How do you get kids to care about historical fiction?

[katbecky]

Hi, I am a student at the University of Arizona and I am doing a project for my introduction to children's literature class. I would really appreciate any insights you could give me! I have a question:

How do you get your students to care about historical literature? Or history in general? Are there any special projects that you have done, or tips and tricks you might have to get kids involved with this topic?

Thanks for any information you can provide, I can't wait to get into the classroom!

[Student4life]

In my opinion I think you have to get the studnets to enjoy it first. It can be very difficult to make them care when they don't like it. The more ineesting you make it the more likely they are to be involved with the topic.

[Brit]

personal relevance can be a good tool. For example, if you're talking about immigration history, you can discuss immigration experiences in the kids' families.

however, this doesn't always pan out. I remember refusing to learn about the 1956 Hungarian situation precisely because it was close to home for me -- some of my family lived through it. It wasn't "exotic" enough.

I think that if you can get the kids to really visualize, really put themselves in historical situations, then you're getting somewhere. So focus on the personalities of history and the small stories in history and I think the kids will buy in.

aS for historical fiction, get the good stuff -- the juicy stories that are well-written. Give e'm crap and of course they won't want it. And for kids who really don't want the books, what about some Mel Gibson historical fiction? I think movies are almost as good, as long as the kids are required to find and explain differences in the movie and the actual events portrayed.

[SS Rocks!]

As for history, telling an interesting story or teaching about fascinating aspects of life in the culture you are talking about can get them hooked. For example, I was teaching about Sparta recently and the students were incredibly fascinated by the stories I would tell them of the Spartans' outlook on life and their military training.

As far as getting them interested in historical fiction, I would start by getting them interested in the time period in which the historical fiction takes place or the historical topic of the book. Depending on the topic you are covering, you could try to relate the topic to their lives or give them a story to grab their attention.

Our 8th grade has an immigration day where students pretend they are landing at Ellis Island. They have to provide information about their home country and apply for citizenship.

I know of another teacher that introduces the Holocaust by reading a children's book that has a title like "Horrible Things". After she reads the story, she tells the kids what actually happened during the Holocaust and then they read the Diary of Anne Frank.

[katbecky]

Wow, Thanks for all of the great insights! It is great to have "real teacher" input.