LessonOne:IntroductiontotheHistoricalFictionGenre(45minutes)
I.
Pre-AssessmentData
GuidingQuestions:Whatdostudentsalreadyknowaboutthistopic?Whatdata(formalorinformal)isavailable?
Studentsalreadyknowhowtolookforcontextcluesinafictionandnonfictiontext.Contextcluesinclude
findingthemainideaofaparagraphorchapter.Studentsalreadyknowhowtoformonecompletesentence
todescribethemainideaby“squishing”twoideasfromaparagraphorchaptertogether,thensharingthat
mainideawithapartnerorfriendeasily.
Forthislesson,studentswillbeusingcontextcluestrategiestodiscoverthekeyelementsofhistoricalfiction:
time,place,setting,characters,andiftheeventsinthestorycouldhappeninreallife.
II. ContentandLanguageObjective*Mustbeconveyedtostudents
GuidingQuestion:Whatwillstudentsbeabletodoattheendoftoday’slesson?Howwillthissupportlanguage
development?
!Describe!Explain!Apply!Analyze!Compare!Evaluate!Defend!Create!Interpret!Formulate
SWBATdefine,inwriting,threecharacteristicsofahistoricalfictionbookusingpropergrammarand
punctuationwiththehelpofagraphicorganizerandteacherexample.
KeyVocabulary:
genre,historicalfiction,time,place,setting,diversity
III. Rationale*Mustbeconveyedtostudents
GuidingQuestions:Whyisthisimportanttostudents?Howisthisrelatedtounitgoals,essentialquestions,orrelevant
standards?Howdoesthisconnecttostudents’reallivesandcultures?
Historicalfictioniscreatedwithanonfictionpastwithfictionalcharacterstohelpyourelatebetterwiththe
pastandhowweliveinthepresent.
“Readers,howcanwelearnfromthepastabouthowweliveandunderstandthepresent?”
IV. Assessment*Mustbeconveyedtostudents
GuidingQuestions:Howwillyoumeasurestudents’progresstowardtheobjective?Willthedatayougatherallowyouto
differentiatefutureinstruction?
Studentsfilloutagraphicorganizerwiththreecharacteristicsofthehistoricalfictionbooktheychoosethat
provethebookishistoricalfiction.Studentswilllisttime,place,setting,andhowthestorycouldreally
happeninreallife.
Afterthestudentsdefineanddescribetheirbookashistoricalfiction,theywillhavedeeperquestionsto
answeraboutdiversityinthebookandintheirreal-lives.Studentsbegintomakereal-worldconnectionsto
theirhistoricalfictionbookofchoice.
V. Differentiation
GuidingQuestions:Howwillyouusedatatointentionallygroupstudentsaccordingtoskills/readiness?Whatchoicewill
studentshaveintheprocessorproductassociatedwiththislesson?
Studentswillseekandfindhistoricalfictionbooksattheschoollibrary.Oncetheyfindabookthey
understandashistoricalfiction,studentswillfilloutagraphicorganizerwiththreecharacteristicstodefine
thebookashistoricalfiction.Studentswillcheckoutthebookfromthelibrarytouseforfuturelessons.
Whenwereturntotheclassroom,studentswillenteraturnandtalktosharewhatevidenceofhistorical
fictiontheydiscovered.
Thegraphicorganizerwillbeevidencetoassessthestudents’skillstodefinewhathistoricalfictionisusing
threecharacteristicstheyfindinthebook.Iwillcollectthegraphicorganizersafterthelessontoassesstheir
writtenresponses.IwillreturnthegraphicorganizeratthebeginningofLessonTwosostudentscanbegin
buildingtheirhistoricalfictionfolderstousefortheirperformancetaskattheendoftheunit.
Studentswhomayneedassistancewiththelessonwillmeetwiththeteacherinasmallgroupsetting.
VI. LessonComponents
ActiveEngagementStrategies
Orallanguagedevelopment
Cooperativelearning
Criticalthinking
" ArtsIntegration
Component
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Checksforunderstanding
Frequentfeedback
Studentvoiceandchoice
Scaffolding
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StrategiestosupportELLs
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Visualsupports
Explicitvocabulary
Realia
Nativelanguagesupport
A. LessonIntroduction:‘Hook’studentsintocontent.Explainobjective,rationale,andassessment
Studentscontinuetousethelibraryasaninformationresourcethroughouttheyear,thislessonrequires
aschoollibraryvisitwherehistoricalfictionbookswillbelocatedonarollingshelfforthemtochoose
from.Thebookswillbespecifictohistory,diversity,andfiction.Thebookswillbejust-rightforsecond
gradereaders,withafewchoicesforthosewhoareatalowerandhigherlevelofreading.Thecartwill
haveoptionsforELLs(booksinSpanishoraboutLatino/Latinaculture).
HistoricalFictionmustcontainthesegenreelements:
•
Madeupstorythattakesplaceinthepast.
•
Hasillustrationsthatshowthesettingandhowpeoplelivedinthepast.
•
Haseventsthatcouldhappeninreallife.
Lesson-specificquestionstoanswer:
Howdoyouknowifabookishistoricalfiction?
Whatstructuralelementsfromthebookcanyouusetolabelabookashistoricalfiction?
Time
required
Whatisthesetting,time,andplaceyourbooktakesplace?
Howdoesyourhistoricalfictionbookrepresentreal-lifeevents?
Unitgoalquestionstoanswerrelatedtotherealworldandculture:
Whatelementsofcharacterdiversitydoesyourbooktackle?
Howdoyouseediversityinyourneighborhoodandschool?
Whatcanyoulearnfromcommunicatingwithdiversepeople?
BeginLesson:
“Readers,todaywearebeginninganewunitonhistoricalfiction.Wewillexplorehowtoidentifywhich
booksarehistoricalfiction.Doesanyonehaveanyideasofwhathistoricalfictionmaybe?”
Iwillwritehistoricalfictiononthewhiteboardasstudentsbeginbrainstormingideasofwhathistorical
fictionis.Iwillcallonstudentsandwritetheirideasontheboard.
“Readers,thewordgenreisfuntosay!Everyone,repeatafterme:‘genre.’Genreishowweorganize
books,movies,televisionshows,andmusic,soit’smorethanorganizingtypesofbooks,youcanorganize
yourfavoritemoviesandtelevisionshowsusinggenres!”(TheHook)
“Readers,todaywewillbelookingatbooksatthelibrarytodefinethegenreashistoricalfiction.Iwant
youtobeabletowritethreecharacteristicsonagraphicorganizerfromabookyouchoosethattellsus
thatthebookishistoricalfiction.Wewillalsodiscusslookingformaincharactersandhowtheymaybe
differentorthesameasyou.”
Iwillwritegenreontheboardnexttohistoricalfictionandconnectwhatthestudentssaidabout
historicalfictiontohowwebegintocreatespecificcategoriestoorganizebooks.
Genre:thewayweorganizebookswithsimilarcharacteristics.
HistoricalFiction:Amadeupstoryaboutthepastthathavesomemadeupcharactersandmayhave
somereal-lifehistoricalfigures.Thestoryhastobeabletoreallyhappeninreallife.Anotherwordfor
thisis“realistic.”
“Class,givemeathumbgaugeonhowyoufeelaboutdescribinggenreandhistoricalfiction.”
5min.
B. BodyofLesson
Thinkaboutmanagement:!PreciseDirections!PositiveNarration!Whole-classIncentives!DisciplineHierarchy
30min.StudentsDo(YouDo)
5min.TeacherDoes(IDo)
Classtriptothelibrary.(ActiveEngagement)
“Readers,letmeshowyouhowIidentify
historicalfictioninthebook,BaseballSavedUs
Studentswillbedirectedtoacartfullofsecond
byKenMochizuki.”
gradeappropriatehistoricalfictionbooks.
Studentshaveafewminutestofindabook
Iwillprojectthebookandstudentswillwatch
whileIidentifythetime,place,setting,andifI
theyenjoy.
thinkthisstorycouldreallyhavehappened.
Studentswillsitatthelibrarytablesasthey
“Asyoureadabook,theauthorisgoingtogive
exploretheirbookswiththeirpencilsand
yousomeclues(connectcontextclues)tolet
graphicorganizers.(Iwillpassoutthegraphic
youknowthatthestorytookplaceinthepast.”
organizerandsharppencilswhiletheylocate
bookswiththelibrarian.)
Iwillprojectpageoneofthebook.
Asstudentsreturntothelibrarytables,I
“I’mgoingtoreadthefirstpagetoyou.
reinforcethegoalsofthelesson.
Listenforcluesthattellsusthatthisbooktakes
placeinarealworldpast.”
Iwillwalkaroundtoobserve,assist,andassess.
Readaloud:
Theclasscompletesgraphicorganizer.
Oneday,mydadlookedoutattheendless
Theclasschecksouttheirlibrarybook.
desertanddecidedthenandtheretobuilda
Theclasslinesuptoreturntoclass.
baseballfield.
HesaidpeopleneededsomethingtodoinCamp.
Weweren’tinacampthatwasfun,likesummer
camp.Ourswasinthemiddleofnowhere,and
wewerebehindabarbed-wirefence.Soldiers
withgunsmadesurewestayedthere,andthe
maninthetowersaweverythingwedid,no
matterwherewewere.
AsDadbeganwalkingoverthedry,crackeddirt,
Iaskedhimagainwhywewerehere.
Studentswillreturnfromthelibrarywiththeir
newbooksandgraphicorganizers.Studentswill
meetatthecarpetforaturnandtalkshareout.
Aftertheturnandtalk,Iwillaskfortwo
volunteerstosharetheirbookandgraphic
organizerdetailingtheirsetting,time,place,
andreallifeexample.Iwillprojectstudent
samplesastheytelltheclasswhatthey
discovered.Iftimepermits,Iwillhavemore
volunteerssharetheirwork.
“Because,”hesaid.“Americaisatwarwith
Japan,andthegovernmentthinksthatJapanese
Americanscan’tbetrusted.Butit’swrongthat
we’reinhere.We’reAmericanstoo!”Thenhe
madeamarkinthedirtandmumbled
somethingaboutwheretheinfieldbasesshould
3min.
12
min.
5min.
5min.
5min.
be.
5min.(WeDo)
“Readers,whatcluescanweusethattellsus
thatthisstoryreallycouldtakeplaceinthe
past?”
Iwillleadthestudentsintoaturnandtalkto
discussifthestorycouldtakeplaceinthepast.
Aftertheturnandtalk,Iwillwritestudent
responsesonablankgraphicorganizerthatis
projected,listinganswersfromindividual
volunteersintheclass.
Setting/Place:acamp(concentrationcamp)
Time:WorldWarIIwhenAmericaandJapan
werefightingandJapaneseAmericansweren’t
trusted.
Couldthisreallyhavehappened?“Yes,class,
duringwartimesinthe1940s,thingslikethis
reallydidhappen!”
C.
Closing:Reviewprogresstowardobjective(mayincludestudentself-assessment)
“Readers,letmeshowyouonemorethingaboutmybook,BaseballSavedUs.Themaincharactersinmy
bookareJapanese-Americansthatwereplacedinacampduringwartimes.”
Iprojectthebook.
“Nowreaders,Iwantyoutobeginthinkingaboutifyourbookshavecharactersthataredifferentfrom
yourself.Wecallthisdiversity.Howdoyouthinkyoucanlearnfromreadingaboutcharactersthatare
differentfromyou?Arethereanycharactersthatarelikeyou?”
Studentresponsetime.
“WewillbegintotalkaboutdiversityandourcharactersthroughouttheweeksoIwantyoutobegin
thinkingaboutthecharactersinyourbooksandhowtheyaredifferentorsimilartoyou.”
Dismissclassintothenextlessonandhavethemputtheirbooksintheirbookbagstoshareandreadat
home.Icollecttheirgraphicorganizersforassessment.
5min.
MaterialsandResourcesNeeded
ExtensionofLearning(e.g.,homework)
Projector,BaseballSavedUsbook,library,graphic
organizer,ahistoricalfictionbookcheckedoutfrom
theschoollibrary,andapencil.
Takeyournewhistoricalfictionbookhomeandshare
itwithyourfamilyorfriendswhyitishistoricalfiction.
Readyourbookfor20minutestoyourselfortoa
friendorfamilymember.