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QPAT - Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers
Bringing History Alive Through Historical Fiction
 or maybe
Historical Fiction  -- An Historical Defibrillator!

                                                                                    David Smith & Chris Milligan
                                                                                                                       www.checkmatebook.com 

                                             NOTE: PPT presentation minus the images

Date: November 28th. 2014
Target Audience:  Secondary
Session Description:  The session will explore the legitimacy of using historical fiction as part of the Canadian or World History course.  It will explore ways in which historical novels may attract teenagers to history as a subject.  Reference will be made to the authors’ own novel, Check Mate! and to other relevant sources for the high school curriculum.  Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences with historical fiction.

•1.   Introduction                                         (David Smith)
- The Quebec History Curriculum and Historical Fiction
 (1) Create connections between subjects
 (2) Discover the pleasure of learning
 (3) Relate historical and contemporary issues
     Ways of bringing history alive

•2.   What historical fiction can bring to the study  of history                 (David Smith)
(1) Provide significant information                    (2) Introduce major characters

•2.   What historical fiction can bring to the study  of history
(3) Portray ordinary people          (4) Include children and adults

•2.   What historical fiction can bring to the study  of history
(5) Identify bias in history                 (6) Convey the everyday concerns of people


•2.   What historical fiction can bring to the study  of history
(7) Raise issues for discussion                     (8) Instill an appreciation of history

•3.    The special contribution of historical fiction to the study of history                      (Chris Milligan)
         A vignette about the internment of Canadian- Japanese during WW2,
         And how the same topic is treated in one Canadian textbook!!

•3. The special contribution of historical fiction to the study of    history is empathy (P. Clark) = emotional sustenance (H. Kirk)

• Helps student to personalize events
• Helps to develop historical empathy       
• Creates a sense of reality and authenticity to experiences beyond the scope of the textbook.

                                                           for example

•Historical Fiction empathy and emotional sustenance
                     Can also include Australian time travel to 1629

•Historical Fiction empathy and emotional sustenance
                    A 17th Century shipwreck off Western Australia

•Historical Fiction empathy and emotional sustenance
                Interaction and treatment of the aboriginal people



•4. Strategies for using historical fiction in the classroom  (A. Kay)                             (Chris Milligan)
•  Background knowledge also for students

•  A reading source where the teacher reads

    to the students.

•  An outside assignment.

•  A group of outside assignments with

    different students reading different books.

•  An interdisciplinary tool between history

     and English teachers.

•  A major source of study.

•  A class set that is read together.              


•
Cue for Treason
Two lads have an adventure in Elizabethan England
-- Political intrigue, treason, William Shakespeare,
and the role of females in Elizabethan society.


 

•  An introduction before a field trip
The Fur Trade at Lachine National Historic Site 




•5. Problems and concerns re the use of historical fiction      (David Smith)
(1)Truth - All Quiet on the Western             (2) Balance - Fingersmith by Sarah Waters  
 Front  by Erich Maria Remarque

•5. Problems and concerns re the use of historical fiction
     3.  Accuracy
     4.  Provenance 
     5.  Presentism                                     

•6.  Positive Attributes for using Historical Fiction in the
Classroom 
                                               
(Chris Milligan)
1.  Readers will learn about historical periods           

      •Problems and experiences of characters rooted in the historical period.          

      •Indications of the broad sweep of events in which the novel takes place          
      •Insights learned about the historical period and place from characters’ experiences   

2.  Accurate background details to the time and place

      •Documented historical events presented accurately
      •Characters’ actions plausible           
      •Reader presented with accurate information about daily routines, work and recreational activities           
       •Language use authentic  

        continued   
                                                                  
•6.  Positive Attributes for using Historical Fiction in the
Classroom

3.Perspective(s) not found in other resources, such as
       the authorized textbook are portrayed
      •Textbooks - 3rd. person “voice of authority”           
      •Can present events from a child’s perspective, a female, a racial minority, the working class, the elderly, or other 
        groups  often not represented in other resources.   

4.    Provides ‘emotional sustenance’           
       •For  reader to become involved in the story           
       •For  reader to  care about the fate of the protagonists           
       •For  reader to be motivated to read the novel until the end

•7. Our assessment of Check Mate! as bona fide historical fiction for classroom use   (Chris Milligan)
 
      1.   Will readers learn about the historical period - 1697?
          - Particularly about shipboard life on a  late 17th  French man-of-war             
          - The beginnings and rivalries of the Hudson Bay Fur Trade (e.g. Le Pelican Photos , drawings by FrancisBack)  

                                                                              For example
•Reconstructed Pelican 1994
•Dock Side 1994
•Seasick - Mal de Mer by Francis Back

7. Our assessment of Check Mate! as bona fide historical fiction for classroom use   (Chris Milligan)
      2.    Are background details accurate to the time and place?

                - Use of prime source documents – Reports from de la Potherie & Iberville; Admiralty Witness Reports;
                    Mary Fletcher’s application  for a pension; 


                •HMS Hampshire’s Log  -  The log of HMS Hampshire 1696 to April 1697
                 -  Authentic 17th century French  swearing?       Mort bleu de mort bleu! 
                -  Authentic French, Mohawk and Inuit text (e.g. authentic Mohawk language sound bites)      

Akwiratékha Martin
http://www.checkmatebook.com/akwirateacutekha-martin---mohawk-language.html
•Speaking Mowhawk
    Shé:kon  = Hello

   http://www.checkmatebook.com/akwirateacutekha-martin---mohawk-language.html

My father intervened with,

“Ga nyah ghee hah:gah’,

it means ‘people of the flint’”.   

“Father, I didn’t know you could speak Mohawk!” I expressed excitedly.     

“I have learned a few Mohawk terms from a good teacher,” he replied while patting

 great uncle Peter on the shoulder.

“It’s been some time since we last used that term together,” the old gent remarked

 with a smile. 

 “Knee-ah wah”,

•7. Our assessment of Check Mate! as bona fide historical fiction for classroom use   (Chris Milligan)    


3.Does it portray a perspective(s) not found in other resources, such as the authorized textbook?
        - MEQ Curriculum- - “voice of authority”  
        -Perspective of two 12 year olds

                                           from completely different

                                           backgrounds; Cath/Prot; farm

                                           life/city educated etc., 
         (2 first persons and need for use of symbols to avoid confusion)
 •Dear Reader
 •Chapter Symbols
 •Battle sequence symbols

7. Our assessment of Check Mate! as bona fide historical fiction for classroom use   (Chris Milligan)
         4.     Does the novel provide ‘emotional sustenance”?           
         -Starts off with the horrible  death of  a shipmate on the ice in Hudson Strait             
         -There is a journey from enemy to friend that is resolved



        •Smell the powder!


        •Additional Themes and Topics in Check Mate!
 
Multiple Perspectives                                                       Human Dignity

• English Perspective, Chapters 1,2,3,5,7,9,12,16 and 18               • Individual Worth: pp.136-137, p. 155     

• French Perspective, Chapters 4,6,8,10,11,17,19,and 20              • Military rank and self-worth: p. 143       

• Dual Perspectives, Chapters 13,14 and 15                                   Meeting Challenges/Adapting to Change                 

First Nations                                                                                     • Learning Duties (David) p. 51       

• Mohawk: pp. 11-13, 155, 163,169                                                   • Learning Duties (Guillaume) p.46, pp. 124-125       

• Beothuk: p. 71                                                                  Building and Sustaining Community      

• Inuit:  pp. 86-88                                                                                   • Ship’s Crew as Community: pp. 46-47, pp.         

• Cree: p. 121                                                                                             49-50, p. 153

Prejudice and Bias                                                                                • Pioneer Settlement as Community: pp. 70-71

• Religious Prejudice: p. 137                                                                Environmental Responsibility      

• Historical bias: p. 140                                                                         • Huge number of trees used for Ship Building:        

• Social bias: pp. 143-144                                                                        p. 57, p. 152                                                                               

• Cultural bias: p. 118                                                                           • Cleanliness of ships: p. 21, p.46
                                                       AND

   Controversial Issues
• Is it ever ethical to fraternize with the enemy?
           • Can sworn enemies become friends?
             
Or is it 1697 Frenemy!!!

Let’s jump in history to another time, and another place
where sworn enemies become friends


•Historical fiction becomes historical fact!!


•1943 - 2000

•1697 - An enemy becomes a friend

Thank You



Open Discussion

Some Potentially Helpful Sources for Teachers Using Historical Fiction

Brown, Joanne, “Historical Fiction or Fictionalized History? Problems for Writers of Historical  Novels for Young Adults” Virginia Tech Digital Library and Archives, pp.7.

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/fall98/brown.html

This article is written to sensitize readers to the problems that authors face in writing historical fiction including authenticity, balance, and accuracy.

Clark, Penney, “Literature and Canadian History: A Marriage Made in Heaven?” Canadian Social Studies, Vol. 37, No 1, Fall 2002, pp. 21

http://www.educ.ualberta.ca/css/Css_37_1/ARliterature_canhistory_marriage.htm

The author discusses and illustrates the way in which Canadian historical fiction can help students to develop a sense of “historical empathy”.  A useful bibliography is appended.

Egoff, Sheila A., “Canadian Historical Fiction for Children: A Survey”, pp. 9,

http://cinema2.arts.ubc.ca/units/canlit/pdfs/articles/canlit27-Historical(Egoff).pdf

A critical review of some of the traditional historical novels particularly with regard to the literary skills of the writers.

Fisher, Janet (Editor), An Index to Historical Fiction for Children and Young People, Aldershot, Scolar Press, 1994, pp. 192.

Cites 461 titles with full bibliographic details, brief plot summaries, evaluations, and the age levels for which the books are suitable.  Arranged by author, and indexed by subject and title.

Herz, Sarah K, “Using Historical Fiction in the History Classroom” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. 12 pp.

http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1981/cthistory/81.ch.10.x.html

The author describes what makes good historical fiction and suggests some strategies for using it in the history classroom.

Kay, Alan, “Young Heroes of History: Historical Fiction for Children and Young Adults”

http://www.youngheroesofhistory.com/forteachers.htm

A summary of the objectives of the author’s series of historical novels, and a list of ways in which they can be used.

Rabey, Melissa, Historical Fiction for Teens: A Genre Guide, Libraries Unlimited, 2010, pp.324.

A handy reference book for teachers and librarians, providing an overview of historical fiction for young adults.  Helpful for finding high-quality books classified by genre. Includes sections on World History and History of the Americas.


Some Significant Themes and Topics in Check Mate!
Multiple Perspectives

         • English Perspective, Chapters 1,2,3,5,7,9,12,16 and 18
         • French Perspective, Chapters 4,6,8,10,11,17,19,and 20
         • Dual Perspectives, Chapters 13,14 and 15

First Nations

         • Mohawk: pp. 11-13, 155, 163,169
         • Beothuk: p. 71
         • Inuit:  pp. 86-88
         • Cree: p. 121

Prejudice and Bias

         • Religious Prejudice: p. 137
         • Historical bias: p. 140
         • Social bias: pp. 143-144
         • Cultural bias: p. 118

Environmental Responsibility

         • Huge number of trees used for Ship Building: p. 57, p. 152
         • Cleanliness of ships: p. 21, p.46

Human Dignity

         • Individual Worth: pp.136-137, p. 155
         • Military rank and self-worth: p. 143

Meeting Challenges/Adapting to Change

         • Learning Duties (David) p. 51
         • Learning Duties (Guillaume) p.46, pp. 124-125

Building and Sustaining Community

         • Ship’s Crew as Community: pp. 46-47, pp. 49-50, p. 153
         • Pioneer Settlement as Community: pp. 70-71

Controversial Issues

         • Is it ever ethical to fraternize with the enemy?
         • Can sworn enemies become friends?


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