In our study of World War II, in addition to the informational texts we are reading and annotating, students chose an historical fiction book to read and analyze. Ms. Wipfler (now Mrs. Neuroth!) collected and shared a fantastic selection of World War II historical fiction for the 8th grade. Once the reading was complete, students were tasked with analyzing themes, writing theme statements, identifying symbolism in their book as well as tracing the development of the protagonist in their stories. Students created one-pagers which visually depicted this analysis. Moreover, they wrote objective summaries of the plot of their books and were asked to identify two or three real historical events that served as the backdrop for their piece of historical fiction. To share their thinking and learning with their classmates, students presented their one-pagers, explained their literary analysis, read their summaries and taught us the information they found about the real events in their books, all in a four minute book talk in front of the class.
