Try This! - Mix History with Fiction

By Arianna H.:

Usually when I'm in social studies class and we're learning about something in history, in my mind I say what I would write down on paper. Usually it's a fictional story that takes place in the time of history I'm learning about. I try to take small facts and work them into my character's life.

Recently, we were learning about Ancient Greece and Athens. In the picture below, the highlights show the facts about Ancient Athens that I tried to write into a story.
Article by Teacher Erin Reinhardt
Click to Enlarge this Article

Below you can read the unfinished story from my notebook that uses some of these facts. I tried to highlight the most important things I included from the article. You can see how I used the information to inform my fiction.

Click to Enlarge this Notebook Page

Click to Enlarge this Notebook Page


When writing this kind of a story, it might be helpful to have an idea for a story before putting in the history part. History is very broad, and if you go into it without knowing what you want it to sound like, it might sound more like you’re explaining history than writing a story.

What are you interested in? What things inspire you?

Just think about how you could tie a story from your imagination to a time in history.





Arianna is a 12-year-old student at Sweet Home Middle School in Amherst, New York. She writes a lot of short stories and thought it would be interesting to try writing something that took place long ago. She has been writing since second grade and enjoys history and learning about the past. 




To go back to the list of all Try This! ideas, click HERE.
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7 comments:

  1. I'm ridiculously proud and impressed with you, your willingness to get this down, and to give up your lunch with friends to create this post. I'm also proud of your writing. I hope you see yourself as even more of a writer than you already did!

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  2. Way to go Ariana! You are such a talented writer! I really like your enthusiasm for learning history!

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  3. This is fantastic, Arianna! You are a very talented writer and I look forward to reading more of your writing as you continue your writer's journey in creating stories.

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  5. I can't wait to share this with my students in Harlem, Marianna. You are so lucky to have a teacher as wonderful as Mr. Etkin. Keep writing - perhaps I'll get a chance to buy one of your stories one day!

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  6. Arianna- this is great! I love how you explained that you don't want to make it sound like you are "explaining history rather than writing a story." You did a great job of weaving the historical details with your characters to create a very realistic story!

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