Rachel Crozier

10 Day Lesson Plan

Historical Fiction Literature Circles
Learner Background:
Students in the 5th Grade English classes understand the concept and purpose of Literature
Circles, and they have been learning a variety of American history their Social Studies time.
Students have been reading secondary and primary sources of each history time period on their
iPads using Subtext, and they have been practicing writing small DBQ (Document-Based
Question) essays in practice for their 5th grade state exam. In their reading and writing sessions,
Students have been reading independent fiction and non-fiction books. They are learning about
character development and voice, dialogue and information within text. Students have read one
historical fiction text as a full class read-aloud: Caddie Woodlawn. They have not read,
analyzed, and immersed themselves in any independent or group study of historical fiction.
Student Learning Objectives:

Students will learn how to critically read and understand an Historical Fiction novel of
their choice through use of a variety of iPad Apps.
Students will learn how authors use characterization, voice, dialogue, historical context of
a novel, predictions, conclusions, and character development within an Historical Fiction
novel.
Students will develop their own analytical and character voice through becoming
immersed in one character in their Lit. Circle novel; using strategies such as Mind
Mapping, annotating, linking text to online material, making self-to-text connections,
creating videos in the voice of their selected character, predicting scene outcomes,
imagining creative dialogue between characters, and comparing historical context of the
book to the written fictional events in the book.
Students learn the connection between technology and learning, understanding text and
communicating a characters experiences to the world, and the human voice and creative
thought as a means to express critical thoughts.

Assessment:

Students will be assessed through their successful uploading of six (6) iMovie videos
onto our classs Youtube channel, talking in the voice of their selected character about the
assigned topic.
Students will complete Mind maps, Pow Strip comics, Idea Sketches, HistoryPin tours,
Subtext annotations, Pic Collages, and Brain pop quizzes to understand text and character
before creating each required iMovie movie.

Materials/Resources:

iPad with the following Apps

o SubText
o Mind Map
o Brain Pop
o Pic Collage
o iPrompter Pro
o Youtube
o iMovie
o Idea Sketch
o History Pin
o Pow Strip Design

Learning Activities:
Initiation:
Students will be creating their own Youtube channel about Historical Fiction novels. Each
student will participate in one of four Literature Circles, reading the book that they choose to
read. Over the course of ten days, with ten lesson plans using unique combinations of the iPad
Apps listed above, students will develop an understanding of critical and analytical reading,
communication, speaking, writing, and artistic skills. Students will develop their characters
personality one day at a time, through completing each assignment. At the end of the ten lessons,
each student will have created 6 iMovies and uploaded them on to the classs Youtube channel.
This teaches them that their understanding of their characters and books, and their ability to
creatively develop and communicate their characters voice, is valuable to the world at large.
Lesson Development:
1. Monday: Students will read two pages of each of the four optional Historical Fiction
books on Subtext, taking notes on what interests them. Using Mindmap, students will
outline the pros/cons about each book, and then compare them to ultimately decide which
book they want to read. Within their mind maps, students will clearly note which book
they prefer to read.
2. Tuesday: Students will be notified of the Literature Circle book that they will read
throughout the two weeks. They will review the historical context of the book, using
videos on the Brain Pop Social Studies section. Students create an Idea Sketch of the
important events and aspects of the time period for their own reference and for future use.
3. Wednesday: On Brain Pop students go to English Writing Notetaking,Imagination,
Paragraphsing. They will read these three italicized sections and watch the videos for
them. Then, students will read two chapters of their Literature Circle book using Subtext
to annotate. Then, they will make a Pic Collage for the main character thus far, including
pictures that demonstrate the characters hobbies, superlatives (their favorite color is.
Etc.), mood, family.
4. Thursday: Students will read two more chapters, using Subtext to annotate and referring
back to their Pic Collage of one character. On Subtext, students link to a youtube video
that connects to a part of the text. They are to locate one part of the text in which the
character shouldve or couldve said something but they didnt. They will Mind Map

characteristics and information of two more characters. Using iPrompter Pro, students
will write the speech that they predict a certain character wouldve said. In this Prompter,
students will briefly explain the characters situation, and then articulate the speech.
5. Friday: Students read two more chapters of book, and using Subtext annotate looking for
character traits, voice, important quotes, relationships to other characters, and
foreshadowing. Students make a Mind Map for the favorite character (the one for whom
the Pic Collage was made) detailing these annotations. On Brain Pop Arts/Music Art
Concepts Filmmaking students will watch the video on Filmmaking. Students will
make their first iMovie Youtube video in the voice of their favorite character, about
anything going on currently in the book.
6. Monday: Student watch peers iMovies on Youtube and take constructive notes on Idea
Sketch. These notes will be discussed within each Lit. Circle to help each student better
develop his characters voice. Student will read two chapters of book, and annotate in
Subtext one specific place in which their characters voice stands out. The iMovie for
today is based on the scene each student highlighted: in their characters voice, students
will talk in the first person discussing their characters feelings/reactions about a scene.
7. Tuesday: Students watch peers iMovies on Youtube and take constructive notes on Idea
Sketch about whether or not fellow students demonstrated the characters voice well, and
whether the scene selected was a good indication of that characters voice. On Brain Pop
English Grammar Dialogue students watch the Dialogue video. Students will read
two chapters of book on Subtext and annotate important pieces of dialogue. The iMovie
for today will be the characters commentary about an important or favorite interaction
with another character; why it was important, why the character loved the lines he said,
etc.
8. Wednesday: Students read two chapters on Subtext, annotating for dialogue, voice, and
characterization examples. Students will use History Pin to explore the historical setting
of the character, and take a Tour of the place in which the character lives. The iMovie for
today is based on the character in his historical context: the character will discuss
memories of his home, events that stand out, historical people that he remembers.
9. Thursday: Students read two chapters on Subtext and annotate for information in the text
that is specifically history-information related, and dialogue based. Students will make
Pow Strip Design of an inventive dialogue or occurrence between two characters. This
Strip Design is the basis for todays iMovie: students make a pair video in which two of
the books characters converse with one another about an important incident in the book..
10. Friday: Students read the last two chapters of the Literature Circle book, annotating on
Subtext looking for details that lead the reader to the conclusion, dialogue that helped the
ending happen, little actions that sped up the ending, and details about the historical time
period that influenced the conclusion of the book. These annotations are the basis for the
last iMovie: it is a full Lit Circle cooperative video in which all of the Lit Circle students
retain their character voice and have a conversation between characters. The
conversation will concern the conclusion of the book; how the characters feel about the
ending, and what they wouldve changed.
Closure:
Students have created a series of six character-based videos to post on the class Youtube channel;
these videos are specifically based on voice, character development, dialogue, and historical

context. They have also completed a series of other activities that help them to understand a
character, to talk from the characters point of view, and to annotate and critically read a text in
search of something specific. Overall, these activities allow students to combine their
understanding of History and Literature through Historical Fiction Literature Circles.