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Chapter 10

Historical Fiction



Chapter Summary: 

Historic Fiction for children can be different than what we as the teacher think it should be.  The historic fiction portion of the textbook, shared that to children what they did that morning, could be considered history to them.  Knowing that they are still learning what this concept means, we will probably need to scaffold our activities before we ask them to read historic fiction.  Sharing this subgenre with students is important because it will allow our students to vicariously experience what life was like during that time.  In selecting from this subgenre there are some things to keep in mind.

Criteria for Evaluating Historic Fiction:
  • Does the story blend the historic time well into the story?
  • Are the facts presented, accurate with the time?
  • How are the values of that time shared?
  • Is everything consistent with this time period?  Clothes, speech, technology, cultural aspects, etc.
  • Does the story allow a contemporary reader to still make connections with it?


Chapter Reflections:

Historic fiction is one of my favorite genres.  I do appreciate, how this genre allows you to have the vicarious experience of being in the time that the story takes place.  The criteria shared for evaluating historic fiction is a helpful checklist to share with teachers, to help them to make sure that they are selecting the best examples of historic fiction for their students.  It would also be good to share with older students as they are evaluating the books that they are reading.  We don't only want our students to read the books and be able to write summaries of them.  As teachers we should want our students to also evaluate the piece that the author has created and think about how the story is constructed within this subgenre.






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