Sunday, September 8, 2013

Genre: A Step Further (Lesson 3)

For this week's story, we are reading Natasha Anastasia Tarpley's Destiny's Gift (Level 4.0), about a young girl who rallies her community together to help save a local bookstore. Our essential question is: Why is volunteering good for a community and its people? We will discuss how we have volunteered in the past, and how we can volunteer in the future.

Since this story is Realistic Fiction, we will compare this text to other texts we read previously (A Fine, Fine School and The Trial of Cardigan Jones). Children are apt to thinking that in order for something to be fictional, the text must contain some form of outlandishness. Many students will not think this is fiction simply because it contains no talking animals or imaginary creatures. It is important for students to comprehend that, while Destiny's Gift tells the story of a young girl doing a very real thing (helping a friend), it is not a true story; It could be. That is the best way to help students grasp Realistic Fiction: it could be real, but it is not.

Here are a few examples of Realistic Fiction, now available for checkout in my library:


  • Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Level 3.9, 3 points)
  • Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary (Level 4.9, 3 points)
  • Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (Level 4.6, 5 points)
  • The Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney (5.2-5.8, points varied)
  • Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco (Level 3.5, 0.5 points)
  • Song and Dance Man by Karen Ackerman (Level 4.0, 0.5 points)
  • The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant (Level 4.1, 0.5 points)

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