Through learning about historical fiction, I have discovered that although maybe not my favorite genre of literature it is so vitally important for students to be exposed to it. Historical fiction allows students to be able to learn about a historical event through the eyes of a character who is portrayed to have gone through that event. I also learned how important it is to evaluate historical fiction in order to make sure it is accurate to actual events in history and portrays cultures in accurate ways and does not feed into stereotypes.
In my classroom, I have always loved the idea of doing novel studies. I knew a teacher who did a novel study on Number The Stars by Lois Lowry during the same time that the students were studying world war two and the holocaust in their social studies class. I think planning ahead and making lessons interdisciplinary is so incredibly effective for really giving context for both lessons.