To introduce students to science fiction, be sure to have a variety of science fiction texts available for reading in your classroom library. Books such as “The Magic School Bus” by Joanna Cole, will introduce younger students to science fiction by bringing them directly into the human body and outer space through the eyes of Ms. Frizzle and her students Older elementary school students will enjoy texts such as “The Glitch in Sleep” by John Hulme and Michael Wexler, or “Tim: Defender of the Earth” by Sam Enthoven. Popular movie franchises such as “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” also offer novels for young readers.
Integrate science and reading class by bringing science fiction into the classroom. Inquiry is the basic skill taught in elementary school science classrooms. Because elementary students are curious, science class provides students with a forum for inquiry and experiments. By bringing in science fiction, students will have the opportunity to question the future of our world. For example, teach students about the pollution on our planet and the possibility of life on other planets by reading Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles” in class. Students can posit whether or not colonization is possible through the lens of science fiction.
After elementary school students have had the opportunity to read several science fiction books, encourage them to use their imaginations through science fiction writing prompts. Provide students with a list of prompts to choose from that allow them the opportunity to write about space, aliens and monsters, robots and technology and changes in the planet Earth. Collaborate with the art teacher so that students can illustrate their stories. Finally, have a publishing party where students can share their creative science fiction stories.
Get your students out of the classroom and into local natural history museums, planetariums and space museums. The American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum will provide your students with age-appropriate programs about our planet and outer space. Providing students with an understanding of the natural world through museum trips will allow them to inquire more authoritatively about the future through the genre of science fiction.