How many of your students love historical fiction? Do you? My experience is that kids have specific preferences, but yet, we never know if and when we will spark interest in something new. Thematic teaching using historical fiction expands student interest. In this post, I’d like to share a variety of books and resources that you might enjoy using as you explore historical fiction on the revolutionary war.
Historical Fiction Teaching Resources
This historical fiction Pinterest board has links to resources in my shop as well as pins I have found helpful for the revolutionary war studies. I hope you find ideas to help you out.
Book Suggestions for the Revolutionary War
Thankfully, there is a plethora of historical fiction books with a revolutionary war setting. To the right, I’ve shared a collage of titles.
Revolutionary War on Wednesday
My favorite book to use with the students I teach is Revolutionary War on Wednesday. It’s written on a third grade level, and I enjoyed using it with my fourth grade intervention group. You can check out my unit with the link below.
Woods Runner
Another favorite author of mine is Gary Paulsen, and when I taught in the regular classroom, I always used his books. My boys would be instantly hooked with Hatchet. He has come out with so many more, and after meeting him in person, I love his books even more.
Woods Runner is set during the Revolutionary War. [This link] is to a discussion guide that is aligned to Common Core.
George vs. George
Picture books with any subject work well for mini lessons and mentor texts with writing. George vs. George could lead to great debate. It’s about George Washington vs. King George. The freebie to the right has great organizers to use with it.
John, Paul, George, and Ben
Finally, I love the book, John, Paul, George and Ben. Here is a Youtube video clip for it. I also found [this unit] to go with the book and [this webpage]. There were many options on this site, so be sure to check it out. One resource I know I will use with my students is a Readers Theater script.
Fun Classroom Activities You’ll Enjoy
There are so many great ways you can make the content meaningful to the students at this age, but one of my favorite things to do is project based learning. The Revolutionary War provides a great opportunity for team research and projects.
For independent work, there are quite a few options for lapbook freebies. Here is one from Jimmie’s Collage.
Close Reading Packs
In addition to the lapbooks, you might include Close Reading opportunities. I love this set from 2 Brainy Teachers. You can check out this Abigail Adams article sample, but the rest of the set includes all the key people from the Revolution.
Technology Links:
Great resources Carla! Thanks so much for sharing and hosting this Linky!