Historical Fiction Unit Plan

Mr. Gerstner

Unit Title: Historical Feelings of World War II

Content Area/Grade Level(s): 5th Grade
Implementation Time Frame: One Week
Stage 1 Desired Results
Established Goals:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.9
Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure
stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including
how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a
poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or
drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are
described.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6
Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities
and differences in the point of view they represent.

Enduring Understandings: Essential Questions:

Students will understand that...
Historical Fiction allows you to
feel what it was like in a
specific time and place in the
past
The story is fiction but some
events and characters can
potentially be real
H.F. can both teach us
something about history and
can teach us a moral lesson (it
has elements of both Nonfiction
and Fiction)
Setting includes time, place,
and emotional atmosphere and
it is important in H.F.
What is Historical Fiction?
What do we learn from Historical
Fiction that we dont learn from
Nonfiction?
Why should we read historical
fiction?
How do you feel after reading a
historical fiction text?
Why is setting important in
Historical Fiction?

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Students will be able to
Distinguish between things that really happened and narrative created by
the author
Describe the way people lived their life during this specific time in history
Articulate the cause and effect of the events in history and how it impacted
the people who lived during that time.
Connect characters and how they are shaped to the setting in which they
are in.
Describe a theme represented by a Historical Fiction text and be able to
support it with textual evidence.
Stage 2 Assessment Evidence
Performance Task(s): Other Evidence
-Students will generate a Keynote -Hold class discussions about the read-
Presentation with their book club. aloud and hear student thinking and
-Students will turn in the reading responses
strategy packet they used while -Have students write in their thinking
reading at home. journal and you can periodically check in
-Students will present their Keynote to monitor student thoughts
and will be required to articulate their -Monitoring Book Club discussions making
thoughts and understandings to the sure each student is participating and
class. thinking beyond surface level.
Stage 3 Learning Plan
Date Learning Activities:

2/13 Read-Aloud: Boy with the Striped Pajamas

Importance of Setting and how it affects Characters (Time and
Place)
2/14
Critical Choices and Perspective
Looking at Events through Multiple Lenses
2/15
Understanding THEME in texts
Using textual evidence to support the claim
2/16
Character Evolution: How did the setting CHANGE those alive at
the time
2/17 Diving deeper into characterization: Understanding how people
change

Compare and Contrast Book Club text with Read-Aloud

Understanding WWII better through multiple lenses and
perspectives

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 DAILY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: __Sebastian Gerstner______ Date: ___Day 1___ Grade Level:

__5____

Unit Topic: _____Historical Fiction______ Lesson Focus: ______Setting and

Character_____

Standard/Benchmark:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing
on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).

Motivation/Accessing Prior Knowledge (The Hook):

Students should have finished the Nonfiction Unit and the Realistic Fiction unit.
Students will be able to detect the similarities that Historical Fiction will have with
both the fiction and nonfiction genres. Students will be told that this genre is
relevant because it brings history to life and makes you, the reader, feel as though
you understand the feelings of the people living in a time in the past.

Students should be given the background of World War II and should understand
why it started, what happened with the German Nazi fleets, and have a base
understanding of the holocaust. These will be essential in understanding the events
within The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.

Learning Activities/Assessments*

Minilesson
Setting in Historical Fiction impacts characterization. Compare and
contrast different characters and how they have been affected
differently based upon the setting they find themselves in.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas read- aloud
Students will be writing in their thinking journal while we read. Higher
order thinking questions should be asked as we read and the focus for
this day will be on setting and characterization. The setting
encapsulates the time period, the place, and the emotional
atmosphere. The read-aloud should be stopped strategically for
students to log the setting as the book unfolds.
Class Map of Europe to cover a wall

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 A map of Europe should be printed out and posted on a wall in the
room. Flags will be made for students to chart important moments and
where they happened in our read-aloud as well as in their book club
books. This way, we can compare and contrast later in the week.
Book Club Meeting
Students should fill out a worksheet that answers starting questions to
evoke conversation. Students should be instructed to fill in one or two
insightful responses that were made by their group during their
discussion for each question.
Keynote Slide: Connecting Main Character and Setting
After the students have their book club discussion, the students will
work together to create a keynote slide. This will be ongoing for each
day of study. At the end, this will create their presentation for the final
day.

Closure

Students will have an exit slip where they write one interesting thing
someone else in their book club said that they hadnt thought of. This should
connect to their discussion on how characters are shaped in Historical Fiction by the
setting.

Reflections:

The first question worksheet was a little too extensive. The students were
running out of time to work on their keynote. The students should focus more on
having a meaningful discussion than worrying to write it down. I will shorten these
written participation slips to adhere to the timing of the students.

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 DAILY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: __Sebastian Gerstner______ Date: ___Day 2___ Grade Level:

__5____

Unit Topic: _____Historical Fiction______ Lesson Focus: ____Analyzing

Conflict______

Standard/Benchmark:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.6
Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities
and differences in the point of view they represent.

Motivation/Accessing Prior Knowledge (The Hook):

The students should be reminded that we looked at how setting in historical fiction
shapes characterization. Today, we will be looking at perspectives of an event and
difficult choices that characters need to make based on the historical event they are
involved in.

Students will be told to take note of critical choices made by Bruno in Boy in the
Striped Pajamas and what the consequences are. We will discuss consequences of
many choices made during the holocaust.

Learning Activities/Assessments*

Minilesson
Looking at climactic decisions in Historical Fiction. Pivotal moments in
history require characters to make critical decisions. With these
decisions come consequences.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas read-aloud
Students should be keeping track of pivotal choices made my Bruno as
we read the novel from his perspective. Students can also look from a
secondary perspective at the Jewish servant who helps Bruno when he
hurts himself on the tire swing and the consequences he could face by
making that choice.
Mapping the events in Europe
Students should become familiar with Poland and Germany as we read
our read-aloud. Students may want to flag Berlin and flag Auschwitz.
Students are also encouraged to flag important cities and places within
their own book club novels.
Book Club Meeting
Students will be discussing moments in their book where critical
choices have been made. Their discussion should include the
significance of these decisions and what do the choices say about the
characters. They should look at these pivotal moments from multiple
perspectives in the book.
Keynote Slide: The Critical Choice

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 Students will take their book club novel and develop a keynote slide
that illustrates a pivotal choice that is made in their book with
potentially drastic consequences. They need to describe the reason
this choice is a crucial one.

Closure

Students will be expected to say one critical choice that was made in their
book as they leave the room to head to their SPECIAL for the day. This is a nice,
quick way to see if students understand that a climactic decision is one that has
potentially drastic consequences.

Reflections:

It would have been effective to time this lesson with the portion of the read-
aloud where Bruno denies his Jewish friend because he fears getting in trouble with
a Nazi soldier. This portion of the text evokes so much emotion in the students and
lends itself well to this climactic decision lesson.

It takes a long time to hear every students response as they leave the room.
It could be enough to have the students just tell their neighbor at their table a major
event that happened in their book and describe the decision that had to be made.

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 DAILY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: __Sebastian Gerstner______ Date: ___Day 3___ Grade Level:

__5____

Unit Topic: _____Historical Fiction______ Lesson Focus: _______Identifying

Theme______

Standard/Benchmark:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2
Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including
how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a
poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

Motivation/Accessing Prior Knowledge (The Hook):

Students will be shown a headline that is created by the teacher that hits the theme
of our read-aloud. It should be presented and read to the students. They should talk
with their table about what they think of the headline and whether it is a good
representation of our book and why.

Students should then be told that we will be looking at determining the theme of
our books and creating a headline that helps to convey the theme.

Learning Activities/Assessments*

Minilesson
Deciphering theme from a novel. Students should start to learn how to
take the text and look at a message that the author is trying to get
across. In our read-aloud, a theme that could be taken is Childhood
Innocence. Other themes work as long as there is plenty of evidence
and a valid explanation.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas read-aloud
Before the read-aloud, students should write in their thinking journals
what they think a good theme for our read-aloud is. As I read out loud,
it is up to the students to pull key points from the text that supports
their theme.
Keeping up the map of Europe
Book Club Meeting
Students will be discussing the theme of their book club texts.
Students are encouraged to discuss more than one theme and find
textual evidence to support these themes. A good theme should be
present throughout the text.
Keynote Slide: Making a Headline
Students will be using the theme they discussed in their Book Club to
create another Keynote slide. The slide must express the theme and
have evidence to back it up. They will also create a headline that

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 depicts the message of their theme and how it is integrated in their
story.

Closure

Students will be reminded that the Theme is something that is

generated by the text and is a message that the author is wanting to convey
with their novel. When we write, we should also keep in mind what Theme
we want to generate and use that to drive what we write as well.

Reflections:

The students really came through and seemed to quickly grasp the
concept of theme. They clearly have been working on this skill in past grades
and this is meant to hone that skill. I think the students did a fantastic job
taking apart their novel and finding meaningful themes. Their conversations
were insightful and they were using their skills from the nonfiction unit to
find strong textual evidence to support their claim.

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 DAILY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: __Sebastian Gerstner______ Date: ___Day 4___ Grade Level:

__5____

Unit Topic: _____Historical Fiction______ Lesson Focus: _____Perspective &

Evolution____

Standard/Benchmark:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.6
Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are
described.

Motivation/Accessing Prior Knowledge (The Hook):

Students will be looking at how the setting and time of the novel changes and
impacts our characters and change them over time. This character evolution will
show students how people change and are affecting by the choices they make. This
can be related to their perspective of how events are seen and described.

Learning Activities/Assessments*

Minilesson
Students will be discovering how characters evolve over time. We can
see how the authors point of view and perspective help us to see how
these round characters develop over time.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas read-aloud
The read-aloud has a very clear point of view. Have the students
discuss what it does to the story having Bruno be the narrator.
Students should write their response in their thinking journal. Bruno
has no knowledge of what is happening so his perspective is very
nave. This will be drastically different than the perspective they will be
reading about in their book clubs.
The Map of Europe
Book Club Meeting
Students should discuss the perspective of their own novel they are
reading within their specific book clubs. The characters point of view
should also show how the character changes over time. This can be
compared to how Bruno changes as he starts to figure out what is
happening around him. Students should discuss and write about how
they see their own characters evolve and change as the book
progresses.
Keynote Slide: Character Evolution
The students will compile their discussion onto a keynote slide. This
slide will document how they have seen the characters have developed
throughout their novel. Students should discuss the events that have
changed their character. From the beginning, middle, and end, a round
character will change to deal with their surroundings and

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 circumstances. This slide will show the students understanding of this
concept.

Closure

Students will be reminded how character evolutions are vital observations to

understand what happened in history. Students should write a brief slip that shows
how Bruno from our read-aloud has changed and what that means during World War
II. Students should show how the character has evolved and give at least one piece
of textual evidence that shows they have changed.

Reflections:

This lesson was a lot of fun because students really had some AHA!
moments. As students thought about their character at the beginning,
middle, and end, students started finding various ways the character has
evolved over time. Their reasoning was sharp and their textual evidence
skills have improved.

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 DAILY LESSON PLAN TEMPLATE

Name: __Sebastian Gerstner______ Date: ___Day 5___ Grade Level:

__5____

Unit Topic: _____Historical Fiction______ Lesson Focus: ______The Big

Picture______

Standard/Benchmark:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.9
Compare and contrast stories in the same genre (e.g., mysteries and adventure
stories) on their approaches to similar themes and topics.

Motivation/Accessing Prior Knowledge (The Hook):

Students should be reminded how hard we have been working on our keynotes.
Students also should be told that we will be presenting our keynotes and combining
our different stories to gain a bigger picture of World War II. We will be comparing
and contrasting our read-aloud with the books the students have been studying in
their book clubs.

Learning Activities/Assessments*

Minilesson
By reading multiple Historical Fiction pieces, we can see a historical
event with a broader lens. We get the emotional impact of a narrative
set in a historical point and having multiple accounts broadens our
understanding. We can also compare and contrast multiple texts in the
same time to decipher what could be factual and what could be
embellished.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas read-aloud
Students should be thinking about their own texts as we wrap up our
read-aloud. Students will write in their thinking journals about
moments in the text and how they relate to what they have read in
their own book clubs. They should start to see the bigger picture of
what it was like to live during World War II and the tough decisions and
choices that were being made during that time.
The Map of Europe
Students can see the bigger picture between the events that happen
within our read-aloud and how they are placed in comparison to the
events in their book club novels. As we present our keynotes, students
will have an idea of how Europe evolved during World War II and how
different areas were impacted by the same event.
Book Club Meeting
Students should have a final conversation about their ending feelings
about their novel. Students will compare their text with our read-aloud
and will draw comparisons between the novels and the implications it
has on World War II.

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Keynote Slide: Conclusion Slide
Students will compile their final thoughts on their conclusion slide.
Students will make comparisons to their understanding of World War II
and how their understanding has grown as they have read these
Historical Fiction texts.

Closure

Students will be preparing to present their Keynote presentations starting

next week. Students should write on an exit slip what is something that has stuck
with them about Historical Fiction and why it is important to compare and contrast
texts set in the same time. This will be a culminating check-in on the students
understanding of Historical Fiction and its relevance.

Reflections:

Some students had a harder time with the loose structure of the last slide of
their keynote. I could give them more parameters for this last slide to help direct
the students. However, with some brief guidance and questioning, these students
had a great idea on how to finish their slide.
The keynote is a great way for the students to work each day and be able to
see how they developed throughout the week. Students were so proud of having
such an amazing product at the end of the week. I was incredibly impressed with
how hard these students worked. There are some great comparisons to be made
with the World War II material between the read-aloud and other novels for book
clubs. The students can make strong connections to perspective and seeing the
bigger picture.

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 Historical Fiction Book Clubs

Keynote Presentation Rubric

Book Title:
____________________________________________________
Book Club Members:
____________________________________________________
Your BCs Keynote presentation should have

1. Title Slide (_____/2.5)

Book Title
Book Cover
Name

2. Session #1: First Impressions (_____/5)

Write a paragraph describing your first impression of the book.

3. Session #2: The Setting (Time & Place) (_____/5)

Name the specific time period by identifying what is going on in history
at that time
Use details to describe the setting (What does it look like? Feel like?)
Include a map

4. Session #3: The Main Character (_____/5)

Identify the main character of your book
Identify the point of view
Draw a picture, or find an image, that represents your main character
Include an important quotation from your character

5. Session #4 & #5: Color/Symbol/Image for your Character

(_____/5)
Name a color, symbol, and image for your main character
Write at least 3 sentences explaining why you chose each color,
symbol, and image

6. Session #6: What in the world is going on? (_____/5)

Write at least 2 sentences for EACH of the 5 Ws + 1H of your setting:
What, When, Who, Where, Why, and How?

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7. Session #7: CONNECT Main Character + Setting (_____/5)
Identify at least two specific ways the setting (time + place) of your
book DIRECTLY affects your main characters life over time.

8.Session #8: The Critical Choice. (_____/5)

Name a character in your book who had to make a critical choice
Explain the choice: Why was it hard? What was at risk?
How did this ORDINARY character become EXTRAORDINARY because of
this choice?
What did you learn about life from this character?

9. Session #9: Making Headlines (_____/5)

Identify a major theme in your book
Write at least 5 sentences explaining WHY this is a major theme
include lots of evidence from the text
Design a HEADLINE that captures the heart of your story (connect to
the theme)

10. Session #10: Character Evolution (_____/5)

Consider how the character has evolved in the text.
Write 3-5 sentences explaining how the main character has changed
from the beginning, middle, and end of the text.

11. Conclusion Slide (_____/2.5)

What did this text teach you?
Correct grammar, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation: _____/5
The graphics ADD to the overall meaning and do not distract from it:

_____/5
The presentation was organized and interesting; all members spoke:

_____/10

TOTAL:
____________/70 points

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 PORTFOLIO UNIT FEEDBACK FORM

Intern: ___________________________________ Semester:

_____________

Supervisor: _______________________________

Status*

In progress
evidenceNo

Completed
Components Comments/Suggestions

Establish
Goals/
Standards

Understandi
ngs

Essential
Questions

Objectives

Performance
Tasks

Other
Evidence

Learning/Les
son Plans

Examples of
student
work

Materials &
Resources

Summary
Reflection

Additional comments can be attached. This form is to be kept in the front of the unit section
of the internship notebook.

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