Realistic Fiction and Historical Fiction book logs PDF

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Freedom Summer By: Deborah Wiles

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 3rd The book is about desegregation in the south. There are two best friends who spend the summer together during segregation; John Henry is black and Joe is white. Joe is optimistic and wants to swim with his friend John in the town pool. As they discover the white community didn’t want to share the pool they decided to pour concrete into it instead. The boys went dis-heartedly into the store that uses to be for whites only. Activities:  Creating a word web as a class  Retell the story  Pair this book with a nonfiction book about slavery or desegregation  Talk about the government and how it’s broken into three branches write a paragraph describing each branch.  Talk about the Bill of rights do a KWL chart  I would have the children make little cut outs of different color people holding hands to show unity and talk about our differences.

Grandfather’s Journey By: Allen Say

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 4th A journey about a young man who wanted to know what living in the United State was like. He then decides misses Japan on this visit, he marries his childhood sweetheart. Later they both come back home to California, where they have a daughter together. Later when he sees his daughter grows he's beginnings to miss Japan again. The family goes back; his daughter finds love in Japan. She marries and has a son. He plans on going back to California with his grandson but the War stops them. His grandson understands how his grandfather loved both countries. Activities: Predict what will happen throughout the story  Create a story time line Write a paragraph on why they think the US did not allow them to visit California once the war started.  Talk about WWII do a KWL chart 

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The invention of Hugo Cabret By: Brian Selznick

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 2nd Hugo is a young boy who lives in the train station he tends to steal things. One day he steals an old mans the mechanical mouse in a toy booth, the old man steals Hugo's notebook. Luckily, this encounter with the grumpy old guy leads to a new friendship with Isabelle, his goddaughter. They discover that Isabel’s necklace unlocks the automaton, which then points back to her godfather. Turns out old pal Papa Georges is none other than the famous filmmaker Georges Méliès. But everyone thinks he’s dead and they seem intent on keeping it that way. Hugo’s uncle is found in the river and he’s almost hauled to jail for stealing. Papa George saves Hugo from an oncoming train and then takes him in. Activities  Create a timeline  Do a word web  List figurative language  Write a paragraph on what the students thought about Hugo’s character  Look at where the story takes place talk about Paris, look at the geography

Pink and Say By: Patricia Polacco

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 3rd Pink and Say meet after a battle in the Civil war both men are in the Union. Say, a white young man, is wounded during the battle. Pink, a black man, carries him home to his mother who is surviving in a deserted plantation. Pink wants to rejoin his unit. Say who was deserting when he was wounded, agrees to go back in order to keep Pink’s mother safe. Marauders come and kill her in the cellar. They are both captured by the Confederates. They are taken to an Andersonville prison where Pink is hung. Say survives in poor conditions, but is now the great great grandfather of the author. Activities:

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 Do a KWL about the Civil War Look at the geography of where they were sent to prison  Predicting during the book  Infer why Say was deserting the war  Create a time line for the civil war

Henry’s Freedom Box By Ellen Levine

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 3rd Henry Brown was a slave he didn’t know his birthday. He lived together with his mother and they worked in the master’s house. The master was very ill and decided to give Henry to his son instead of selling him. Henry worked on the tobacco plantation. Later Henry met Nancy, another slave from a different owner, they got married. They had three children. Henry’s wife’s master sold Nancy and her three children. They all vanished from the square. He was very upset that he would never see his family again. He needed to be free. He asked a doctor to mail him to a state that was slave free. Henry burned his hand with acid in order to be excused from work the next day. That day he was mailed to Pennsylvania. Finally he was a free man with his very own birthday. Activities List all the free and slave states  KWL on what slavery is Write a journal on what you think Henry was feeling while in the box  Infer on what will happen during the read aloud  Look at Setting  Rewrite ending of the story 

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George’s Washington’s Mother

By: Jean Fritz

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 1st This story explains more about his relationship with his mother and her influence in his life. It shows how even Washington had to mind his manners. It shows how his mother wished to remain in her home even after Washington was president. It depicts her personality as well even including how she doesn’t like to dress up.

Activities: 1. Talk about setting 2. Predicting which one will be just right 3. Syllables in certain words 4. Compare and Contrast on what they do the same or different with their mom 5. Write a sentence about what they liked or disliked

The Yellow Star: The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark

By: Carmen Deedy

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: 2nd In 1940 the Nazis ordered that all Jews should wear a yellow star on their clothing. King Christian X of Denmark feared what would happen to the Jews. In order to prevent the Nazi’s from singling those out the king devised a plan to keep them safe. He sought to protect and unite all of his citizens by making everyone wear a yellow star. This may have saved lots of lives. Activities  Look at Setting  Predicting why the king did this  Find Denmark on the map in order to incorporate geography. Look at the countries the Nazi’s took over.  Infer what gave the King a bad feeling when the Nazi’s singled out the Jewish  Write a sentence on whether or not you would do the same as the king and why.

Just in time Abraham Lincoln By: Patricia Polacco

Genre: Historical Fiction Grade: k Two little boys, Michael and Derek, go to a Civil War museum with their grandmother. They find themselves playing a game with a mysterious museum keeper. Before they know it they are walking into a very realistic scene of 1863. They see firsthand the destruction at the battlefield of Antietam; they even meet President Lincoln on this adventure. Activities: 

Talk about the union soldiers and confederates do a KWL chart  Predict if the boys will make it back to their own time  Talk about the Presidents role  Color words  List what the government does as a class  Draw the U.S Flag

The Relatives Came

By: Cynthia Rylant

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: 1st The relatives came in the summer from Virginia. They left their grapes when they were almost purple and ready to pick, but not quite. They loaded up into the car and drove from four am all day long, they longed for their home back in Virginia as they drove. Finally they pulled into the yard all the family hugged as they reunited in their families drive way. Both families rejoiced at being around each other, they stayed for weeks and weeks. The relatives fixed the things they could find that needed mending. Both families woke at four in the morning to say their goodbyes. The relatives arrived home to their beds and dreamt about next summer’s visit. Activities: 1. Retelling the story by breaking it down from Beginning, Middle and End 2. Identify family members and their roles in the book. Then make a collage of each child’s own family creating diversity in your classroom by showing all the different kinds of families. 3. Compare and contrast what we do on a trip and what the relatives did in the book when they travel. 4. Write a sentence or two describing a trip they recently took with their family.

The Paperboy By: Dav Pilkey

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: 4th There’s a small boy who wakes up before anyone else. As he delivers papers his dog accompanies him on his journey. At the end of their adventure the whole neighborhood starts to wake. At the end of the book the paperboy sleeps while the world awakes. Activities: 

This is a good book to use with a unit on Community Helpers. Delivering papers is a job that they can do. 

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A KWL chart on character Education/Responsibility.

The students could write a prompt about a job they want to do in the future and why. 

As a class do reader’s theatre and add a twist to the story

Miss Tizzy By: Libba Moore Gray

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: 2nd Miss Tizzy wore a purple hat with a white flower in it and high-top green tennis shoes. The neighbors thought she was peculiar, but the children loved her. Together they bake cookies, make pictures, play dress-up, and put on puppet shows. When Miss Tizzy gets sick the children do all the things Miss Tizzy does in order to cheer her up.

Activities   

By doing a read aloud we can introduce friendship to the class

The class can do a journal entry on what they like to do with their friends

The students can compare and contrast Miss Tizzy to her adult neighbors creating a Venn diagram in the process

Song and Dance Man By: by Karen Ackerman

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: K Three children go up to the attic with their grandfather. He pulls out an old bowler hat, a gold cane and tap shoes. He tells them about his adventures when he danced on the vaudeville stage. He demonstrates his skills for the children. Activities: 

Pair with a nonfiction tap dancing book  List the characters in the story  Do a KWL on dancing styles  Reader’s theatre  Draw a cane and hat like grandpas

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge By: Mem Fox

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: K A young boy lives next to a nursing home and visits with all the residents daily. One day he makes it his mission to help Miss Nancy find her lost memory. He goes on a mission to find Miss Nancy’s memories because everyone says she’s lost them. He goes and asks all the residents what memories are. And slowly he makes a box and puts all his favorite memories in them to share with Miss Nancy. Activities: Define what a memory is  Kwl on nursing homes  Talk about stages of life  Reader’s theatre Discuss what you would put in your memory box 

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Because of Winn-Dixie By: Kate DiCamillo

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade; 4th This little girl named Opal finds a stray dog ransacking a grocery store. She decides to take him home and names the mutt Winn-Dixie. This little mutt is so easy going he manages to open up Opals world; he leads her to meet new friends. During the party Opal hosts a thunder storm starts up and Winn-Dixie flips out. Opal has a massive melt down where she talks about how hurt she is that her mother walked out on her. But Opal realizes how luck she is to have a father and good friends. Activities  

Journal entries on what’s happening  Illustrate a wordless book List characters and their characteristics  Create a timeline of events  Reader’s theatre by chapter

Zoobreak

By: Gordon Korman

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: 2nd Savannah lost her pet monkey, which she finds on a school field trip to the zoo boat. Savannah makes a big scene. The zookeeper, Mr. Nastase, is quite nasty to the class. They want to make up a team in order to get Savannah’s monkey. The zoo is heavily guarded by Klaus. Mr. Nastase has stolen all the pets that belong in the zoo. The children must break all the animals free. But the plan fails and they must not only free the zoo but find all the animals’ better homes. They try stopping Mr. Nastase. Activities: Create a character list  Look at the setting  Do a Beginning, middle and end  As a class do readers Theatre Pick a nonfiction book about monkey’s or other zoo animals on board 

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The Lottery Rose By: Irene Hunt

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction Grade: 3rd Georgie Burgess, seven and a half years old, lives in Florida. His mother and her boyfriend beat him savagely. He gets in trouble at school and hasn't learned to read, but he loves looking at flowers in books. Georgie’s life changes when he wins a rosebush in a contest. He is placed in a boarding school where he becomes obsessed with planting his rose bush in the neighbor’s yard. Georgie gets confronted by Mrs. Harper who is very upset that he planted his rose bush there, she tears it out. The little boy passes out Mrs. Harper tries to apologize. Later Georgie learns that Mrs. Harper’s husband had planted the white tulips, Georgie had ruined while planting his rosebush, before he died in a car wreck with his son. Her other son Robin, who is younger, befriends Georgie. He ends up drowning in the pond while feeding the ducks. Georgie is overcome with sorrow; he replants his rosebush by Robin’s grave. Mrs. Harper finds Georgie there and he asks if she’s his real mother, but sadly she says no. She tells him that she will always care about him. Activities:

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 Create a character list  Do journal entries for certain sections of the book  Create a timeline  Look at the plot Talk about real life issues like bullying make a KWL chart on it...