I am going to do a novel study with a small group of 4th grade Special Education students at my school. I'm usually teaching a structured, prescripted reading intervention program that doesn't really involve other content areas (i.e., history), but I often enhance their program of study with small novels. To give you a bit of background, in the beginning weeks of the school year, the students listened as I read Flat Stanley; it's a story of a young boy who is flattened by a large bulletin board which falls on him during the night.
The students discussed the prejudice that Flat Stanley experienced during his "disabled " state as a flat person (until his brother blew him back up with a bicycle pump). Some of the children wondered why people made fun of him, and based on this questioning of prejudice, and I had the students read a novel called The Hundred Dresses. It's a classic tale of students who made fun of a girl who claims to have a hundred dresses at home, while she wears the same blue dress every day. In the end of the story, the students realize that Wanda (the blue dress girl) truly does have 100 dresses, in the form of beautiful sketches. They realize that despite her differences and difficulties, Wanda is a person to be valued and respected, just like everyone else. It's actually not a very happy story.
To follow up this novel, I plan to have the children read The Courage of Sarah Noble (this is where Teaching American History really kicks in). It is the story of 7 year old Sarah and her father, who travel from Massachusetts to New Milford, CT in the early 1700's to set up a new home for the rest of the Noble family. During the trip (and after they set up their new homestead), Sarah observes the negative reactions of other settlers regarding the Native Americans. Her father, on the other hand, is accepting of other cultures. She also remembers her mother's patent message, which is "Keep up your courage, Sarah Noble;" this proves to be what could be called a defining mantra for Sarah. By believing in this statement, Sarah (and her father) are able to accept the natives on their own terms, and understand their ways. Eventually Sarah lives with them for a time, while her father fetches the rest of the family.
I know this is a lot of background information, but I wanted you to see the natural progression into the topic of our study. During and after we read the novel, students will be discussing the varying views of Native Americans that the settlers had. They will also use the time to discover what life was really like in the 1700's (Natives and settlers). How did they get food? How did they learn? How far did Sarah and her father travel, and how long did it take to get to New Milford? Why did some people have such a negative view of the Indians?
This novel study will segue into a study of the actual Noble family--why John Noble decided to relocate to CT--how Sarah was able to function on her own with a native family--what happened to the family after everyone else arrived. We will use primary source documents and internet resources to find our answers.