Realistic Fiction

Realistic Fiction books depict stories that did not actually take place or occur, but have the potential to have happened. The setting, plot, and characters are fabricated by the author, however, contain an element of realism. There are many ways to teach students about realistic fiction. I could conduct read-alouds, in which I read the realistic fiction book out loud to the class. While reading the book I could stop to ask questions and have the students make predictions of what they think will happen next. In my classroom my students will keep a reading journal to document their reading experiences throughout the year. While teaching realistic fiction, I could have the students either answer a number of questions about the book we are reading or I could make their journal entry more personal by having the students make connections with the setting, plot, and characters.

One thing that I would love to do is to have my students create their own realistic fiction stories. This would be a quarter long assignment that my students would work on. The stories could be anything they wanted as long as they are realistic. When my students are finished writing and illustrating their stories, I would get all of their books published. Once the books are published I could put the students in groups where they read aloud and share their stories with their peers. I really love this idea and will be sure to implement it when I have my own classroom!