Unit Description and Teacher Commentary
LESSON 7 Exploring the Process of Writing Historical Fiction (1–2 blocks) Concepts: Culture, Values, Traditions, Heritage, Change
GEN4; SD4–7, SD10–11
L E S S O N S E Q U E N C E A N D D E S C R I P T I O N T E A C H E R C O M M E N T A R Y
Note:Prior to this lesson, create new homogeneous groups based on reading level—a change from the heterogeneous, interest-based composition of the literature circle groups.
Concept attainment activity differentiated by readiness.Tell students that they are about to discover that writers use a long and rigorous process to produce quality work. Break students into their readiness groups and distribute folders containing written and audiovisual interviews with authors of historical fiction.
At the beginning of this lesson, I point out that we are now shifting our focus from being consumers and critics of historical fiction to becoming produc- ers of historical fiction. The purpose of this activity is to familiarize stu- dents with the processes and proce- dures professionals use to create historical fiction.
The interviews should be “leveled”—that is, matched to the groups’ reading-skill level. Here is an example set of materials for each readiness level:
Advanced Readers
• “Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History?” by Joanne Brown (online at scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/
fall98/brown.html).
• “Historical Fiction Author Roundtable” (online at www.
authorsontheweb.com/features/0210-historical-fiction/
historical-fiction.asp).
• “Isabel Allende” by Linda Richards (online at www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/allende.html).
• “Isabel Allende: A Life of Extremes” (audio online at www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/
allende.shtml).
There are many resources on the Internet that can help teachers create collections of leveled articles. I try to provide options for audio and video streaming at all levels, as many learn- ers prefer these formats.
Grade-Level Readers
• “Tracing Her Roots: Lalita Tademy Quit the Corporate Life to Write a Novel About her Family History” by Heather Knight (online at www.sfgate.com; article published 6/1/01).
• “Interview with the Author: Lalita Tademy” (online at www.oprah.com/obc/pastbooks/lalita_tedemy/o_bc2001 0914_profile.jhtml).
• “Writing Backward” by Anne Scott Macleod (online at www.hbook.com/exhibit/article_macleod.html).
• “Amy Tan: Best-Selling Novelist” (audio and video online at www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/ tan0int-1).
Struggling Readers
• “Writing Historical Short Fiction” by Bev Walton-Porter (online at home.san.rr.com/grady/writing/histfiction.
html).
• “Interview with Ann Rinaldi” by D. Ilana Dessau and Jenna Galley (online at scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/
rinaldi1.html).
• “Interview with Karen Cushman” by Stephanie Loer (online at www.eduplace.com/rdg/author/Cushman/
question.html).
• “Cynthia Rylant” (video available from American School Publishers).
When matching students to articles and streaming audio and video via the Internet, I consider several factors.
First is the complexity of the content itself. (For example, Isabel Allende tends to use sophisticated vocabulary even in interviews.) I also consider the complexity of the Web site. If it contains lots of links, has very busy graphics, or appears crowded, it can be easy for students to get confused or follow a link to a place that they don’t need to go.
Ask students to read the material in their folders and access the audiovisual material and then, using chart paper, create a list of procedures used by writers of historical fiction. Urge them to add important thoughts or recommendations of inter- viewed authors.
Students should post their group charts around the room and then use highlighter pens or sticky dots to indicate the proce- dures and recommendations that they can replicate while they are working on their own piece of historical fiction.
Some of the students get this informa- tion from the reading phase anchor activity. Others encounter these ideas in the folder readings.
Have one member of each group report out to the whole class about how their group has decided to proceed with their writ- ing assignment.
I choose the group reporter randomly:
the person wearing the most blue that day, for example.
Reflective journal writing.Have students write on the left- hand pages of their reflective journals about which procedures for writing historical fiction make sense to them, how they will use their family artifacts and stories to get started, and which tools and resources they have access to outside of school.
I go around the room and read stu- dents’ responses in order to prepare for the next lesson.
Remind students that they will need their artifacts and family stories (or materials from the artifact box) for the next lesson.
LESSON 8 Narrowing an Idea
(1 block)Concepts:Culture, Values, Traditions, Heritage, Change GEN1–4; SD4–7, SD10
L E S S O N S E Q U E N C E A N D D E S C R I P T I O N T E A C H E R C O M M E N T A R Y
Artifact analysis or story brainstorming differentiated by interest.Tell students that the time has come to select a detail from one of their family stories or one specific artifact on which to focus. This detail will be the basis for their culminat- ing product: a short story, vignette, or chapter of historical fic- tion. Remind students that their writing should clearly reflect the culture, values, traditions, and heritage of their family.
The purpose of this lesson is to help students analyze their family artifacts (or the artifacts in the classroom col- lection) and gather details from their family stories, if applicable.
As students begin the process of writing their own piece of historical fiction, all four of the unit generaliza- tions take center stage. Students will reflect on these ideas in their journals as they work through the next couple of lessons.
If writing your own piece of historical fiction (or bringing in a local author to do so), do a think-aloud in which you share your family artifacts with the class, “thinking aloud” about the information and ideas you have so far. The think-aloud should include discussing the story idea you plan to pursue and the kinds of information you will need to research.
A “think-aloud” (see Glossary, page 357) is a comprehension-building strategy in which a competent reader verbalizes the connections, inferences, reactions, and questions that go through his or her mind while reading.
Get students started by asking them to set up a T-chart graphic organizer on a right-hand page in their reflective journals. In the space above the bar on the left-hand side, they write “Important Details in My Family Stories/Artifacts,”
and below it, they brainstorm a list of details that might pro- vide the basis for an excellent piece of historical fiction.
Above the right-hand bar, they write “How/Where I Could Find Out More,” and below it, they brainstorm sources for more information: family members, online sources, print sources, and so on.
The school librarian is an excellent resource here. I’ve had our librarian come to class and meet with students to discuss their projects and research.
When their T-charts are complete, students should highlight the details they want to focus on. Review all highlighted charts and note what each student will be working on.
Reflective journal writing.On the right-hand pages of their journals, students should respond to the following prompt:
A family’s heritage, values, and traditions are captured in its stories. Tell what you have discovered about your family or through your research that has had an effect on your life or the way your family is today. What similarities and differences are there between the way your family has changed over time and the way the family you read about changed over time?
This journal response is important as it prompts students to connect to the
“big ideas” in the unit.
LESSON 9 Writing Historical Fiction
(5–6 blocks)Concepts:Culture, Values, Traditions, Heritage, Change GEN1–4; SD4–7, SD10–11
L E S S O N S E Q U E N C E A N D D E S C R I P T I O N T E A C H E R C O M M E N T A R Y
Whole-class review of the Critical Work Skills Rubric.As a large group, review the Critical Work Skills Rubric (see Sam- ple 1.6). Let students know that they will again be moving into a workshop environment; this time, it will be a writer’s workshop.
This lesson transitions students into the creative phase of the unit, where they’ll focus on writing historical fiction.
Mini-lesson on the writing process.Review the phases of the writing process, letting students know that when writing his- torical fiction, the brainstorming phase also includes collect- ing historical details about the setting, clothing, technology, culture, traditions, and values of the time period in which they will set their writing. Remind them that they may very well have to return to research after writing a draft, or even after revising it.
Sometimes, in an effort to teach the writing process, we give students the impression that writing is a linear process (brainstorm, write, revise, edit, publish) rather than a recursive process (brainstorm, write, brain- storm, write, revise, brainstorm, write, edit, write, brainstorm, etc.). It is important that students understand how real authors “use” the writing process. A good online resource about the craft of writing is Creative Writing for Teens: www.kidswriting.about.
com/library/weekly/?oonce=true&.
Independent research and journaling differentiated by interest, readiness, and learning profile.Students who need to continue work on their T-charts should do so. Others can move on to research.
Again, the school librarian can be a good resource.
If necessary, provide scaffolds to help students scrutinize their primary source documents.
Remind students to record information in their journals in a format that makes personal sense to them. Ideas might include the following:
• One page of bulleted notes per source, with the source information recorded at the top of the page.
• One web (or similar graphic organizer) per source, with the source information recorded at the top of the page.
• Two columns of notes, with one column for source infor- mation and the other for notes.
The U.S. National Archives Web site (www.archives. gov/digital_class- room/lessons/analysis_worksheets/
document.html) contains excellent guiding questions.
If students need a journal prompt, ask:What connections have you discovered between your great-grandparents’ or grandpar- ents’ values and traditions and your own? Your family has cer- tainly changed over time, but how has it remained the same?
When I write along with my students, I share excerpts from my own journal entries in response to questions like these and then ask students to react.
Another idea is to ask students to share and discuss their entries in small groups. It is through these dis- cussions that students come to really understand the unit’s concepts and generalizations.
Mini-lesson on literary formats for the culminating product assignment.Students also need to begin thinking about which of three literary format options is the best fit for the idea they are pursuing: avignette,ashort story,or achapter from a novel.
Explain the factors they should consider:
• Vignettesare literary snapshots; they may be short, but every single word is essential. Vignettes sometimes have a well-developed plot, but not always. This format may be best for students who have a few specific details that have grabbed their attention.
• Short storieshave a definitive plot with a beginning, mid- dle, and end.
• Chaptershave a definite setting, character development, and probably dialogue. However, the plot will be interrupted.
Tell students that even if they decide on a format now, they can always change their minds later in the writing process if the format doesn’t seem to suit their ideas.
By the time students reach high school, chances are they have written many short stories and read many chapters; they are likely to have far less experience reading or writing vignettes, which makes them a more challenging option. Additionally, a vignette that meets the criteria for excellent practitioner-level historical fiction is a rare thing. (Ernest Hem- ingway did it.) For examples of vignettes, seeIn Brief: Short Takes on the Personal, a collection of vignettes edited by Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones.
Independent writing differentiated by interest and readi- ness.During this phase of the unit, students work on writing their chosen piece of historical fiction, using the appropriate rubric as a guideline for excellent work.
Continue to provide whole-class modeling by sharing the development of your own work and excerpts from your reflec- tive journal.
This part of the unit is flexible, with time added or subtracted based on students’ progress and needs.
Tell students that they may submit their finished pieces when they feel that they have written to the best of their ability and level. Evaluate completed work immediately and insist on at least one “improvement cycle.”
I might ask one student to work toward a higher level of excellence within her level (practitioner, appren- tice, or novice) and ask another to lift his work to a more advanced level.
Individual or small-group coaching sessions based on readiness needs.Throughout the writing workshop class ses- sions, schedule “writing conferences”—basically coaching sessions—with individuals and small, homogeneous groups of students. Review their progress and provide mini-lessons on basic skills and the writer’s craft, based on emerging needs.
Ask students to record what they learn from these lessons on the left-hand pages of their journals and to react or reflect on the right-hand pages.
Anchor activity: Revision/Independent study extension opportunity.Give students who have completed quality work the option of revising or expanding their historical fiction as an anchor activity. This should include several opportunities for self- and peer review.
Students might also opt to continue to develop or expand their historical fiction as an independent study.