King, Daniel C. “Drummer Boys: Creating Historical Fiction and Studying Historical Documents.” (2009)

Grade 7 teacher, Daniel King, describes a creative and interesting lesson, making use of a striking image of a young soldier. The lesson was delivered at the end of a week discussing the Civil War. Initially students were asked to give ‘best guesses’ about the young man in the photograph, and after a discussion of the answers, the students were asked to create a story about him, making use of the knowledge they had already acquired. The first drafts of their stories were then peer edited, and a finished copy produced for homework. The author includes several ideas for extensions and variations on this lesson making use of various resources including letters, photographs and websites. Handouts and notes for further reading are included in the article.