Elements of Realistic Fiction

The children have been working hard to determine the elements of realistic fiction, we have read several picture books to model these elements and then determined how they play an important role in reading different genres.  This is a recent example of a new classroom favorite, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partrige by Mem Fox.  The children worked hard to add specific details, especially when describing the problem and solution to the BIG problem in the story.

The children inferred that Wilfrid was a caring and thoughtful boy. They found evidence from their
reading that Wilfrid's actions and words showed that he helped Miss Nancy "find her memory."

The children recently read Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman, a story about a little girl who wants to be Peter Pan in her school play.  Her classmates say she is NOT allowed, because she is a black girl and she can't play the role of a white boy.  Grace practices all weekend and is chosen to be Peter Pan after all... the author's message is that "you can do anything you want!"

Bea and Margo work hard to fill in the graphic organizer as they identify the elements of realistic fiction.

Gavin and Alex are looking for "direct evidence from their reading" to help infer character traits.