Historical Fiction Booksharing



Historical Fiction Booksharing +85 points

By reading historical fiction, children experience life in the past vicariously, gain opportunities for critical thinking, make judgments about the past with insights from a historical perspective, see the interdependence of humankind, and develop a feeling for the continuity of life.

ORAL Booksharing Activity Session: (25 pts) SEE the example evaluation form on class website to plan your ORAL bookshare.

Objective of the booksharing session: Group members will become better acquainted with and better able to evaluate books categorized as Historical Fiction for children.

• You will need to share the following information in 8 to 10 minutes with the members of your group. Be sure to use text quotes/examples:

1. Title, author/illustrator, copyright date, # of pages, targeted age/grade level with a scholarly source that agrees, any awards won (+6 for written evaluation)

2. Describe the time period and time span and location(s) of the setting of the story. Explain the importance of and the effects that these have on the plot/action of the story. What happens in this setting that would probably not happen in a different time and place and why? Give some specific examples of time and place events, objects, situations, real people mentioned, every day life for the setting’s time period. (+5)

3. Describe the main character—name, age, at least TWO major personality trait(s) with adjectives and text examples to support, major problem/conflict s/he encounters, and how the problem is resolved. How does the character change/mature through the story? What does s/he learn or do in order to solve or cope with the conflict/problem? (+7)

4. Characterize the child who would enjoy this book—what particular emotional needs or interests does the book satisfy? (+3)

5. How might the book be used as a supplement to social studies (historical information—events, people, lifestyle, time period,etc.)? Be specific in your answer and Explain WHY you believe this about this book. (+4)

6. Using the guidelines for evaluating Historical Fiction on page 222 of your textbook, share your thorough evaluation of these questions for the book you have chosen: (+12)

• Does the book tell a good story and is fact blended with fiction in such a way that the historical background is secondary/subordinate to the story’s plot? Why do you believe this?

• How does the dialogue convey a feeling of the period without seeming artificial? Why do you think this? Quote some words or lines of dialogue that make the dialogue seem authentic to the time and place and not set in 2012.

• What is the THEME statement—express as a complete sentence without YOU nor as a cliche-- of this novel? What idea does the author hope the reader will learn/use/think about? How does the theme provide insight and understanding for today’s SPECIFIC problems children might experience as well as those of the past? Explain your answer.

Written Evaluation +60 points

Using the Oral Booksharing guidelines above, complete a written evaluation of the book. TEXT SUPPORT/EXAMPLES/QUOTES create A-quality work.

Format: Number your information to correspond with the criteria as it is listed on this assignment sheet. (Rather than write in essay format, treat each criterion as a question that you answer in paragraph form.)

7. For written evaluation only: Quote two scholarly reviews of the book. Identify the critic by name (do not use anonymous quotes) and the scholarly source. Go to the Kent Library Home Page (library.semo.edu) and use the scholarly databases. No other sources for reviews will be accepted as these are Newberry Award books. (+6)

8. Create a list of resources using correct MLA format. Include the book you are sharing. (+8)

Quality of Writing (+9). Print and use the editing checklist found on the class website. If I do NOT receive this checklist, I will not give any points for writing quality, 10% of this assignment = one letter grade!

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