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Historical Fiction: Unlocking History Through Literature

Young teacher with books and metal key on blue background

For some teenagers, reading is a struggle, and is often the last thing on their to-do list. Kids who once used to love reading have suddenly started seeing books as a burden. Perhaps this happens because of social pressure to see reading as a “nerdy” thing, or maybe they just have less time to read because of busier schedules. Another reason– perhaps the main reason– could be because they simply cannot find a book that interests them. Finding a book or a genre that pulls them in can get tricky. As teachers, we can help our students find engaging, fun to read books to hopefully spark an interest for reading. 

A few weeks ago, I wrote about dystopian novels for teens. If you need suggestions for that genre, you can click here. Today, I’ll share some great historical fiction novels. 

Historical fiction books are books that place fictional characters in real historical events, places, and times. This genre can be really engaging for students who are very into history. There are historical fiction novels written about nearly every big historical event, so there is something for everyone in this genre! Keep reading to learn about a few of them.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Set in Mississippi in the 1930s, Roll of Thunder follows Cassie Logan and her family, who are African-American, as they navigate segregation, racial injustices, and the Great Depression. This book does a wonderful job of painting a picture of what it would have been like for African-American families during the 1930s. Kids of any race can connect with Cassie, who is a spunky, determined little girl. 

  • An excellent read for ages 10+

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

Between Shades takes place in 1941 during WWII in Lithuania and Siberia. Lina is a 15 year old girl who is taken by Soviet officers, along with her family, to a Siberian work camp. Lina is devastated when they are taken to the camp and she is separated from her father. During her time there, Lina uses her art to secretly document her experiences at the camp. This story focuses on resilience, perseverance, and survival, and teaches powerful lessons about the strength of the human spirit. 

  • Recommended for ages 12+

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Isabel is a young slave girl, along with her sister Ruth. When their owner dies, they are sold to a Loyalist couple who mistreats them. Isabel longs for freedom for herself and her sister. Hoping to secure that freedom, Isabel becomes a spy for Patriot forces, enduring horrific mistreatment. Bravery, resilience, and determination are highlighted throughout the novel as Isabel fights for her freedom. The story is powerful and moving, reminding readers that sometimes we must push ourselves beyond what is comfortable to remove the chains that bind us. 

  • Recommended for ages 13+. Chains is the first book in the Seeds of American trilogy.

Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe

This heart-wrenching story follows Hiram Hillburn, a 16 year old white boy who travels to Mississippi to visit his grandpa for the summer. While there, he meets a 14 year old black boy named Emmett Till, who also happens to be visiting family for the summer. Hiram and Emmett become friends as they realize they have a lot in common. Soon, Hiram discovers just how ugly racism is when Emmett is abducted and murdered. His body is found in the river a few days later. Hiram extends his stay so that he can be present for the trial and to offer any help he can in finding justice for Emmett. While this story can be hard to read because of the graphic content, it shares a powerful perspective on the events surrounding Emmett’s death. Hiram must make a decision between keeping the peace with his grandpa or standing up for what is right. 

For students who are interested in this story, Getting Away With Murder by Chris Crowe is a non-fiction book that pairs really well with it.  

  • Recommended for ages 14+

Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse

Written in poems, Out of the Dust follows Billie Jo Kelby, a young girl living in Oklahoma in the 1930s. Billie Jo must face the realities of the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. A fire kills her mother, and leaves Billie Jo’s hands badly scarred. She must navigate the harsh realities of life during this difficult historical time all while grieving the loss of her mother, dealing with her father’s emotional battles, and learning to play the piano again after the fire. The book is set up like a journal, with each entry being a free verse poem. 
Teenagers can connect with Billie Jo as she navigates the difficulties of being a teenager and facing hard things. 

  • Recommended for ages 12+

This is just a small sampling of the amazing historical fiction books that are out there, but hopefully it can provide you with some suggestions to give to a student who is needing a little help finding a book they can get into.

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CVC Easter Eggs

Last week, I shared some fun ways to use Easter eggs in your classroom. Today I have one more idea you can use! 

If you have students who are learning consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, this activity would be perfect for your kiddos. Using the downloadable file below, students can practice reading and recognizing various CVC words.

There are two pages to the file: the first is the student worksheet, and the second is the teacher page. Teachers, cut out the word strips on the second page, and put each strip into an Easter egg. Give each student a set of eggs with the word strips in them. As they open each egg, they can read the word strip, then glue it on the worksheet under the corresponding picture. 

This download is for personal or classroom use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own. 

CVC Easter EggsDownload
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Weekly Scholarship Tip: Collecting Contact Information

It’s time for this week’s scholarship tip! Can you believe we are a little more than two weeks away from the application deadline?! Now is the time to make sure you’ve got all the little details worked out, including collecting the necessary contact information we ask for on the application. We not only need your contact information, but also that of a few other important people. Prior to sitting down to fill out your application, make sure you have gathered the following information:

  • Your name and email address
  • The name and phone number of your current high school
  • The name of your high school’s registrar or secretary AND their email address
  • The name of your mentor, as well as their title (teacher, counselor, etc.), phone number AND email address

Your mentor must be someone who is directly involved with your project. That will look different for every project, but is typically a teacher, counselor, club advisor, religious leader, community member, and so forth. It should be someone who has helped you directly with the progress of your project. Usually a mentor is someone who is there to bounce ideas off of, guide you, provide resources and knowledge, and so on. 

Please make sure that all names are spelled correctly and that phone numbers and email addresses are accurate. We ask for your high school and registrar’s information so that we can verify you are indeed a graduating senior. We ask you to provide your mentor’s contact information so that we can check the validity of your project and learn more about you and the project from their perspective. 

We are so excited to learn all about the amazing projects you have been working on and the incredible ways you have impacted your community!

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Jelly Bean Math

Continuing with fun Easter themed activities for your classroom, today we’ll use jelly beans as a learning tool. The best part of using jelly beans is that your students can eat them when they are done with them! A fun, engaging learning activity and a treat?! Sounds like my kind of fun!

This activity would be best for first or second grade on up. Give each student a small bag of jelly beans. Using the download below, have them sort their beans by color, count how many of each color they have, then create a graph showing their results. 

Jelly bean math is a low-prep activity, which makes it very teacher friendly, and is fun, engaging, and educational, which makes it great for everyone involved! 

Download the worksheets below and try it out with your class! Happy sorting and graphing! 

**This download is free, and is for personal or classroom use only. Do not resell, repost, or claim as your own.**

Jelly Bean Sorting & GraphingDownload
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Using Easter Eggs to Teach

Kids, especially younger ones, love hands-on activities. The movement feels like play time, and also helps build important neural pathways and connections. There are also benefits for increasing hand-eye coordination as students manipulate objects.

In the weeks leading up to Easter, I love to use plastic Easter eggs as manipulatives and learning tools. There are so many things you can do with them to make learning fun and engaging! The activities listed below are mostly geared toward preschool or kindergarten aged kiddos, but I’m sure older kids would enjoy them as well. 

  • Put rice or beans into eggs to make music shakers. Be sure to tape the eggs closed so you don’t end up with rice or beans all over your classroom!
  • Add eggs to a sensory bin for students to find.
  • Use eggs as a measuring tool– how many eggs tall is each student? How many eggs wide is their desk? How many eggs would it take to measure from one side of the classroom to the other? *For older kids, you could then have them measure the egg then calculate the actual distance.
  • Have students do a color sort with the eggs. Make it more challenging by hiding eggs around the room for them to find first.
  • Hide eggs around the room. Divide the students into small groups and assign each group a color. Whichever team finds all of their eggs first wins the game.
  • Make a chart with each upper case letter of the alphabet on it. Then, write each lower case letter of the alphabet on small pieces of paper. Put the papers in the eggs, hide the eggs, and have students find them. As they find each egg, they must match it to the correct upper case letter.
  • Inside each egg, put a piece of paper containing whatever it is they are working on learning– simple math equations, sight words, spelling words, trivia questions, etc. Hide the eggs around the room or in a sensory bin.
  • Put students in small teams. Give each team a container of egg halves. Set a timer and see which team can make the tallest tower from their egg halves in the time given. 
  • Students can use eggs to form letters or sight words.
  • Print off two sets of identical Easter egg pictures. Cut them out and have students play memory. You can also hide one set around the room and have them find each egg and find the match in the other set.  (see photo below)
  • Using the printed eggs, write a math equation, sight word, spelling word, etc. Students can pick an egg and complete the task on the egg.
  • Easter egg mix & match– Print the downloadable file below, then color each egg one color on top, and a second color on the bottom. Give students the cards and a container of egg halves. They can make eggs to match each card. (see photos below)

These activities would be so much fun for younger grades– give them a try with your students and let us know how they go! Parents of young children, these would be fun for you to try at home, too!

Play memory with matching eggs.
Print & color each egg card
Students can make eggs to match each card
Easter Egg Mix & MatchDownload
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Scholarship Application Tip: Submitting Photos and Videos

It’s time for your weekly scholarship application tip! Last week, I encouraged applicants to document all the phases of their project through photos and videos. This week, we will cover what to do once you have all of your photos and videos and you are ready to fill out your application, and the specific requirements that must be met for video and photo submissions.

Since we can’t physically meet with every single applicant to see their project in action, we need you to SHOW us your work in the form of photos and videos. Both video and photos are required to be considered as a scholarship winner. Below, I have included the specific requirements and guidelines for both photo and video submission. The requirements listed below are exactly what you will find on the application.

Video Requirements:

  • 2-5 minutes
    Must be edited to include:
  • Examples of your work in action (photos, video clips, etc.)
  • A few words directly from you regarding your project (can be voice-over)
  • Include 1-3 brief interviews with people you worked with as you carried out your project
  • Must address the following questions:
    – What would you improve with more time?
    – What new skills or concepts have you acquired?
    – What have you learned about yourself based on the experience?

***IMPORTANT*** Please make sure your video is viewable. Please check the share settings before submitting it. You can choose to upload a link to a Google Drive folder containing your video OR you can upload or link a YouTube video you made.

Photo Requirements:

We would love to see evidence of your project and work! Photos could include, but are not limited to: pictures of brochures/handouts/advertisements you created to go with your project, pictures of your physical prototype, if applicable, and pictures of you in action– giving a presentation, working with your community, building your project, etc. You are the magic behind your project– take pride in it and document yourself making a difference, then share it with us!

Please share photos of publish-able image quality of your work. A minimum of 5 photos is required, but more is encouraged. 

Failure to upload images will result in disqualification. Uploading images directly or providing a link to a Google Drive folder of photos is acceptable. Providing photos in a video slideshow, PDF page, PowerPoint, social media account, or any other non-publishable way will result in disqualification. 

Please make sure that you have made your photos and video viewable. We can’t see them if you are the only one with access to them. We’d hate for you to put in so much time and energy to carry out your project and type up your application, only to forget to check the share settings on your files. Such a small misstep could lead to disqualification, so please triple check that your files are viewable.

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Hearing vs. Listening

You finish teaching a lesson and give instructions for the assignment. As usual, you ask if anyone has any questions, and you are met with radio silence. But because you’re a teacher, you know better than to believe that everyone in the class knows exactly what to do. You’ve learned that there are always questions– sometimes it’s because a student is too shy to ask in front of the whole class, and sometimes (or maybe most often), it’s because a student was not listening. They might have heard you talking, but they weren’t really truly paying attention. Repeating instructions 32 times gets exhausting! 

Students often think that hearing is the same thing as listening, when in reality, they are two different things. We hear a lot of things throughout our day. We hear people talking, noisy halls, bells ringing, music playing, and so on. But until we actively hear, we generally don’t truly register what our ears are taking in. Actively hearing – or listening – requires our minds to focus on what is being said or heard so that our brain can make sense of it and understand it. We make a conscious choice to take in the noises and turn it into something more concrete. 

In our classrooms, we can implement different strategies to help our students learn to listen rather than just hear. 

  •  After giving instructions, pick 2-3 students in the room, and call on each one individually and have them tell the class what the instructions were. Knowing they might be called on encourages them to listen more intently so that they can give an accurate answer.
  • Before students begin to work, ask them to turn to a neighbor and retell what the instructions were. They can help each other remember what is to be done. This also encourages students to effectively communicate with each other.
  • Write instructions on the board or display them through the projector– then if they weren’t listening, you don’t have to answer the same question several times, as they will have the instructions right in front of them. 
  • As you give instructions, have them write down the instructions on their own paper. Writing things down helps to create a connection between what is written and remembered. 

While it can be frustrating to have students not listen, it can be a great teaching opportunity, and there are strategies that can help students retrain their minds to be more active listeners. Not only is it a valuable skill to have within the classroom, students can learn that being an active listener is an excellent life skill to have in all areas of life– work, relationships, school, recreational time, and so on. Hearing is good, but listening is great.