How to Teach Science Fiction to Middle School Students

Middle school students love science fiction and fantasy. They are at an age where life itself seems like a strange, fascinatingly frightening adventure and science fiction speaks to this perspective. The best works of science fiction and fantasy are vital to middle school students, entertaining them, engaging their imaginations and allowing them to think about bigger life issues.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Instructions

1. Select a variety of science fiction stories and novels to engage both the boys and the girls. If you read too much space opera, you will lose the girls. If you only give them stories that are entirely character driven, you are at risk of alienating some of the boys. Find stories that are interesting to everyone.

2. Make sure that they get it. Many of the best middle school science fiction stories, such a "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, slowly reveal clues about the world they take place in. Bring these clues to the attention of your students and let them discuss what the clues mean.

3. Have your middle school students explore reality. Science fiction stories can give your students an opportunity to imagine other worlds and other kinds of life. Be sure to give them plenty of creative assignments related to the science fiction literature.

4. Relate the science fiction stories to other elements of the curriculum. You can use a story about extra-terrestrials to introduce a unit on astronomy or space travel, or relate a story about a repressive society to a discussion of freedom in America.