Authentication Projects For Historical Fiction: Do You Believe It?

Abstract

Historical fiction brings great potential-for both student learning and confusion. The authors introduce authentication projects as a means toseparate historical fact from fiction and increase student engagement. "The authentication project helped me analyze further into the book. It taught me to think in a way that doesn't take whatever was said and hold it as truth. I never thought so much research was required behind the scenes of historical fiction."-Preservice teacher's reflection after completing her authentication project.T he fundamental question for authentication of literature is a simple one: Do you believe it? Authentication is a reader's process of questioning the veracity of an aspect of literature and then verifying those questions via research. Accordingly, an authentication project is a literacy activity documenting the research process (Norton, 2004).As suggested in the opening quote, authentication requires a critical mindset. The documentation materials needed extend beyond narrative texts and likely include informational texts, primary sources, and multimedia resources. The process involves both Internet and hands-on library research. When authenticating historical fiction, readers consider whether the major historical events, as well as the culture portrayed (e.g., the language, clothing, gender roles), are believable for the time.To define authentication projects in context with related literacy practices, authentication projects align seamlessly with tenets of critical literacy-both traditional and modern definitions. Traditionally, critical literacy is reading while simultaneously evaluating the authenticity and validity of text (Bond & Wagner, 1966 AU T H E N T IC AT ION P ROJ EC T S FOR H I STOR IC A L F IC T ION: DO YOU BE L I E V E I T ? 496The Reading Teacher Vol. 66 Issue 6 March 2013 R T critically reflecting are essential as well (Cervetti, Pardales, & Damico, 2001). Authentication naturally encompasses all aspects of critical literacy.Additionally, similar to inquiry research projects, an authentication project is driven by the readers' questions (Short & Burke, 1996). Therefore, the direction of the research is student driven. The teacher's role is to teach students how to pose potentially constructive questions and then to facilitate the research, documentation, and reflection process. It is important to note that authentication projects can be applied to many types of literature, but the intent of the authentication will vary by genre. For example, when reading multicultural folktales, the authentication process centers on cultural accuracy (Smith & Wiese, 2006).To date, although children's literature expert Norton (2004) advocates authentication projects for historical fiction in particular, this has not been fully explored by researchers and teacher educators. However, historical fiction may be the most essential texts for students to read critically because of the very nature of history. Specifically, as historian Vansledright (2004) described, historical incidents "tend t...

Apprendre en Lisant en Histoire en Recourant Au Manuel Scolaire Ou À Un Corpus D’oeuvres Documentaires Et De Fiction

“…Cartier (2007), soucieuse de la lecture dans le contexte de l'apprentissage dans toutes les disciplines, souligne aussi l'importance d'offrir aux élèves de réelles activités d'apprentissage par la lecture et le soutien permettant d'assurer la maîtrise du processus complexe de l'APL. Au regard des activités d'apprentissage qu'il serait bon de privilégier, certains auteurs (Barton et Levstik, 2004;Martel, 2009;McTigue, Thorton et Wiese, 2013) croient, de plus, qu'il serait nécessaire de sortir de l'utilisation, parfois trop exclusive, du manuel scolaire. Pour ces auteurs, il parait pertinent d'ouvrir la classe d'histoire à l'utilisation d'autres types de ressources d'enseignement et d'apprentissage, dont les oeuvres documentaires et celles de fiction destinées au lectorat jeunesse qui permettent, par le biais du texte mais aussi de l'image (Martel et Boutin, 2015a;2015b), d'appréhender les savoirs historiques autrement.…”

“…Parmi l'ensemble des textes qui peuvent porter l'étiquette de texte informatif, il en existe qui occupent une place de choix dans les classes québécoises du primaire et du secondaire : les textes des manuels scolaires (Spallanzani et al, 2001) et, de moindre portée, les oeuvres documentaires destinées au lectorat jeunesse (Chall, Jacobs et Baldwin, 1990). Depuis quelques années, il est aussi de plus en plus admis que l'APL en histoire peut se réaliser à partir d'oeuvres de fiction (Barton et Levstik, 2004;Lachance, 2011;McTigue et al, 2013;Nokes, 2013;Peltier, 2002), dans la mesure où elles sont utilisées en complémentarité avec des oeuvres à visée spécifiquement informative (Martel, 2012a(Martel, , 2012b.…”

The Teaching of Children's Literature: A Case Study of Primary Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge

“…For readers in particular, multicultural literature has been found to provide readers with possibilities for self-expression and meaning-making (Locke & Cleary, 2011;Morgan, 2012;Sanacore, 2013), and to validate their own culture and experience (Schacter, 2012;Wood & Jocius, 2013). Multicultural literature and the window these texts can provide into unfamiliarity for the teacher and reader, especially for the marginalised, has been confirmed in much research to provide opportunities for cultural validation (see Aukerman, 2012;Locke & Cleary, 2011;Mctigue, Thornton, & Wiese, 2013;Morgan, 2012;Mosley & Rogers, 2011;Norton, 2011;Oslick, 2013;Prior, Willson, & Martinez 2012;Reid, 2012;Sanacore, 2013;Sawch, 2011;Thomas, 2008).…”

“…Questioning has also been identified as an important element in the research of Aukerman (2012) and Mctigue, Thornton, and Wiese (2013), who acknowledged the need for teaching children how to challenge and question texts. Importantly, the need to challenge ideas in both written (Locke & Cleary, 2011;Sawch, 2011;Thomas, 2008) and visual (Prior, Willson, & Martinez 2012;Serafini, 2011) elements of texts have been acknowledged.…”

“…Multicultural literature and the power held to both expose and address societal disparities between races, help teachers to become culturally literate and to confront the status quo (Aukerman, 2012;Mctigue, Thornton, & Wiese, 2013); it is vital to reading opportunities.…”