Fiction is a special kind of story that is made up or make-believe. Authors write fiction stories to entertain us, which means they want us to have fun while reading. These stories can be funny, sad, scary, or exciting!
There are two main types of fiction: realistic fiction and fantasy. Let’s learn about each one!
Realistic fiction is a make-believe story that could actually happen in real life. Imagine this: One day, I went swimming in my pool and saw a little frog swimming too. The frog was near the edge and seemed like it wanted to get out. I tried to help, but the frog jumped onto my head! I screamed, and it hopped away into the grass. This story is silly but could really happen, which makes it realistic fiction.
Fantasy stories are also make-believe, but they include events that cannot happen in real life. Picture this: While swimming, I saw a frog in the pool. Then, five more frogs appeared and started dancing and singing together! I clapped and cheered, and the frogs took a bow before hopping away. This story is funny and entertaining, but frogs don’t really sing and dance, so it’s a fantasy story.
Good readers look for clues in the story to decide if it could happen in real life or not. We can use a chart to help us figure it out. On one side, we list things that could happen, and on the other side, things that could not happen.
If there are events on the “could not happen” side, the story is fantasy.
Another tool readers use is a story map. This helps us understand why the author wrote the story. We write down some events from the story and decide the author’s purpose. If the events are silly or exciting, the purpose is to entertain. Writers use story maps to organize their ideas before writing a story.
Now you know all about fiction! Whether it’s realistic or fantasy, these stories are meant to make us smile and enjoy reading. Happy reading!
Real or Fantasy? Go on a story hunt at home or in your classroom library. Choose a book and read a short story or a chapter. After reading, decide if the story is realistic fiction or fantasy. Share your findings with a friend or family member and explain why you think the story is one type or the other. Look for clues in the story that helped you decide.
Create Your Own Story Using paper and crayons, draw a picture of a scene from a story you create. Decide if your story is realistic fiction or fantasy. Write a few sentences about what happens in your story. Share your drawing and story with the class and see if they can guess which type of fiction it is!
Fiction Detective Next time you watch a cartoon or a movie, be a fiction detective! Look for events that could happen in real life and those that could not. Make a list of realistic events and fantasy events. Discuss with your family or friends what makes the story entertaining and which parts are make-believe.
Here’s a sanitized version of the provided transcript:
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Fiction is a type of story that is made up or make-believe. The author’s purpose for writing a fiction story is for entertainment. An author writes a fiction story to entertain their readers. The stories can be funny, sad, scary, or exciting.
There are two types of fiction. The first type is realistic fiction. Realistic fiction tells a make-believe story about something that could actually happen in real life.
For example, imagine this scenario: Today, I went swimming in my pool. While I was swimming, I noticed a little frog swimming around as well. He was near the edge of the pool and seemed like he was trying to get out. I swam over to help him, but as I scooped my hands under the frog, he jumped and landed on my head! I screamed, and he jumped off, landing on the pool deck, then he hopped away into the grass.
Although this is a silly story, it is something that could happen in real life. A frog can accidentally jump into someone’s pool and swim around, and a person can try to help the frog and have it jump on them. The silliness of the story makes it entertaining, which is why someone would write a realistic fiction story.
The next type of fiction is fantasy. A fantasy story is also make-believe, but it involves events that could not happen in real life.
Here’s an example of a fantasy story: As I was swimming in my pool, I noticed a frog swimming there too. Then I saw five more frogs swimming around. I quickly got out and watched as the frogs swam together and began dancing in the pool, making croaking noises that seemed like singing. When they finished their performance, I clapped and cheered. The frogs took a bow and hopped out of the pool, and then I got back in to do my own song and dance.
This story is entertaining because it is make-believe and funny, but it cannot happen in real life. Frogs will not sing and dance in your pool or take a bow when they’re done. Since these events cannot happen, this story is classified as fantasy.
Good readers look for clues and events in the story to help them decide if they could happen in real life or not. We can use a graphic organizer to help organize the information from the story to see if it is realistic fiction or fantasy.
We will create a two-sided chart: on one side, we will list events that could happen in real life, and on the other side, we will list events that could not happen.
On the left side, we can list:
1. Frogs swimming in a pool
2. A girl swimming in a pool
3. A girl clapping and cheering
4. A girl singing and dancing
Now, for the right side, we will list events that could not happen:
1. Frogs singing together
2. Frogs dancing together
3. Frogs taking a bow
Since we have events on the “could not happen” side, this story is classified as fantasy.
Another graphic organizer that good readers use is a story map. This helps us determine the author’s purpose. We can write down some of the events that happen in the story and then decide what the author’s purpose was. Since most of the events are silly or exciting, the purpose was to entertain. Good writers will use this story map to organize their ideas before writing a story.
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This version maintains the essence of the original transcript while removing any informal language and ensuring clarity.
