# data[].attributes.body
These are books that is set in the past. Many of these stories focus in a historic time period or person. The books can also include fictional characters as well. The book will contain fictional content. This could be events or characters that were not recorded in history.

# data[].attributes.body
Some elements of historical fiction are setting, character, and the theme. Follow the link for more characteristics of historical fiction.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
7 Elements of Historical Fiction | A Writer of History

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All writers of fiction have to consider seven critical elements: character, dialogue, setting, theme, plot, conflict, and world building. While every story succeeds or disappoints on the basis of these elements, historical fiction has the added challenge of bringing the past to life. Since I work best by example, I'm developing an explanation of the seven [...]

# data[].attributes.body
This lesson focuses on two historical fiction books. Dear American and George Washington's Socks. The students read the books and look at the different types of view being presented. The students will discuss and write about the books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Preinstructional Planning
Students will:

Compare and contrast different points of view

Note the change in perspective as a character develops through life experiences

Option 1: Two contrasting Dear America books or My America books that take place during the same time period or historical event. Half of the class will read one title and half the other, so make sure you have enough books for each student to read independently. These titles work well together for a Civil War unit:

The Journal of James Edmond Pease: A Civil War Union Soldier

When Will This Cruel War Be Over? The Civil War Diary of Emma Simpson

My Brother's Keeper: Virginia's Diary Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 1863

Option 2: One class set of George Washington's Socks

Writing paper and pencils for written reading responses

Construction paper

Magazines, drawing paper, colored pencils, and other art materials for the students to use for their "albums" at the end of the unit

Venn Diagram printable

Optional: Binder to keep track of students' written reading responses

1. Make a class set of the Venn Diagram printable for students to compare and contrast the two books or the changes in the character's point of view.

2. Dear America or My America: Set up literature circles for students to discuss the books. Make sure your role for each member is clear.

3. George Washington's Socks: Set up questions or prompts you would like the students to respond to.

4. Optional: Set up a binder for students to respond to prompts or their roles in literature circles and keep all the information in one place.

Day 1

Step 1: Assess students' prior knowledge. For example, if you are reading the Dear America books noted above, make sure the students know about the Civil War. What were the issues? Why did they fight? This is perfect when studying the Civil War in social studies.

Step 2: Divide your students into literature circles. They should already have had experience with this type of literature learning. If you prefer teaching full class, then use George Washington's Socks as your literature book.

Step 3: Hand out the books and have the students discuss what they can predict from the illustrations alone.

Days 2-15

Step 1: Either have the students read and respond to the books through literature circles or read and discuss the books as a class.

Step 2: Every other day, students should complete a written response to the book they are reading, either by doing their literature circle role or by responding to questions or prompts that the teacher provides.

Step 3: Have students use the Venn Diagram printables to compare and contrast the two books or the changes in Matt's perception of the different "sides" in the American Revolution as the plot develops. You may want to do this as a class discussion or by pairing students together.

Culminating Activity

Students can write diary entries that would come after the end of their book. An alternate or additional activity can be creating a photo or drawn picture scrapbook reflecting what they have read. Since photography was used in the Civil War, they may choose to do this as photos or they can keep an artist's journal, using drawings. Their photos can be drawings, cut out pictures from magazines, computer pictures, or staged photos of their own. For each one, they need to have an entry, explaining what the photo or drawing shows. This can be finished as homework.

One fun extension for this activity is to use folk songs to show point of view. The most apparent one is "Yankee Doodle." Teach your students the song if they don't already know it. Then discuss how originally it was sung by the British to make fun of Americans, since a "doodle" meant a fool. However, the Americans took it over, changed the words, and made it into an anthem of sorts, turning the tables on the British.

Literature Circle binder entries responding to the book read

Culminating diary/journal project

Did the students' responses and discussion show that they understood how history is seen differently, depending on the point of view of the character?

Did their written projects reflect their understanding of historical point of view?

Were students engaged and focused during the work times?

Teacher Observation:

Dear America or My America: Were students able to see the differences between the two points of view in the diaries?

George Washington's Socks: Did students see how Matt's perception of the soldiers fighting in the American Revolution changed once he actually participated in it?

Written Outcome:

Student success with Literature Circle binder entries or reading response questions

Student success with diary entries using the point of view of the character

Student success with artist's journals or photo albums relating to the story

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Historical Fiction: A Wealth of Interpretations | Scholastic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Preinstructional Planning Students will: Compare and contrast different points of view Note the change in perspective as a character develops through life experiences Option 1: Two contrasting Dear America books or My America books that take place during the same time period or historical event.

# data[].attributes.body
A lesson that can be done in all grades is a book club. The link below is one example of how you could structure the book club. Putting students into different groups to read historical fiction books. Each group will analyze the historical and fictional parts of the book.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This google document is session 1 of the 4th grade unit 4 reading - Historical Fiction Book Clubs. See my store to purchase the entire unit!

This google slides document is meant to supplement the Lucy Calkins Unit. This is NOT a replacement for the unit. This is meant to support a teacher through the materials prep, minilesson, and share of the Lucy Calkins lesson. This should be used WITH The Lucy Calkins Manual.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Historical Fiction Book Clubs - Lucy Calkins - 4th grade - Unit 4 - Session 1

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This google document is session 1 of the 4th grade unit 4 reading - Historical Fiction Book Clubs. See my store to purchase the entire unit!This google slides document is meant to supplement the Lucy Calkins Unit. This is NOT a replacement for the unit. This is meant to support a teacher through th...

# data[].attributes.body
All grades
Take the students to the library and have the librarian show them how the library is set up. Give the students the category of historical fiction. Have each student find a book in that category.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The actual word "genre" is rarely referred to in the Common Core Standards. Even so, explicitly teaching literary genres is beneficial at all grade levels. Unfortunately, many high school curriculums omit genre instruction for various reasons...time constrains, overlap of curriculum with middle school, the seemingly elementary nature of the content, etcetera.

WHY TEACH LITERARY GENRES?

Repetition.

Even though students are introduced to the concept of genres very early in school, my high school students usually don't remember them.

For instance, as a part of my culminating study for my Reading degree, I organized a genre unit. At the outset of this unit, a pre-test revealed that the vast majority of my ninth graders couldn't tell me the difference between realistic fiction and historical, between science fiction and fantasy, between a myth and a legend, or between narrative nonfiction and informational texts.

Just like with grammar, writing skills, and reading comprehension, a genre study is not something that can be mastered when taught in isolation during the course of one grade level's ELA curriculum.

Bridging Literacies.

Explicitly teaching students to recognize specific genres helps to bridge the gap between literacies students see at home and at school.

At home, students are not necessarily exposed to the same types of texts as they are at school. For example, in many homes, students are more likely to be exposed to game-based texts, letters, e-mails, and picture books.

At school, students might interact with academic-style texts, including short stories, novels, textbooks, and articles. Educators can bridge the literacy gap between home and school by validating the texts they see at home and teaching students to analyze all genres of literature...even a grocery list, a recipe, or a coupon!

Active Reading.

Teaching literary genres helps students to be active readers.

For example, if I told you that we were going to read a text called "The Superbowl Dolphin," it would be challenging for you to make predictions about it without understanding that it's an article and that an article is a nonfiction text. Upon hearing this title, many of my own freshmen who at the beginning of the year cannot define "article" for me would assume we were about to read a fictional story. As a result, their predictions would be uneducated, and monitoring them would be hard, as would be comprehension in general.

If we want students to be active readers who engage with the text in meaningful ways, we need to give them the tools to understand what type of text they will be reading.

Analysis.

Examining text features and content to determine genre is an avenue of teaching students to analyze a text. Analysis is written all over the Common Core Standards and is an increasingly important skill in 21st Century teaching.

Appreciation.

Many students don't appreciate a text because they don't understand the characteristics of the genre(s) in which it fits. For example, when I teach my students about the story of The Odyssey, we spend a considerable amount of time learning about myths and legends. I haven't always done this.

When I first taught the epic poem, I just told students, This is a myth. My inexperience with teaching high school students told me that ninth graders should understand what that means. But many of them didn't. As a result, they were confused about sea monsters like Scylla and Charybdis. Are they real? Do people actually believe this stuff? This is so weird. Obviously, they didn't have an understanding that myths are written to explain something, that they represent beliefs of a culture, and that they often involve supernatural elements.

Teaching students not only what genres exist but also teaching them to analyze texts to determine their genre ultimately puts them in a position to appreciate the literature they are reading.

Recognition.

Ultimately, we want our students to be more educated when confronting texts in real life. If we teach them to identify, analyze, and recognize various genres in school, they will be more prepared to do so on their own outside of the classroom.

As the book whisperer, Donalyn Miller, writes, "As part of their education as readers, it is necessary for students to learn the common language that readers speak when discussing and investigating books. I frame instruction and discussions all year long around genre, the formal categorization of books" (p. 88).

Navigation.

If students understand the genre they are reading, they can, in turn, better navigate and utilize the text features. This concept can and should be taught in ALL classes, not just ELA.

Students should be familiarized with the genres they will encounter in a course, and teachers should give explicit instruction regarding familiar text features that accompany that genre. Textbooks? Magazine articles? Periodicals? Each has unique and important text features that will aid the intended audience in fully comprehending the passage.

Writing Benefits.

It should come as no surprise that teaching genres improves a student's confidence when it comes to responding to prompts. Genres of writing are not much different than those of reading. We ask students to write expository, narrative, argumentative, and analytical pieces, for example. If students understand and can analyze different genres when they read them, they will better be able to approach these prompts from an author's standpoint.

HOW TO TEACH LITERARY GENRES?

If you're looking for practical approaches for teaching literary genres, here are some avenues I've found successful.

First, determine the terminology.

The best approach is to begin by determining the terms you want to cover.

You can use a pre-test to identify misconceptions and areas of weakness, but I enjoy having a discussion with students while they take introductory notes on the genres we will explore. During the discussion, I ask them to give examples of their favorite books, stories, and movies that fall into each category and to explain the characteristics of the work that allow it to be classified as such. Through this discussion, I'm able to decide which genres students have already mastered, which they are developing an understanding about, and which we need to study more closely.

When choosing genres, consider the grade level and ability level of your students. Freshmen might need to begin with the basics, like historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, and dystopian literature, but advanced juniors and seniors could study eras of literature, like Romanticism, Victorian, and Renaissance.

Then, select a format.

Next you'll want to select an approach (or multiple approaches) for how you want to address the terms. Do you want to cover the genres in one unit? Would it work better if you covered them over the span of the year? What vehicle will you use?

Some ideal options include reader's workshop, literature circles, independent reading programs, book clubs, multi-genre projects, bell ringers, and mini lessons paired with texts already embedded in the curriculum.

No matter the format, I have experienced success by beginning with direct instruction and following with whole class identification and analysis, which slowly progresses to similar small group activities, and finally individual mastery.

Finally, decide upon practice approaches.

It's feasible to talk about and analyze genre with every single text we read. (Romeo and Juliet? Romantic tragedy. Play. The Odyssey? Epic Poem. Myth. To Kill a Mockingbird? Classic. Historical Fiction. Coming-of-Age. Scholastic Scope? Magazine. Nonfiction. Informational text.) Even so, discussion about course texts is not the only vehicle to allow students to teach literary genres. Here are a few ideas to make practice engaging when teaching literary genres:

1. Play 3 Truths and a Lie.

Have each student write 4 statements about genres on a piece of paper, three being truths, and one being a lie. (For example: 1) Realistic fiction could actually happen, but it hasn't. 2) Fantasy involves science and technology. 3) Dystopian novels generally involve themes of oppression. 4) Informational texts fall under the umbrella category of nonfiction.) After students have written their genre statements, you can collect them and use them as station activities, compile them as a class exercise, use them for discussions, have students pass them around the room one person at a time, etcetera. The goal would be to identify which statement is the lie.

2. Have a book sorting contest.

Work with the school librarian to collect an interesting assortment of novels (this is a simple way to get students interested in a book without letting them know your ulterior motive). Group the novels into sets of 10 books. As students work with a partner to sort the stack of novels into categories, time them (1 or 2 minutes is plenty of time). The goal is to ask students to use the information on the book cover, the back of the book, and the book sleeves to determine its genre.

3. Host a genre walk.

At the outset of an independent reading unit, I like to take students to the library so they can familiarize themselves with the layout, with the location of books, and with the book check-out and return procedures. After the librarian gives them a tour, I give them a piece of paper that has several main genres listed. I ask them to peruse the shelves and look for a book they might be interested in reading that would fall into each category.

4. Set them up on a blind date.

Remove the title and author from a text. You can use a few paragraphs from a short story, an excerpt from a novel, or a portion of a nonfiction text. Tell students you want them to get to know this excerpt, as if they were trying to learn about a potential girlfriend or boyfriend (it's just a fun analogy...you can leave this part out if you prefer). This practice activity encourages students to analyze the information available in the excerpt to determine possible genres that would apply. When selecting excerpts, make sure to choose texts that have obvious traits of a particular literary genre (ex. - aliens, fairies, morals, etc.).

5. Incorporate visual texts.

My students love it when I use visual texts. They are an integral part of our modern society, and they have value. One time, I showed students clips of "horror" movies (school appropriate, of course). We analyzed the films for trends. What did scary movies from the 80s have in common versus scary movies from the 2010s? Why might horror movies have evolved? How have audiences changed? The students LOVED this discussion.

Teaching literary genres is an integral part of an ELA curriculum for all grades...middle and high school included. How do you approach genre instruction in your secondary classroom? We want to hear from you!

READ NEXT

RELATED RESOURCE:
This resource contains some of engaging activities and mini lessons I use when teaching literary genres.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Literary Genres: Lesson Planning Ideas | Reading and Writing Haven

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The actual word "genre" is rarely referred to in the Common Core Standards. Even so, explicitly teaching literary genres is beneficial at all grade levels. Unfortunately, many high school curriculums omit genre instruction for various reasons...time constrains, overlap of curriculum with middle school, the seemingly elementary nature of the content, etcetera.

# data[].attributes.body
Historical FIction can be broken up into many different sub-genres of historical fiction. This can be focused on the time period, romance, western, and more. These sub- genres are explained in the link blow.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is historical fiction? An accepted definition is that it is fiction set 50 or more years ago and requires a writer's reliance on research. Sir Walter Scott in England began the genre we recognize as historical fiction, but its origins lie in the more distant past.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
by J.K. Rowling ; illustrated by Jim Field ‧

A 7-year-old descends into the Land of the Lost in search of his beloved comfort object.

Jack has loved Dur Pig long enough to wear the beanbag toy into tattered shapelessness-which is why, when his angry older stepsister chucks it out the car window on Christmas Eve, he not only throws a titanic tantrum and viciously rejects the titular replacement pig, but resolves to sneak out to find DP. To his amazement, the Christmas Pig offers to guide him to the place where all lost Things go. Whiffs of childhood classics, assembled with admirable professionalism into a jolly adventure story that plays all the right chords, hang about this tale of loss and love. Along with family drama, Rowling stirs in fantasy, allegory, and generous measures of social and political commentary. Pursued by the Land's cruel and monstrous Loser, Jack and the Christmas Pig pass through territories from the Wastes of the Unlamented, where booger-throwing Bad Habits roam, to the luxurious City of the Missed for encounters with Hope, Happiness, and Power (a choleric king who rejects a vote that doesn't go his way). A joyful reunion on the Island of the Beloved turns poignant, but Christmas Eve being "a night for miracles and lost causes," perhaps there's still a chance (with a little help from Santa) for everything to come right? In both the narrative and Field's accomplished, soft-focus illustrations, the cast presents White.

Plays to Rowling's fan base; equally suited for gifting and reading aloud or alone. (Fantasy. 8-12)

Did you like this book?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by J.K. Rowling ; illustrated by Jim Field ‧ A 7-year-old descends into the Land of the Lost in search of his beloved comfort object.

# data[].attributes.body
3-5
Setting up a blind date with books. Take away the title and give the students a passage. Have the students categorize the books based on what they analyze.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The actual word "genre" is rarely referred to in the Common Core Standards. Even so, explicitly teaching literary genres is beneficial at all grade levels. Unfortunately, many high school curriculums omit genre instruction for various reasons...time constrains, overlap of curriculum with middle school, the seemingly elementary nature of the content, etcetera.

WHY TEACH LITERARY GENRES?

Repetition.

Even though students are introduced to the concept of genres very early in school, my high school students usually don't remember them.

For instance, as a part of my culminating study for my Reading degree, I organized a genre unit. At the outset of this unit, a pre-test revealed that the vast majority of my ninth graders couldn't tell me the difference between realistic fiction and historical, between science fiction and fantasy, between a myth and a legend, or between narrative nonfiction and informational texts.

Just like with grammar, writing skills, and reading comprehension, a genre study is not something that can be mastered when taught in isolation during the course of one grade level's ELA curriculum.

Bridging Literacies.

Explicitly teaching students to recognize specific genres helps to bridge the gap between literacies students see at home and at school.

At home, students are not necessarily exposed to the same types of texts as they are at school. For example, in many homes, students are more likely to be exposed to game-based texts, letters, e-mails, and picture books.

At school, students might interact with academic-style texts, including short stories, novels, textbooks, and articles. Educators can bridge the literacy gap between home and school by validating the texts they see at home and teaching students to analyze all genres of literature...even a grocery list, a recipe, or a coupon!

Active Reading.

Teaching literary genres helps students to be active readers.

For example, if I told you that we were going to read a text called "The Superbowl Dolphin," it would be challenging for you to make predictions about it without understanding that it's an article and that an article is a nonfiction text. Upon hearing this title, many of my own freshmen who at the beginning of the year cannot define "article" for me would assume we were about to read a fictional story. As a result, their predictions would be uneducated, and monitoring them would be hard, as would be comprehension in general.

If we want students to be active readers who engage with the text in meaningful ways, we need to give them the tools to understand what type of text they will be reading.

Analysis.

Examining text features and content to determine genre is an avenue of teaching students to analyze a text. Analysis is written all over the Common Core Standards and is an increasingly important skill in 21st Century teaching.

Appreciation.

Many students don't appreciate a text because they don't understand the characteristics of the genre(s) in which it fits. For example, when I teach my students about the story of The Odyssey, we spend a considerable amount of time learning about myths and legends. I haven't always done this.

When I first taught the epic poem, I just told students, This is a myth. My inexperience with teaching high school students told me that ninth graders should understand what that means. But many of them didn't. As a result, they were confused about sea monsters like Scylla and Charybdis. Are they real? Do people actually believe this stuff? This is so weird. Obviously, they didn't have an understanding that myths are written to explain something, that they represent beliefs of a culture, and that they often involve supernatural elements.

Teaching students not only what genres exist but also teaching them to analyze texts to determine their genre ultimately puts them in a position to appreciate the literature they are reading.

Recognition.

Ultimately, we want our students to be more educated when confronting texts in real life. If we teach them to identify, analyze, and recognize various genres in school, they will be more prepared to do so on their own outside of the classroom.

As the book whisperer, Donalyn Miller, writes, "As part of their education as readers, it is necessary for students to learn the common language that readers speak when discussing and investigating books. I frame instruction and discussions all year long around genre, the formal categorization of books" (p. 88).

Navigation.

If students understand the genre they are reading, they can, in turn, better navigate and utilize the text features. This concept can and should be taught in ALL classes, not just ELA.

Students should be familiarized with the genres they will encounter in a course, and teachers should give explicit instruction regarding familiar text features that accompany that genre. Textbooks? Magazine articles? Periodicals? Each has unique and important text features that will aid the intended audience in fully comprehending the passage.

Writing Benefits.

It should come as no surprise that teaching genres improves a student's confidence when it comes to responding to prompts. Genres of writing are not much different than those of reading. We ask students to write expository, narrative, argumentative, and analytical pieces, for example. If students understand and can analyze different genres when they read them, they will better be able to approach these prompts from an author's standpoint.

HOW TO TEACH LITERARY GENRES?

If you're looking for practical approaches for teaching literary genres, here are some avenues I've found successful.

First, determine the terminology.

The best approach is to begin by determining the terms you want to cover.

You can use a pre-test to identify misconceptions and areas of weakness, but I enjoy having a discussion with students while they take introductory notes on the genres we will explore. During the discussion, I ask them to give examples of their favorite books, stories, and movies that fall into each category and to explain the characteristics of the work that allow it to be classified as such. Through this discussion, I'm able to decide which genres students have already mastered, which they are developing an understanding about, and which we need to study more closely.

When choosing genres, consider the grade level and ability level of your students. Freshmen might need to begin with the basics, like historical fiction, narrative nonfiction, and dystopian literature, but advanced juniors and seniors could study eras of literature, like Romanticism, Victorian, and Renaissance.

Then, select a format.

Next you'll want to select an approach (or multiple approaches) for how you want to address the terms. Do you want to cover the genres in one unit? Would it work better if you covered them over the span of the year? What vehicle will you use?

Some ideal options include reader's workshop, literature circles, independent reading programs, book clubs, multi-genre projects, bell ringers, and mini lessons paired with texts already embedded in the curriculum.

No matter the format, I have experienced success by beginning with direct instruction and following with whole class identification and analysis, which slowly progresses to similar small group activities, and finally individual mastery.

Finally, decide upon practice approaches.

It's feasible to talk about and analyze genre with every single text we read. (Romeo and Juliet? Romantic tragedy. Play. The Odyssey? Epic Poem. Myth. To Kill a Mockingbird? Classic. Historical Fiction. Coming-of-Age. Scholastic Scope? Magazine. Nonfiction. Informational text.) Even so, discussion about course texts is not the only vehicle to allow students to teach literary genres. Here are a few ideas to make practice engaging when teaching literary genres:

1. Play 3 Truths and a Lie.

Have each student write 4 statements about genres on a piece of paper, three being truths, and one being a lie. (For example: 1) Realistic fiction could actually happen, but it hasn't. 2) Fantasy involves science and technology. 3) Dystopian novels generally involve themes of oppression. 4) Informational texts fall under the umbrella category of nonfiction.) After students have written their genre statements, you can collect them and use them as station activities, compile them as a class exercise, use them for discussions, have students pass them around the room one person at a time, etcetera. The goal would be to identify which statement is the lie.

2. Have a book sorting contest.

Work with the school librarian to collect an interesting assortment of novels (this is a simple way to get students interested in a book without letting them know your ulterior motive). Group the novels into sets of 10 books. As students work with a partner to sort the stack of novels into categories, time them (1 or 2 minutes is plenty of time). The goal is to ask students to use the information on the book cover, the back of the book, and the book sleeves to determine its genre.

3. Host a genre walk.

At the outset of an independent reading unit, I like to take students to the library so they can familiarize themselves with the layout, with the location of books, and with the book check-out and return procedures. After the librarian gives them a tour, I give them a piece of paper that has several main genres listed. I ask them to peruse the shelves and look for a book they might be interested in reading that would fall into each category.

4. Set them up on a blind date.

Remove the title and author from a text. You can use a few paragraphs from a short story, an excerpt from a novel, or a portion of a nonfiction text. Tell students you want them to get to know this excerpt, as if they were trying to learn about a potential girlfriend or boyfriend (it's just a fun analogy...you can leave this part out if you prefer). This practice activity encourages students to analyze the information available in the excerpt to determine possible genres that would apply. When selecting excerpts, make sure to choose texts that have obvious traits of a particular literary genre (ex. - aliens, fairies, morals, etc.).

5. Incorporate visual texts.

My students love it when I use visual texts. They are an integral part of our modern society, and they have value. One time, I showed students clips of "horror" movies (school appropriate, of course). We analyzed the films for trends. What did scary movies from the 80s have in common versus scary movies from the 2010s? Why might horror movies have evolved? How have audiences changed? The students LOVED this discussion.

Teaching literary genres is an integral part of an ELA curriculum for all grades...middle and high school included. How do you approach genre instruction in your secondary classroom? We want to hear from you!

READ NEXT

RELATED RESOURCE:
This resource contains some of engaging activities and mini lessons I use when teaching literary genres.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching Literary Genres: Lesson Planning Ideas | Reading and Writing Haven

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The actual word "genre" is rarely referred to in the Common Core Standards. Even so, explicitly teaching literary genres is beneficial at all grade levels. Unfortunately, many high school curriculums omit genre instruction for various reasons...time constrains, overlap of curriculum with middle school, the seemingly elementary nature of the content, etcetera.

# data[].attributes.body
This is a historical fiction chapter book. This would be great for middle school age children.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction-a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.

Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events-but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.

A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards-not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)

Did you like this book?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction ( Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction-a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943. Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation.

# data[].attributes.body
Lesson for k-2
For this lesson we will read many different short historical fiction books. After we read the books we will talk about what they had in common, such as the setting and characters in the books. After talking about the similarities, we will move into learning what exactly is historical fiction. As a class we will read and classify books.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A once-thriving Black community was destroyed, and the story of how it happened went untold for decades.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...

Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar ( Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).

Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories-but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.

Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Evil comes to rural Pennsylvania in an unlikely guise in this novel of the American homefront during World War II.

# data[].attributes.body
Middle school book

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you've ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school-aged refugees-Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo-eventually intertwine for maximum impact.

Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: "See us....Hear us. Help us." With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author's note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Did you like this book?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you've ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school-aged refugees-Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo-eventually intertwine for maximum impact.