Planning for Reading and Writing Instruction

I am not entirely sure what grade I want to teach. I used to really want to teach lower elementary but I am really enjoying my placement in a fifth grade classroom. If I were to do a lesson for an upper elementary level I would want to incorporate a historical fiction novel. These were always my favorite books when I was growing up and I think it can be a neat way to learn about history. I would use a book like Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry or Caddie Woodlawn. These books have so much information about certain time-periods that could be interesting to kids without having to read it in a text book. I think these historical fiction novels work perfectly for a thematic unit and integrating subjects. If in Social Studies a class was learning about frontier life, Caddie Woodlawn would be a great book for Language Arts because it would tie the two together. I think these lessons could work well as a literature focus lesson as well.
Students could do research on the time period and look up specific events that happened throughout the novel. They could also dress as a person would from that time period. I could ask questions like: How is what happened in the novel similar to what actually happened during this period? How is it different? Students could write a letter from the perspective of a person from that time period.
In the class I observe in, the students are in literature circles and some of the books they are reading have historical elements. Even though the teacher is not using a thematic unit, she makes references to what they have learned in Social Studies. I think it is a great way to connect the ideas and make history come alive.