Virginia SOL 8.RL.3.B
The Standard
Compare and contrast fictional portrayals of a time, place, or character with historical accounts of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Integration of Concepts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare a fictional portrayal with a historical account of the same time, place, or person. They identify what the author kept, changed, invented, or left out, then explain why.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students cite details from both texts and clearly separate historical evidence from fictional additions. They explain how an author’s changes shape the setting, character, conflict, or message.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume any change makes the fiction inaccurate or poorly written. They may treat invented dialogue, thoughts, and combined characters as documented facts instead of author choices.
How to Assess It
- Give students a fictional excerpt and a short historical account. Ask them to identify one accurate detail, one alteration, and the alteration's effect on readers.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have pairs color-code matching, altered, and invented details in printed fiction and history excerpts, then label each change with a sticky note.
Ask students to write: Why might the novelist change this historical detail, and how does that choice affect the reader?
Run a card-sort race where teams match fictional details to historical evidence, then place unmatched details in an author invention category.
Compare a scene from a historical film with a museum account, then list which changes make the story more dramatic or understandable.
Free download
Printable 8.RL.3.B Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 8.RL.3.B, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetKeep exploring
Related Standards
- 4.RI.3.B
Compare and contrast multiple accounts of the same event or topic and describe the differences in focus and the information provided.
- 8.RL.3.C
Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories; literary nonfiction and informational) ...
- 7.RL.3.B
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...
- 6.RL.3.B
Compare and contrast details in two or more paired literary fiction and nonfiction texts on the same topic or with similar themes, including how chapters, scene...
Turn this exact standard into a lesson
Grade, subject, topic, and the complete standard are prefilled. Create one free, no account needed.