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paired historical books/multiple genres
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From: Barbara Tobin <barbarat>
Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 15:07:09 -0400
Jonathan wrote:
< ... they all have some solid historical research behind them, but I chose them more for their literary value.....
I've found that in doing these historical novels that aren't tied to a specific social studies curriculum that I have more freedom to explore the tangents that the kids are interested in whether they be historical or otherwise..... ESPERANZA and BUD are set during roughly the same years and make for some good comparison and contrast activities. Last year, I taught A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO instead of A YEAR DOWN YONDER which made three novels in the same period. Now this--when you start to read several novels about an era--this is when I really think you can start to realize this rich potential of integrating the two subject areas, because the students can start comparing and contrasting the novels with each other as well as against any research or textbook information. If only the sixth grade curriculum were 20th century America instead of Ancient Civilizations.>
------------------ I like this approach, Jonathan. I think it takes the pressure off the novels (and the teachers) to have to carry the load and responsibility for 'teaching history' per se, which is never a good idea. Trying to
'shoe horn' a book, as you say, into the social studies curriculum, can lead to choosing books of lesser literary value and appeal to young readers.
I always try to look for paired books across genres when tackling historical fiction. For example, Laurie Halse Anderson's is very heavily researched, with lots of factual backmatter to try to contextualize Mattie's fictional story, but it IS fiction, and from the perspective of a 16 year old girl. I was very pleased when Jim Murphy's
<An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793> came out to give a nonfictional complement to Anderson's book. I like to also use the poem by Philip Freneau that he wrote in Philadelphia in 1793, called <Pestilence: Written During the Prevalence of a Yellow Fever>
(http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/feverlit.html).
I think using multiple literary genres strengthens the case for using historical fiction in the social studies curriculum. Young people have multiple lenses through which to examine the past.
Barbara Tobin
Received on Thu 06 May 2004 02:07:09 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 6 May 2004 15:07:09 -0400
Jonathan wrote:
< ... they all have some solid historical research behind them, but I chose them more for their literary value.....
I've found that in doing these historical novels that aren't tied to a specific social studies curriculum that I have more freedom to explore the tangents that the kids are interested in whether they be historical or otherwise..... ESPERANZA and BUD are set during roughly the same years and make for some good comparison and contrast activities. Last year, I taught A LONG WAY FROM CHICAGO instead of A YEAR DOWN YONDER which made three novels in the same period. Now this--when you start to read several novels about an era--this is when I really think you can start to realize this rich potential of integrating the two subject areas, because the students can start comparing and contrasting the novels with each other as well as against any research or textbook information. If only the sixth grade curriculum were 20th century America instead of Ancient Civilizations.>
------------------ I like this approach, Jonathan. I think it takes the pressure off the novels (and the teachers) to have to carry the load and responsibility for 'teaching history' per se, which is never a good idea. Trying to
'shoe horn' a book, as you say, into the social studies curriculum, can lead to choosing books of lesser literary value and appeal to young readers.
I always try to look for paired books across genres when tackling historical fiction. For example, Laurie Halse Anderson's is very heavily researched, with lots of factual backmatter to try to contextualize Mattie's fictional story, but it IS fiction, and from the perspective of a 16 year old girl. I was very pleased when Jim Murphy's
<An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793> came out to give a nonfictional complement to Anderson's book. I like to also use the poem by Philip Freneau that he wrote in Philadelphia in 1793, called <Pestilence: Written During the Prevalence of a Yellow Fever>
(http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/feverlit.html).
I think using multiple literary genres strengthens the case for using historical fiction in the social studies curriculum. Young people have multiple lenses through which to examine the past.
Barbara Tobin
Received on Thu 06 May 2004 02:07:09 PM CDT
