Historical Fiction
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Uhlberg, M. (2005). Dad, Jackie, and me. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers
ISBN: 1-56145-329-0
Grade Level: 2-4
Synopsis: This is the story of a young boy and his father's love for baseball. They epically love Jackie Robinson. The young boys father is deaf and connects with Jackie Robinson because both men experience predigests. The young boy teaches his father all about baseball, and their relationship grows strong though going to games and reading the papers about the game. The young boy not only finds a passion for baseball but also learns through his father and Jackie Robinson that it is okay to be different.
Classroom activity: This is a during-reading activity where the students will complete a feelings chart. The teacher will read the story aloud to the whole class. The students can complete the chart while the teacher is reading or take a few minutes afterward to complete their chart. After completing the chart as a whole group discus the student’s answers and why they answered that way. Continue the discussion by talking about how the students themselves would have reacted to these specific events.
Yopp, H.K., & Yopp, R.H. (2014). Literature-based reading activities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Page: 83
Borden, L. (2004). The greatest skating race. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books
ISNB: 0-689-84502-2
Grade level: 2-4
Synopsis: Piet is a young boy living in the Netherlands during World War II. Piet loves to skate, and his hero is Pim Mulier who skated the greatest race called the Elfstedentocht. Piet is responsible for skating two young children, Johanna and Joop to their aunt’s house in Belgium after their father was arrested. Piet has great courage skating Johanna and Joop through German-controlled land. Piet remembers the strength of his favorite skater and uses that strength to make a long journey.
Classroom activity: Using the pre-reading activity of cover clues each student will examine the cover of the story before they begin reading. Students will be asked several questions including: what is the setting? Do the characters look happy or mad? What do you notice about the colors used? What do you believe will happen based off the cover? After answering these questions, the students will be asked to write down three other observations while looking at the cover. After reading the text, there will be small group decisions about the student’s answers. Furthermore, the students will be asked if after reading the story if they have more observations about the cover or how their cover clues were incorporated into the story.
Yopp, H.K., & Yopp, R.H. (2014). Literature-based reading activities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Page: 37
ISNB: 0-689-84502-2
Grade level: 2-4
Synopsis: Piet is a young boy living in the Netherlands during World War II. Piet loves to skate, and his hero is Pim Mulier who skated the greatest race called the Elfstedentocht. Piet is responsible for skating two young children, Johanna and Joop to their aunt’s house in Belgium after their father was arrested. Piet has great courage skating Johanna and Joop through German-controlled land. Piet remembers the strength of his favorite skater and uses that strength to make a long journey.
Classroom activity: Using the pre-reading activity of cover clues each student will examine the cover of the story before they begin reading. Students will be asked several questions including: what is the setting? Do the characters look happy or mad? What do you notice about the colors used? What do you believe will happen based off the cover? After answering these questions, the students will be asked to write down three other observations while looking at the cover. After reading the text, there will be small group decisions about the student’s answers. Furthermore, the students will be asked if after reading the story if they have more observations about the cover or how their cover clues were incorporated into the story.
Yopp, H.K., & Yopp, R.H. (2014). Literature-based reading activities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.
Page: 37
Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 978-0-06-076088-5
Grade level: 4-6
Synopsis: Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern travel to Oakland California to spend the summer with their mother who left them when they were babies. Delphine is left to take care of her two sisters while dealing with their crazy mother at the young age of eleven. Throughout the summer, the three sisters attend a Blank Panthers summer camp and learn all about the movement. The girls not only learn there rights and how to speak up for themselves but also learn about their mom and eventually come to peace with who she is and why she left. The girls make new friends and learn hard lessons as they have a summer of a lifetime.
Classroom activity: As a during-reading and post-reading activity the students will be placed in lit circles. Individually the students will read assigned portions of the book and then come together in groups of four or five. Each student will be given a role and a task to complete while they are reading. Once they come together as a group, each student will talk about which role they were assigned. The roles will include, summarizer, questioner, connecter, travel tracer, and word wizard. The summarizer will be responsible for summarizing the portion of reading assigned. The questioner will be responsible for coming up with questions to promote decisions about the reading. The connector will be responsible for finding the text to self, and text to world connections. The travel tracer will be responsible for making a time line of important of events and where these events occurred. Lastly, the word wizard will be responsible for choosing unknown or interesting words to look up and discuss with the group. With different portions of the reading each student will be responsible for a new role.
Candler, L. (n.d.). Literature circle models. Retrieved from http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/litcirclemodels.php
ISBN: 978-0-06-076088-5
Grade level: 4-6
Synopsis: Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern travel to Oakland California to spend the summer with their mother who left them when they were babies. Delphine is left to take care of her two sisters while dealing with their crazy mother at the young age of eleven. Throughout the summer, the three sisters attend a Blank Panthers summer camp and learn all about the movement. The girls not only learn there rights and how to speak up for themselves but also learn about their mom and eventually come to peace with who she is and why she left. The girls make new friends and learn hard lessons as they have a summer of a lifetime.
Classroom activity: As a during-reading and post-reading activity the students will be placed in lit circles. Individually the students will read assigned portions of the book and then come together in groups of four or five. Each student will be given a role and a task to complete while they are reading. Once they come together as a group, each student will talk about which role they were assigned. The roles will include, summarizer, questioner, connecter, travel tracer, and word wizard. The summarizer will be responsible for summarizing the portion of reading assigned. The questioner will be responsible for coming up with questions to promote decisions about the reading. The connector will be responsible for finding the text to self, and text to world connections. The travel tracer will be responsible for making a time line of important of events and where these events occurred. Lastly, the word wizard will be responsible for choosing unknown or interesting words to look up and discuss with the group. With different portions of the reading each student will be responsible for a new role.
Candler, L. (n.d.). Literature circle models. Retrieved from http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/litcirclemodels.php
Scattergood, A. (2012). Glory be. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.
ISBN: 978-0545331814
Grade levels: 3-5
Multicultural Literature*
Synopsis: Gloriana Hemphill known as Glory always celebrates her birthday at the community pool. Set in Mississippi in 1964, the summer of her Glory’s twelfth birthday Glory deals with segregation and adolescence. The community struggled with segregated pools and decided to close the pool down for maintenance. Glory finds out that the relationships she once had with her sister and best friend change over time, as everyone grows older, and circumstance change within the community. This is a novel about growing up in a time and place that not only had the struggles of becoming an adult but segregation and discrimination.
Classroom activity: As a post-reading activity this text will be paired with One crazy summer. Each student will individually create a poster. On this poster, the students will be required to compare and contrast Glory and Delphine. The students will be asked to compare and contrast main character, setting, struggles, lessons learned, and outcome. For example how did Glory experience discrimination differently then Delphine did? Another example would be the comparison of the friendship and family issues both girls went through. After students have completed their posters, they will form small groups to share and to talk about the comparisons and differences.
Readwritethink. (n.d.). Compare & contrast map. Retrieved from: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/compare-contrast-30066.html?tab=4
ISBN: 978-0545331814
Grade levels: 3-5
Multicultural Literature*
Synopsis: Gloriana Hemphill known as Glory always celebrates her birthday at the community pool. Set in Mississippi in 1964, the summer of her Glory’s twelfth birthday Glory deals with segregation and adolescence. The community struggled with segregated pools and decided to close the pool down for maintenance. Glory finds out that the relationships she once had with her sister and best friend change over time, as everyone grows older, and circumstance change within the community. This is a novel about growing up in a time and place that not only had the struggles of becoming an adult but segregation and discrimination.
Classroom activity: As a post-reading activity this text will be paired with One crazy summer. Each student will individually create a poster. On this poster, the students will be required to compare and contrast Glory and Delphine. The students will be asked to compare and contrast main character, setting, struggles, lessons learned, and outcome. For example how did Glory experience discrimination differently then Delphine did? Another example would be the comparison of the friendship and family issues both girls went through. After students have completed their posters, they will form small groups to share and to talk about the comparisons and differences.
Readwritethink. (n.d.). Compare & contrast map. Retrieved from: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/compare-contrast-30066.html?tab=4