Wisconsin Historical Fiction

And That's the Way It Was
Wisconsin Historical Fiction
Created by Student Authors

To Participate: Contact Ms. Walser at awalser@madison.k12.wi.us

Product Description: Students will author a piece of historical fiction: a story, a letter or a diary. The story, letter or diary should contain accurate historical information, establishing a clear point of view about an event or period in Wisconsin history. The characters, plot and setting should be plausible and realistic. Each historical fiction piece should allow for an interactive component that permits other students to complete, participate or respond to the original writing.

Goals (what students will know and be able to do)

Understand background information about a specific historic period or event

Engage in the research process

State clearly an information question
Determine possible sources and locate relevant information
Gather, organize and interpret information from more than one source
Record sources of information

Know and use the Internet as a source of information and means of communication

Send and receive messages electronically
Use the Internet to locate curricular information

Understand various forms of historical fiction writing: stories, letters, and diaries

Identify how published authors establish accuracy about people places, and events via email and/or interviews

Create and publish a piece of historical fiction (story, letter, or diary) based upon a real event in Wisconsin history

Include historically accurate characters, plot, and setting
Use proper sentence structure, spelling and usage
Cite Sources
Elicit support or feedback on student writing from others
Incorporate Internet links relating to the story (if available)
Integrate an interactive component
Use a word processing program
Create and/or select and manipulate meaningful graphics
Know and use HTML to prepare docucment for the Web (optional)

Reflect on experiences in doing this project (what student has learned)

Resources to Support the Project

To View Student Work: And That's the Way It Was
To Participate: Contact Ms. Walser at awalser@madison.k12.wi.us
This project was developed by Ms. Ann Walser, a Shorewood teacher in Madison Metropolitan School District, in consultation with Barbara Spitz (Instructional Technologies), Madge Klais (Library, Technology & Communication), Hal Balsiger (Coordinator of Social Studies), and Sharon Gilpatrick (Coordinator of Language Arts.) Ms. Walser teaches 4th grade, although the project was designed to be adapted to a variety of grade levels.

This site is maintained by Barbara Spitz, bspitz@madison.k12.wi.us and Chris Burch
Madison Metropolitan School District
Instructional Technologies: Coordinator, Joan Peebles
545 West Dayton Street
Madison, Wisconsin USA

Last updated 3/5/97

And That's the Way It Was Wisconsin Historical Fiction Created by Student Authors

And That's the Way It Was
Wisconsin Historical Fiction
Created by Student Authors