Carol Kerney Books

A lot of students just don’t like history. Teachers struggle with that all the time. We ask ourselves what can we do to make social studies more engaging to students. I think one answer is to take advantage of the widespread enjoyment of novels. The following is excerpted from a blog I wrote for the Christian Home School Association of California:

Introduction. Using novels to teach history is an often-overlooked means to hook your youngsters on a love of history while simultaneously teaching about the past.

Using Novels to Teach History: Launch Pad for Research and Discussion. Novels can be used effectively to teach history. There is actually a fair amount of research that suggests using novels to learn history can grab student interest, offer readers the opportunity to get involved with history at an emotional level, and help students remember the history. (I still remember reading “Rifles for Watie” from an embarrassing long time ago!) Here’s a quote from historical novelist, E. L. Doctorow, that summarizes it for us, “The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.”

University of Texas professor Steven Mintz points out that historical novels “lay bare history’s human side.” He also says that fiction allows us to get into the past’s emotions and take a look at why people did what they did.

Using Novels to Teach History: Research and Discussion. That all sounds like a winner, but how do we make it happen? At the easiest level, we can use novels with our students to spark research and conversations about periods and people in history. Scott O’Dell’s “Island of the Blue Dolphins” introduces us to the adventures of Karana, a young Indian girl who lived alone on a Pacific coast island for eighteen years. It’s a powerful story of survival, but it can also be used as a launch pad for research and discussion of the native peoples of California and interaction with Europeans and other peoples in the early 1800s in California. “Island of the Blue Dolphins” won the Newbery Medal in 1961.

Another Newbery winner is Elizabeth George Spears’s “The Bronze Bow.” This novel, placed in the time of Jesus, explores Roman occupancy in Israel. It draws a rich tapestry of life in Israel in the first century. Much historical research about that time in history can grow out of this memorable novel.

Using Novels to Teach History: Literature Guides. Many novels have “literature guides” written about them. “Rifles for Watie” has several literature guides that go with this novel about a 16-year-old who fought in Indian Territory during the Civil War. The Civil War in what is now Oklahoma is an often-overlooked arena of that terrible conflict. Readers will certainly understand in greater depth what day-to-day life was like during the Civil War. Literature guides include summaries of the novel, historical backgrounds, information about the author, lessons about elements of literature, and much more. As an example Harold Keith, the author of “Rifles for Watie,” actually interviewed Civil War veterans in the early 1940s and used those interviews when writing his Newbery Medal-winning novel that was published in 1957.

You can search for “literature guides” or “study guides” on Amazon or Teachers Pay Teachers at teacherspayteachers.com. The materials on Teachers Pay Teachers are written by teachers and used in classrooms. Using a literature guide is an automatic way to deepen student understanding of historical novels.

Using Novels to Teach History: Study Guides. You may have noticed that my examples above are all Newbery winners. Newbery Medals have been given to “the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children” for 102 years. However, wonderful historical novels are out there that didn’t win the Newbery. A visit to your community library will turn up many novels for young readers to young adult readers. (You may want to read the novels ahead of using them with your youngsters or reviews from influencers or reviewers that you trust. The book’s values may differ from your values.) 

Most of these novels will not have lit guides written about them. What can you do in that case? 

My recommendation is to develop a study guide for novels that don’t already have one. I use a format in the historical novels I write that contains:

• “Learning Objections” so I’m clear in my own mind what I want student-readers to know;
• “Teaching Hints” where I list additional resources such as maps and nonfiction books, etc.;
• “Creative Activities” because creativity and fun are always good and because, for example, drawing Egyptian tomb paintings will reinforce learning about them;
• “Student Assessments” so that I can know what students learned and whether I need to go over any areas again; and
• “Answer Keys” so I’m sure of the answers. 

Please note that I’ve posted a “Model and Sample Study Guide” on this website under “Additional Information.” Feel free to download and use it in your teaching. I would love to hear from you, especially if you use the study guide about how it worked with your students.

Carol Kerney is a teacher and writer. She has 16 novels that contain direct history instruction as an integrated part of the story. Each of the novels also contains a study guide and answer key. (If you want to review her novels, go to amazon.com or teacherspayteachers.com, search on “Carol Kerney.”)

Carol Kerney
Carol Kerney Books
carolkerneybooks@gmail.com