not actually exist or take place. Realistic fiction may be based on real events that occurred in history or the author's lives.

Realistic fiction is an important piece of children's literature. I myself have always found that this genre is my favorite. There is something so important about reading books that are relatable to children's lives.  In my own life I read books, such as Are You There God? It's Me Margaret by Judy Blume while going through some tumultuous times in my own life as a pre-teen and young teenager and felt that I could relate to some of the aspects of the characters lives.

Some important benefits of realistic fiction:

• It honestly portrays the realities of life so children can gain a more in-depth understanding of human problems and relationships.
• It helps expand children's frames of reference and ability to see the world from another point of view.
• It helps children understand and taking comfort in knowing that their problems are not unique and they are not alone in the world. 
• It allows children to experience vicariously interactions with the characters in books.
• It provides a literary framework for the development of a sense of personal and civic competency and the ability to make improvements in our own lives and the lives of others. 

Life is not easy! Life is full of ups and downs, turmoil, humor, and stressful situations. Realistic fiction addresses all of these and many more components of real life. 

Good realistic fiction needs to be credible. If it is not credible and backed with a meaningful theme, it will not be engaging or be able to help children who read it. It also can be controversial and deal with issues such as death, divorce, moral choices, mental health issues, abuse, homelessness and poverty, and sexism and sexuality. People may believe young children should be sheltered from these things, and to a degree I agree that before a certain age children should not be exposed to the trials of the world before they have to. But the truth is that these things happen. Every day. And children are very fragile beings who will encounter many tough situations and by giving them some exposure to fictional stories that address these issues it may offer some much needed guidance or simply comfort in knowing that they are not alone. 

Teachers have an important influential role. We can expose children to realistic fiction that they may relate to. By simply suggesting a wide range of books on the subject the chances are that a student will read at least one and can gain some comfort or insight.

Realistic fiction can also help students engage in critical analysis of literature. Many books of this genre will get children thinking about the world around them and how situations that occur in the book might effect them. This is exactly what a reader should be doing while reading, critically thinking and analyzing the text.

In my classroom I intend to include a lot of realistic fiction. For one reason, because it is my favorite genre, but for another, because it is an important genre that many children can relate to and it may stir their love of literature as it did for me.