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will introduce, explain, and chart the three main characteristics of historical fiction: the story is set in a historical time period; the characters are fictional; the story is based on historical facts. I will read the title and inside cover or back (the location of the synopsis differs depending on the edition you have) of Meet Addy: An American Girl by Connie Porter. I will add information from the inside or back cover to the characteristics chart. (Direct Teaching and Guided Practice Chart is provided below in Teacher and Student Materials.) For example, "The story takes place in 1864, during the time of slavery. We know that slavery really did exist in the late 1800s, so this gives us a clue that the book will be historical fiction. We also see that this book is going to tell us a story but not necessarily just give us information. Usually fiction texts tell a story and do not exclusively give information, so we can conclude that the text is fiction."

Ask: How did I determine that this text is an example of historical fiction? Students should respond that you read the cover and synopsis and used your background knowledge to determine whether the story was based in a historical time period and contained historical facts. Then, you thought about what you learned from the synopsis, and considered whether the book was going to tell you a story (fiction) or just give you historical information. Because you learned from the back cover that the book is a story about a girl during the time of slavery, you decided that the book was an example of historical fiction.

will listen as I read Chapter 1 aloud and discuss the evidence found in the book about the historical time period and historical facts. We will add this information to the chart.

will listen as I read Chapter 2 and record evidence from the book showing the historical time period and historical facts. You will also list the fictional characters in the story and explain how you know the book is fictional. (Student Independent Practice is provided below.)