Curated OER
Puerto Rican Migration Historical Fiction Story
Students investigate the experience of Puerto Rican immigrants to America. In this immigration lesson, students research the challenges that Puerto Rican immigrants faced and then write historical fiction selections that reflect their...
Curated OER
Historical Fiction
Students discover how to identify historical fiction. In this historical fiction lesson, students read the story Meet Addy: An American Girl by Connie Porter. Students listen to the first chapter of the book read aloud. Students list...
Curated OER
The Corps: Counterattack Quiz
Chronicling the events following America's involvement in WWII, this quiz centers on the historical fiction novel Counterattack from W.E.B. Griffin's The Corps series. Ten multiple-choice questions focus mainly on characters from the story.
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Ruta Sepetys
Historical fiction novels give readers a chance to step into someone else's shoes. An educator's guide from Penguin Common Core Lesson Plans provides resources to accompany three historical fiction novels written by Ruta Sepetys: Between...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Ruby's Wish (Bridges)
Jump into traditional Chinese culture with budding readers as they examine vocabulary in context through Shirin Yim Bridge's book Ruby's Wish. This book is read on YouTube if you don't have it on hand. Scholars are briefly introduced to...
Curated OER
Reliving History through Slave Narratives
Helpful for an American literature or history unit, this lesson prompts middle schoolers to examine slavery in the United States. They read slave narratives that were part of the Federal Writers' Project and then conduct their own...
Mary Pope Osborne, Classroom Adventures Program
Mummies in the Morning Egyptian pyramids, hieroglyphics
Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...
Curated OER
Summer Reading to Get Teens Thinking
While summer reading usually involves entertaining fluff, here is a list of books that are thought-provoking, unique, and entertaining.
Curated OER
My Secret War: Lesson 1
Fifth graders explore historical fiction. In this genre study lesson plan, 5th graders go on a text feature scavenger hunt to identify the parts of a historical fiction text. Additionally, students read the book, My Secret War and...
Great Schools
A Questionnaire: What Do You Like to Read?
What do your fifth graders know about types of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry? Find out as they fill out this questionnaire that requires them to list authors and texts that exemplify each genre. Not only will you be able to assess what...
Curriculum Corner
“I Can” Common Core! 3rd Grade Reading
Third grade readers are given clear learning goals with this Common Core checklist. By turning each reading standard into an I can statement, children can focus on mastering the required grade level skills.
Curated OER
Discovering Language Arts-Intermediate Fiction
Explore the elements of science fiction. Students investigate the literary elements present in science fiction and write their own science fiction stories.
Curated OER
During Reading Strategies
"How important is freedom to you and your family?" The guiding question becomes much more powerful after your class reads and responds to a passage from a historical novel. While reading the passage, they complete a graphic organizer...
Curated OER
Love in the Time of Cholera Quiz
In this online interactive reading comprehension worksheet, students respond to 25 multiple choice questions about Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera. Students may submit their answers to be scored.
Curated OER
The Prince and the Pauper
Mark Twain, the famous American author, is often studied in the school system. Use "The Prince and the Pauper" to analyze the differences between the text and its video version. This lesson includes several culminating project ideas for...
Curated OER
Learning About Fiction Genres in the Elementary School Library
Teaching about fiction genres can be challenging. The lesson here, designed for library media specialists, offers a fun way to do it. In the lesson, learners visit the library and learn about the different types of fiction through book...
Curated OER
The Swimming Hole by Laura Ingalls Wilder
This PowerPoint provides a summary, comprehension questions, vocabulary words, and links for independent activities related to the story "The Swimming Hole" by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Age-appropriate definitions of such literacy elements...
Building Background Knowledge: Learning About the Historical and Geographical Setting of Esperanza Rising
Set up your class to read Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, through a class read-aloud and exploration of the setting. The detailed lesson plan outlines each step. First, class members read over the first few pages and focus on the...
National First Ladies' Library
Writing (and Rewriting!) History
Middle schoolers differentiate between fiction and non-fiction, discuss historical fiction, which combines both genres, choose historical novel from list and read independently, and write original short stories that combine elements of...
Curated OER
The Sarantine Mosaic: Fiction and History
Be sure your readers understand The Sarantine Mosaic with this quiz. Multiple-choice but still detailed, the assessment provides answers once it is submitted online. Make sure learners have finished reading before they take this quiz or...
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Background notes about the novel, The Great Depression, and The Dust Bowl
If your class is reading the historical fiction novel, Out of the Dust, then you are in luck. Here are a few slides that will help you provide historical context for the book, as well as define main characters, setting, symbolism, and...
Tell City Schools
The Cay
Support your instruction of The Cay by Theodore Taylor with this extensive unit of materials. Provided here are prereading activities, worksheets and discussion questions for the entire book, and reading quizzes that you can use to check...
K5 Learning
Time for Everything
Read a historical fiction poem that explains how there is a time for everything in our daily lives. From sitting to sleeping, pupils read a rhythmic poem and respond to four comprehension questions.
Curated OER
Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities
Twenty questions challenge the reader of A Tale of Two Cities. Moving beyond mere reading comprehension, this quiz looks at biographical information and writing style as well as plot structure and action. Use at the end of the novel as a...