Realistic Fiction Genre Library Lesson for Middle and High School

This Realistic Fiction Library Lesson is for middle school library and high school library. Part 1 introduces the realistic fiction genre, with emphasis on characteristics of realistic fiction and subgenres. Part 2 is a scrolling slideshow with trivia questions, classic realistic fiction literature quotes, would you rathers, and more!

Though students may be familiar with the featured stories from movies, this presentation emphasizes realistic fiction literature, not movies.

This lesson has 57 total pages and slides, and it includes:

• 51-slide Lesson Presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint + Google Slides
  • All body text is editable; you choose which slides you want to use.
  • 23 slides are whole class lesson slides.
  • 28 slides are “scrolling presentation” slides that are great for extending lessons or scrolling in the library during checkout and downtimes.
• List of 52 recommended books to accompany this lesson (2 pages, PowerPoint and PDF)
  • The list is editable and great to hand out to parents, teachers, and students looking for related books.
• Google Classroom Basics (4 pages, PDF)
• Instructions on how to set up PowerPoint slide timings for scrolling slides (2 pages, PDF)

23 Lesson Slides:

Part 1 is a guided whole-class discussion. The slides walk you through the entire class discussion, from start to finish.

• Review of genre (what is genre)
• Students’ preliminary thoughts on the realistic fiction genre
• Characteristics of realistic fiction
• Why we should read historical fiction (empathy, relatability, learning about social issues, and may be easier to read)
• Realistic fiction mixes well with other genres – e.g., romance, survival, sports, humor, mystery
• Conflict
• Role of technology
• Narration (1st, 2nd, 3rd person)
• Alternating perspectives
• Subgenre focus – problem fiction – characteristics and examples
• Subgenre focus – coming-of-age fiction – characteristics and examples
• Subgenre focus – travel fiction – characteristics and examples
• 2 slides for checkout procedures and reminders

28 Scrolling Slides:

Part 2 is the scrolling slides. Set them on a timer to scroll on a screen during library checkout. If you time the slides at 45 seconds each, the historical fiction genre slideshow will be 21 minutes in length. 

• Words of the Week: “epistolary” and “foreshadowing”
• 5 tips for writing realistic fiction
• Literary terms: setting, internal conflict, external conflict, characters, dialogue, introduction, alternating perspectives, foreshadowing, Bildungsroman, 1st person narration, 2nd person narration, 3rd person narration, epistolary
• Magical realism subgenre
• Unreliable narrators
• 3 would you rathers, 1 trivia question + answer, 1 what do you think question, 1 true or false question
• Historical photos
• Daily and weekly schedule
• Announcements
• Reminders
• This week’s birthdays

Realistic Fiction Literature Mentioned:

• “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee
• “The Tell Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck
• “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
• Multiple YA and middle school titles mentioned with the 3 realistic fiction subgenre focuses (problem fiction, coming-of-age, travel fiction)

Recommended Reads Booklists:

• One bookmark is Grades 6-8, and the other is Grades 9-12.
• All titles are recommended for Grades 6-8 and 9-12.
• Titles are fiction, short stories, and graphic novels.
• All titles received positive reviews from professional library journals. Many received starred reviews.

Standards Addressed:

AASL National School Library Standards – See the AASL Standards Framework for Learners to view full text. 

• Inquire – A.2. – C.1. – D.3.
• Include – B.1. – C.2.
• Collaborate – A.2. – B.2.

Common Core English Language Arts Standards –
© Copyright 2010 National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.3. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.4. – CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.11-12.10.

Terms of Use
© Mrs. ReaderPants – By purchasing this product, you receive a one-user license. Copying or distributing to others is prohibited. See our Site Terms of Use for more information. For teacher-librarians: You may use this product with all of your classes and students.

Questions before buying? ​If the free preview file does not answer your question, you can contact us through ​​this link with questions.