CHAPTER 7 - Realistic Fiction

CHAPTER 7

Realistic Fiction was never my favorite... I am much more of a fairytale or fantasy girl!  But over the last few weeks I have read more realistic fiction than in my whole life and I have found it to be most intriguing.  The stories I have read are; Because of Winn-Dixie, Bud... Not Buddy, The Watsons go to Birmingham, and Now is the Time for Running.  Michael Williams wrote  Now is the Time for Running and while I was reading it ideas for incorporating it into my class were just popping off of the pages.  The story follows a young boy and his older brother (who has exceptionalities) through their journey from Zimbabua to South Africa. This book gives examples of the challenges of being different and trying to blend in with surrounding society.  Death, Starving, Abuse, these topics are very difficult to bring up out of the blue in our classrooms, but if we incorporate a book into the subject it can become more acceptable to speak about.  The classroom I just interned in during the Spring was comprised  completely of students who qualified for free lunches.  I am sure some of them understand what it is like to go to bed hungry, but this would be a difficult conversation to bring up without embarrassing any of these big fifth graders.  However, if you incorporate a book and have your students journal a response to the question "How do you identify with this character?" about death or starvation, or abuse you can discuss these difficult subjects.  I would have my students break into groups and write a different outcome to the story. Students could also list possible solutions to the situations. 
In the stories Bud... Not Buddy and The Watsons go to Birmingham, by Christopher Paul Curtis he incorporates abuse and abandonment and being raised in a foster home, but even though all this sounds very depressing, the stories are actually quite funny. 
I have learned that while fantasy and fairytales are still fun, I really enjoy realistic fiction and I find that I could use them in many ways in my classroom to teach about controversial issues.