Our last big unit in reading this school year will be on historical fiction. Historical fiction is a literary genre where the story takes place in the past, and blends the true events of recorded history with fictionalized characters and plot. This genre captures the details of the time period as accurately as possible, and real historical facts woven in with how the characters talk and act, to give us an idea of life during the era. To help us get a better understanding of this genre of reading, students took all of the novels from our class library and sorted them into general fiction (realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, etc.) and historical fiction. Using clues from the cover of the book, the synopsis on the back of the book, the chapter titles, and the first few pages of the book, students successfully categorized 5 baskets of novels as historical fiction. Later, we will take these books to create a timeline of events and eras that have occurred in the past. Students will eventually choose a historical fiction picture book to read and then learn more about the event/era.