Using fiction in the social studies

[John Lee]

What are some works of adolescent fiction (books, films, plays, etc) that can be used in middle grades social studies classes as windows into the study of places or periods in history?

[Rebecca Gwynne]

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol is a popular novella by English author Charles Dickens. The story was first published in December of 1843. I would choose to use the story as a gateway to introduce students with nineteenth century industrialism and capitalism. Since it is almost Christmas, students will be in a position to compare their holiday experiences to those with the characters in the book and with the various traditions of that time in history.

The story has been adapted to all types of different media, including film, opera and theater. It would be really interesting to take the students to see the play in the theater during the Christmas season but showing the film would also be effective in translating the point to students. Dickens, as a writer, is known to express sympathy for and bring up various social issues of the time including living for the poor, working conditions in factories and other social issues of the time.

When teaching European history, and industrialization and the changes brought on by the Industrial Revolution, A Christmas Carol would be an excellent source to use in the classroom for students. It is a story that many students are familiar with and would be relevant to use during the holiday season. Plus, there is a new version out this season with Jim Carey and students would really enjoy it as well as learn a lot about that time in history and the issues affecting people living during that time.

[John Lee]

A Christmas Carol works on a number of levels. I like the emphasis on industrialism and capitalism. I think you could use the scenes from the section on the ghost of Christmas present where Scrooge visits Crachet's family, the miners, and his nephew. You could also play up Scrooge's "prisons" and workhouses" line.

[Jena Smith]

My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher Collier & James Lincoln Collier, would be a great book to use in a social studies classroom. It is a historical fiction novel that is set during the American Revolution. One of the biggest beneficial uses of this book would be for students to gain the inside perspective of a young adult, during the beginnings of American and during the American Revolution. There are themes of family, loyalty, and historical references. The biggest conflict is when the main character's brother decides to go against family loyalty to the Loyalists, and joins the Patriot forces. Students would really understand what colonial America was like, and be able to form an opinion based on the situation of the book.

[John Lee]

What are some of the themes that emerge from this book? How do Collier and Collier present historical topics using the fictional structure of their book? Describe a specific historical event or person that gets an extended treatment in the book. Also, how might you use a source such as this in a middle grades classroom?

[Alexandra Morgan Teich]

Deborah Ellis' The Breadwinner is the story about Parvana and her family trying to survival in Afghanistan during the Taliban control. Her father is taken to prison and a family of women, who are not allowed to leave the house without a man, decide to turn Parvana into a boy in hopes that this 10-year-old can provide for her family. It is a story of courage and the enduring love that family members have for one another.

This book is great for a middle-school classroom because it told from the perspective of a young adolescent. I also think that it would work well for boys an girls because even though the main character is a girl, she takes on the role of a young boy, providing for both perspectives in this Afghan society. There is also a lot of emotional story lines throughout the book but there is enough action to sustain a young adolescent's attention.

I would definitely teach this book in a middle school Social Studies class because it is current historical data about what is going on in society today. This gives the students a brief look into the life of a young Afghan girl in hopes that they can compare and contrast how Parvana lives to how most children in America live. I would start the lesson, however, by telling the students that the author, Deborah Ellis, is a white American woman which can create a bias when writing about a situation where she is a third party observer. There was a lot of research in involved prior to writing this book, but the act remains, the author grew up in America and lived an American childhood.

http://literacynet.org/cortez/ This is a website that I found. It is a webquest for grades 4-7. I thought it was neat to incorporate technology and the book. With this activity, students are able to find another way to be interactive with the text.

[John Lee]

This is a very interesting and important book. I appreciate the review. Are there specific themes that emerge in the book that might translate for adolescents? The issue of Taliban control raises some interesting cultural questions. It seems like the contrast between the ultra conservative / religious Taliban, the traditional warlord system, and the emerging democracy would be one way to get some core issues in Afghanistan.

[Denise Smith]

Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals is a great book to use in middle grades social studies classes. This book can be use to discuss the civil rights movement; it specifically addresses the Little Rock, Ak high school intergration issue. Melba Patillo Beals gives details about her personal experience and the things she endured, as Melba and eight other African American high school students, tried to intergrate Central high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. This book chronicles the students experience throughout that year, and it shows pictures that give middle school students a realistic view of segregation.

[John Lee]

What are some fictional sources that deal with the same topic? Warriors is a work on non-fiction. Beals uses her personal diary as a source to unpack the historical events of this turbulent time. Warriors is based on an adult book by Beals on the same topic. Add a new post that deals with this topic or another through a fictional source.

[Denise Smith]

Waiting for the Rain by Sheila Gordon is a great book to use in the middle school classroom. This books talks about Apartied in South Africa. It is a beautiful story about two boys coming of age, and they began to realize the injustices happening in their environment-outside of the safety of the farm the live on. The book uses descriptive language and students can visualize the events happening in the story. This book would be a good resource to address civil rights throughout the world. Students can compare and contrast different solutions that the people in the story use to gain their civil rights to the civil rights movement here in America. The two main characters in the story are adolescents who grow up to the age of 19, so I think they could relate to the characters and they might see some of their own families described in the book. This assignment could lead to a moral discussion about protection of all citizens and why having constituional rights is so important in any society.

[Christine Fischer]

The novel that I chose is titled Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. The story is about a Japanese-American family who must learn how to assimilate into Southern American culture after moving from Iowa to Georgia. The main character, Katie, is a young adolescent whose parents work incredibly long hours at a poultry processing plant as the family lives in conditions that severly borderline poverty. I think this book would initially attract students because of its themes of family, growing up, and change. The family faces a lot of discrimination-- a theme that I might use to bridge the novel with a Social Studies lesson.

I think this novel would make a great connection between literature and Social Studies within a unit/lesson on Pearl Harbor and the repercussions of this event-- the unjust Japanese Internment Camps in the United States in 1942. The Japanese-Americans who had to endure this treatment were greatly discriminated against and shunned, similar to what Katie's family has to endure. Katie, is born just eight years after this tragedy. Throughout her childhood, she experiences prejudice from her classmates, neighbors, and even the people she thought were friends. I definitely think that the discussions on Kira-Kira in my classroom would get really passionate and intense if we were using it as a window into the history of Pearl Harbor, WWII, and the Japanese Americans who were relocated to the camps in the U.S.

I also think that it is important to know the author’s background before reading this novel. Cynthia Kadohata is a second generation Japanese American. Many of the references, places, and events that Katie experiences in Kira-Kira are taken directly from her own life. Her family moved a lot, her father worked in a poultry plant alongside thousands of other Japanese Americans, and she experienced prejudice every day she went to school. Cynthia also had the feeling of being an “outsider,” very similar to Katie’s feelings about school and the South, as well as the feelings of those Japanese-Americans who were trapped, shunned, and made to feel less than human.

Kira-Kira has not been made into a movie but it is available on audio-book. Another great way to incorporate video is to use footage from WWII. I have been watching the WWII HD footage on the History Channel for the past couple of months. This moving documentary is being made into a movie and I would LOVE to be able to show this to my students in order to connect this book with my Social Studies lesson.

[Julie Cox]

Escape from Warsaw is a young adult book written by Ian Serraillier, a British novelist and poet. It is about a fictional family, the Balicki's, that must band together in Poland while under the control of the Nazis. After the mother and father are captured by the Nazis, the Balicki children must remain strong as they struggle to survive in the cellar of a house in Warsaw that had been bombed by the Nazis. The children eventually escape from the run-down house to travel to Switzerland to reunite with their parents.

This is a good book to use in discussing WWII, the Holocaust, propaganda, etc. It could be used in both Social Studies and Language Arts. In sixth grade language arts, students learn about propaganda techniques in discussing advertising and stereotyping. This book could be a window to this unit. I think students would enjoy reading this book because the main characters are children and adolescents, so they would be able to relate to them. In social students, this book would be useful in helping students realize the hardships people faced during WWII and that children their own age faced struggles just to survive during this time. The characters in the book travel across Europe, so it would be a good window into teaching geography and cultural differences across regions.

Students could use Wikipedia to learn about WWII and the Holocaust. Through Wikipedia, students would be able to get a brief description of the people, places, and events that were important during this time.

[Kayla Jernigan]

My Brother Sam is Dead, a Newberry Honor Book, is a historical fiction book that describes the life of civilians during the Revolutionary War. The book is written by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier. A young boy, Tim Meeker, is torn between his Loyalist father and rebel brother. He loves them bother very much and wants to make them both happy, but he does not understand why this conflict creates such tension within the family. After the death of his father by rebels, Tim decides to become a Loyalist like his father; although he still wants to have a relationship with his father. Tim has to grow up fast and become the man of the house while Sam is fighting for freedom. He wishes his brother would come home and when the army finally arrives in town, bad things are in store for the Meeker family.
I chose the move Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor because Sam Meeker makes a lot of references to “General Arnold” throughout the book. I would like for students to view this educational movie to see who Benedict Arnold is and for what he is remembered. Sam holds Benedict Arnold to this high esteem, but this movie would show students that Benedict Arnold is not known for his fighting skills, but for the traitor he was to the United States.

A&Es Educational Program

This is just something I thought was interesting:

A&E Television Networks has launched a new educational program called Benedict Arnold: A of Question of Honor This program will be paired with the A&E original movie, Benedict Arnold: A Question ofHonor, which will premiere on January 13, 2003. In early November, 15,2000 9th-12th Grade History Department Heads will receive invitations to participate in two educational incentives. The first program invites students to enter the A&E “Question of Honor” Contest. Winners will get the opportunity to visit Mount Vernon for interviews with George Washington and Benedict Arnold re-enactors in addition to a $500 grant to their school. The second program invites classes to participate in the A&E “Revolutionary Challenge” Classroom Contest. Winners receive a $1,000 school grant as well as an A&E video library for their school and a visit from a George Washington or Benedict Arnold re-enactor.

Link:
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