Monday 14 March 2011

The Reality of Fiction in Kid's Eyes

Sometimes I forget the power of pretend. Today in class we were reading a story categorized as realistic fiction. I was trying to explain what realistic fiction is and approached it first with how there are some stories we know couldn't be real....stories like a girl in a tower who is never allowed out, whose hair grows so long people can use it as a ladder.......that was when I got the blank stares. Then a few more assertive students started in on why that story really could be real. They explained why someone would keep someone in a tower, why a witch would kidnap a child, and on and on and on. Whatever I responded with they had an explanation about why it could be real.

.....sigh....

Sometimes I forget how real pretend is.

...But since I have been reminded I think I might have some leprechauns wreak a little havoc this week!

2 comments:

Jenny said...

When working on fiction versus nonfiction this year, I had kids grab the books in their own book box and sort them into piles of fiction versus nonfiction. When one girl came to a book about Santa, there was quite an uproar among the second graders I teach... a couple said Santa wasn't real and others were very upset. I quickly grabbed the book, found something that wasn't real and explained that this was fiction because of ________. Oops...nearly ruined a class full of believers. Totally not my intention! :)

Dawn said...

I have often feared a situation like that!!! ack!! :)