CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.9
The Standard
Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literature
What This Standard Means
Students need to compare a story with a historical source about the same time, place, or person. They should spot what matches history, what changes, and what gets left out. They also need to explain why an author might change facts, details, or point of view in fiction.
Mastery looks like using evidence from both texts to make a clear claim about the author’s choices. Students often retell both texts instead of comparing them. They may also call every difference “wrong” instead of thinking about purpose, such as building suspense, simplifying events, or showing a character’s feelings.
Ways to Teach It
- Give students a scene from historical fiction and a short primary or textbook source, then have them color-code matching details and changed details.
- Ask students to write: What did the fiction author change, and how did that change affect your view of the event or person?
- Use an exit ticket with one historical fact kept, one fact changed, and one sentence explaining a likely reason for the change.
- Compare a movie scene about a famous event with a museum website summary, then list what was accurate and what was dramatized.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.9
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.9
Compare and contrast one author's presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.3
Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.9
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.6
Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their resp...