Historical Fiction Reading Teaching Points
Date
Teaching Point
It is the job of a good reader to identify the historical details and
distinguish them from the purely fictional ones, to better understand the
backdrop of the novel. Readers pay attention to historical events, real
places, cultural artifacts, historical language/slang, and realistic
characters.
In historical fiction stories, the setting is a significant part of the story.
Good readers analyze the pictures to synthesize the clues about the
physical and emotional setting, by noticing details, so they can understand
the author’s message in the story.
Physical Setting: Transportation, Clothing, Housing
Emotional Setting: Mood (Trust vs. Mistrust), weather
Good readers ask themselves questions about the setting such as: “Why
might the author have made it storm just now?” or “What am I supposed
to be thinking,” so they are alert not to just the facts, but to the tone and
mood of the story.
In historical fiction, readers must understand the impact of the time
period on the story by creating a timeline of historical events, as well as a
time line of pivotal moments of the main character, so they can
understand that the characters exist in a relationship with history.
We know readers of historical fiction use tools to hold onto all of the
parts of the story. Readers can keep track of the historical time period
and theme by keeping a list of key words and biographies with photos &
notes on each character.
Good readers study the past histories of characters in a novel because
they are an important key to understanding the actions, thoughts, and
feelings of the character in the present. We study a character’s past by
looking for information about a character’s background, by identifying
memories or flashbacks, or by paying attention to the sequence of a story,
to distinguish past from present.
Strong readers of historical fiction need to gather information quickly,
because the beginning is filled with important details we need to take
through the story. Strong readers use tools to keep track of events:
timelines, flow maps, map w/ sketches & Xs of the setting & key events.
Good readers understanding the author’s intended purpose of the story by
analyzing whether the setting is part of the problem in the story (escaping
the Holocaust) or operates at a symbolic level (dust of the prairie may
mean more than simply that the land is dry.
Good readers listen to each other, build on each other’s comments and
honor relationships, so they can increase their understanding by learning
in book clubs. We do this work by coming to book club meetings prepared
to use our notes to talk about thoughts and questions we have about the
settings, themes, and interesting or exciting moments that occurred in our
stories.
Strong readers know that as their books get harder, they have to work
harder; they don’t wait for the teacher to tell them which comprehension
strategy to use, they choose the strategies they think about all they know
about reading & choose strategies that will work best for them.
Whether joyful or damaging, major events like the ones we discussed
affect our lives in profound ways. Good readers understand that important
historical events and details also impact the characters in works of
Historical Fiction, because they affect the characters and plot. We track
the historical events by noticing historical details (I.e. slavery) and track
how the characters are affected by the historical events.
Strong readers of historical fiction study how multiple settings are alike
and different, because it helps them understand how the settings
influence the text. We do this by making bulleted lists of each setting
(noticing any descriptive elements (what does the place look like? smell
like? sound like?), activities and cultural life (who would you see here?
what would they be doing?), and problems faced (what obstacles do
characters face here, if any?) linking the similarities of the settings,
explaining how the settings are alike or different and thinking about what
that might mean for the characters.