Historical fiction can be a valuable asset when learning about the past. Integrate several novels written about the Civil War into your social studies unit, with groups of four working collaboratively to comprehend the novel from different perspectives.

Concepts

civil war, the united states civil war, historical fiction, reading comprehension, responding to reading

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Additional Tags

english language arts

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Instructional Ideas

• Use for any literature circle project or unit
• Create a cross-curricular unit between social studies and language arts to address all elements of the project
• Pair your more advanced learners with struggling readers in your class to model comprehension skills

Classroom Considerations

• The lesson is designed to last four weeks, but that includes literature sessions every other day with Civil War instructions during the others; you could modify this schedule based on your curriculum and planning

Pros

• Because the literature circle organization is not specific on the Civil War, it is versatile for any reading unit, historical fiction or otherwise
• The literature circle roles are educational, well-rounded, and informative for learners of all ages
• Provides an auxiliary worksheet (attached)

Cons

• None

Common Core

RL.5.1 RL.5.2 RL.5.3 RL.6.1 RL.6.2 RL.6.3 RL.7.1 RL.7.2 RL.7.3 RL.8.1 RL.8.2 RL.8.3