Literature Circles

Mrs. Lane’s Class

The students find that lit circles make reading exciting. Students read the historical fiction novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord. The historical significance of this book was Jackie Robinson being the “first” African American to play baseball on a major league baseball team. In addition to the novel, the class immersed themselves in various texts of historical fiction and realistic fiction. Lit circles provided them with the opportunity to compare and contrast the elements (character, setting, plot, problem/solution, theme, and style and tone) of each genre. In their literature circles they showed their knowledge and understanding by creating posters and presenting them to the class. Each student was then required to write a four paragraph essay comparing and contrasting the two genres. One part of the essay required them to explain which of the two genres their favorite was.

A survey was conducted …. Students chose a preferred genre ….And the survey says………

Some reasons for selecting historical fiction …

Lucy: Parts of history is told, for example, Jackie Robinson showed determination when he wanted to play on the all white team.

Louis: Historical fiction gives a better learning experience; you can learn about wars and treaties that were signed long ago.

Sara: I like reading a story and learning about historical events and people. For example, while reading In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, I learned about segregation, discrimination, and racism.

Justin: This genre helps me learn about past events while being enjoyable, for example, I learned about Jackie Robinson making history while reading about a fictional little girl who immigrated to America.

Joe H. I prefer historical fiction because I learned that African-Americans and women didn’t have equal rights until the 1900s.

Dan: I like historical fiction because it has normal human powers, for example, in the novel In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Jackie didn’t need to use super powers to steal the bases.

Lian: I like historical fiction better because you can learn life lessons while learning historical facts. For example, in In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, I learned that Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to break the color barrier in baseball.

Samiyah: Not only does historical fiction have funny made up characters, it teaches you history events in a fun way. In the book, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, the story took place during the historical event of 1947 when Jackie Robinson made history, but the author told this story using the unique and funny fictional character’s love of baseball.

Laura: I like to learn new things about Native Americans being take from their land, and I like to see history from someone else’s point of view.

Nick: I prefer historical fiction because there is a time, place, and famous person that I could relate to as Jackie Robinson helped me learn about segregation and how hard that period of time was for African Americans.

James: I learned how segregation affected families. Historical fiction is also interesting to me because I like to read about history, so it’s a perfect match.

Chelsea: In the book, In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Shirley was a fictional character and Jackie Robinson was a real famous baseball player.

Dino: This genre tells you about history and the facts and events that occurred. I liked reading about Jackie Robinson being the first African American major league baseball player.

Kyle: I like historical fiction because you can relate to the fictional person because the event really happened.

Cole: I prefer historical fiction because I like to understand how people lived in the past.

Some reasons for selecting realistic fiction …

Emily: The situation in the story could happen to you teaching you a lesson.

Joe S.: I like reading about things that could happen to a normal kid like me. For example, in The Marble Champ, the main character won a competition, I would like that to happen to me.

Alice : I can relate to the character’s feelings more because I experienced it, for example, I could relate to Lupe in The Marble Champ because I’m not good at sports either.

Courtney: Realistic fiction has events that I can relate to that could or have happened to me similar to Lupe in The Marble Champ. She wasn’t good at sports and many people.

Judy: I would prefer to read realistic fiction because I could be entertained as well as learn to solve real life problems at the same time. For example, a problem of not being able to play sports is very real.

Abigail: I can relate to realistic fiction more than historical fiction because it is usually based on modern times. For example, in The Marble Chanp. Lupe won the marble championship and I won a baseball championship.

Kristen: I can understand this genre better because in my independent reading book I can relate to how the main character felt when her father had a stroke and died.

Brooke: The real events in The Marble Champ are easy to understand, anyone who practices has a very good chance or winning at most things they try.