23 minute read
Lesson 2
FOCUSING QUESTION: LESSONS 1–7
What are myths, and why do people create them?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
Lesson 2
TEXTS
Understanding Greek Myths, Natalie Hyde The Parthenon (http://witeng.link/0455)
Lesson 2: At a Glance
AGENDA Welcome (5 min.)
Compare Architecture
Launch (10 min.) Learn (50 min.)
Deconstruct an Informational Text (15 min.)
Determine Supporting Details (20 min.)
Examine Evidence in a Paragraph (15 min.)
Land (8 min.)
Answer the Content Framing Question
Wrap (2 min.)
Assign Homework
Vocabulary Deep Dive: Content Vocabulary: Moral/morals/ morality (15 min.) STANDARDS ADDRESSED
The full text of ELA Standards can be found in the Module Overview.
Reading
RL.4.1, RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RF.4.4
Writing
W.4.2.b
Speaking and Listening
SL.4.1
Language
L.4.4.a
L.4.4.a, L.4.5.c
MATERIALS
Student copies of Understanding
Greek Myths
Handout 2A: Exit Ticket
Handout 2B: Evidence Paragraphs
Handout 2C: Fluency Homework
Chart paper and markers
Module 2 Knowledge Journals
Sticky notes
Learning Goals
Identify supporting details on pages 4–9 of Understanding Greek Myths. (RI.4.1, RI.4.2, SL.4.1)
Complete a 3-2-1 Exit Ticket: Write three characteristics of myths, the names of two Greek gods/goddesses, and one way Greeks honored their gods.
Examine the effectiveness of evidence to support a point when writing explanatory text. (W.4.2.b)
Compare two explanatory paragraphs to look for effective evidence.
Explain the meaning of the words moral, morals, and morality and their opposites, and how they relate to a purpose of Greek mythology. (L.4.4.a, L.4.4.b)
Exit Ticket: For what purpose did the Greeks create myths? Use the word morals, moral, or morality in your written response. Use also one of the opposites, immoral or immorality.
Prepare
FOCUSING QUESTION: Lessons 1–7
What are myths, and why do people create them?
CONTENT FRAMING QUESTION: Lesson 1
Organize: What is happening on pages 4–9 in Understanding Greek Myths?
CRAFT QUESTION: Lesson 1
Examine: Why is evidence in explanatory writing important?
In this organize lesson, students build their knowledge of the ancient Greek culture and mythology by reading the first five pages in Understanding Greek Myths and identifying the main ideas and key details found throughout that section of text. To help them begin to make sense of the focus question task, students will compare two pieces of writing to draw conclusions about what effective evidence looks like in an explanatory paragraph.
Welcome 5 MIN.
COMPARE ARCHITECTURE
Post the question: What characteristics of this building remind you of other buildings you have seen? What are those buildings?
Show the video of the Parthenon: http://witeng.link/0455.
Students record ideas in their Response Journals.
Launch 5 MIN.
Explain to students that their detective work continues today as they think about the Parthenon and how it relates to our world today.
Refer to the questions in the Welcome activity. Have students Think-Pair-Share their ideas.
The columns remind me of the Lincoln Memorial or the Jefferson Memorial. The rectangular shape and large size remind me of a bank. It’s rectangular shape and repeated columns remind me of a government building like the Supreme
Court or the Capitol. It’s on a hill, like the capitol in our city.
Distribute Module 2 Knowledge Journals. Encourage students to use them as they think back to discussion of the artwork from Module 2.
Introduce the term site – The location where a building is constructed or a work of art is placed or performed.
Ask: “Think back to our discussions about the site or setting of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater in Module 2. What do you notice about the site of this building? Contrast it with the site of Fallingwater.”
It is on the top of a solid mountain. Fallingwater is perched on a waterfall. It is overlooking a city. Fallingwater is hidden in the woods. Fallingwater was integrated into the natural landscape. This building appears above the city instead of a part of it. This building looks like it grew out of the rocky mountain, while Fallingwater seemed to be growing in the woods.
Ask: “Fallingwater was a private home, with many private spaces. Do you think this is a private or public building? What aspects of the design make you think so?”
This looks like a public building because it is very large. It can accommodate a lot of people. It appears to be a monument for the citizens of the city. Everyone in the city can see it from below. There are steps surrounding the entire building, inviting people to enter from every side.
Ask: “Where else have your seen similar images or structures? What elements remind you of this structure?”
On the back of a penny and a five-dollar bill (Lincoln Memorial). The repeated columns and the rectangular shape are similar. I have visited a museum that looks like this. It was made of marble and had large columns and stairs surrounding it. I have seen houses with tall white columns similar to these.
Invite a volunteer to read the content framing question aloud: What is happening on pages 4–9 in Understanding Greek Myths?
Explain that students will be building on the conversations they had during the previous lesson when they explored the introductions in Understanding Greek Myths and Gifts from the Gods.
Learn 50 MIN.
DECONSTRUCT AN INFORMATIONAL TEXT 15 MIN.
Whole Group
TEACHER NOTE
The organization of Understanding Greek Myths is complicated because different text features compete for a reader’s attention. This section of the lesson guides students to understand how the information is organized, which will help students read the text more independently.
Distribute partner copies of Understanding Greek Myths. Have pairs review pages 4 and 5 for a minute, then ask the questions below. As students Think-Pair responses to each TDQ, one student annotates each text feature with a sticky flag.
1 Where on pages 4 and 5 do I find information related to the title, “What Are Myths?”
Information that tells what myths are is found in the paragraphs. The green box also gives information about myths.
2 How does the information in the bolded paragraph on page 4 relate to the other paragraphs?
The bolded information seems to be a summary of the information in the other paragraphs.
3 How do the illustrations relate to the information on these pages? How do you know what the illustrations are about?
Each illustration shows characters from different myths such as Achilles’ Heel and Victory. Information is provided in captions near each illustration. The captions start with a word to signal which illustrations it is related to. They use words such as below or right.
4 What is the purpose of the blue box on page 5? What information is contained in the blue box on page 5?
The blue box is titled, Link to Today. This box explains where we see ideas from Greek myths in our world today. It tells us that the FTD flower company uses the symbol of the Greek god, Hermes. It also says that the Nike company is named after the Greek goddess, Nike.
Have students turn to the spread on pages 6 and 7.
5 What new feature is found on these pages? What information is included in this new feature?
Give students a couple of minutes to read the information.
There is a green box titled, “Zeus.” This feature tells the story about Zeus and how he came to be king of all the Greek gods.
6 What are the blues titles written on pages 4–9? What is the purpose of the titles written in blue letters?
The blue titles are “Creation and the Gods,” “Part of History,” and “Creation and the Gods” again. The blue titles tell us the main focus of the information in the text below them.
Have students turn to the spread on pages 8 and 9.
7 What are the two main types of information on these pages?
The paragraphs give information about common themes in myths such as the hero’s quest, fate, love, and beauty. The green box tells the story of Heracles, another Greek myth.
Circulate to ensure student annotations reflect the organizing structure of the information.
Invite a volunteer to describe how information is organized or structured in this section of the book. Invite another student to elaborate on how that structure helps readers make sense of the information.
Share that like text, images can have structure, too. Explain that images can help us visualize or remember structures in a text.
Have students look at the cover of the book, Understanding Greek Myths, and study the image of the Parthenon. Ask students to think about how the roof and the columns of the building can be a symbol for the main ideas and details in the text. Give students a minute of think time, then have them discuss their ideas with their partner.
The roof can represent a main idea. Each column can represent a detail that supports the main idea. Together, the main ideas and details teach us important ideas within a text, just like the Parthenon can teach us about the beliefs of the ancient Greeks.
Set the purpose for reading by telling students they need to find the main ideas and strongest supporting details as they read. Have students silently read pages 6–9 while you hang charts around the room to prepare for the next part of the lesson.
DETERMINE SUPPORTING DETAILS 20 MIN.
Small Groups
Ahead of class, write a main idea written in the boxes below at the top of its own chart paper. You will hang these around the room for the Chalk Talk activity.
Myths are stories with special characteristics. Myths are about creation and gods. Greece is a real place and myths are part of their history.
There are two main types of myths. Greek culture was built on myths. Heracles was a Greek hero.
Explain to the class that they will participate in a Chalk Talk to summarize the information they read on pages 4–9 in Understanding Greek Myths. Remind Students that a Chalk Talk is a quiet activity where students use markers to do the “talking” by recording their ideas on charts around the room.
Point to the charts around the room and read each title to the class. Ask: “What kind of information is recorded at the top of the charts?”
Each statement is a main idea from the pages we read.
Remind students to work as detectives to uncover the strongest details that support and explain the main ideas posted on the charts. It is important to read carefully so that they find details that support the main idea, and not just record any idea under the heading.
Organize students into small groups so that there is one group assigned to each chart. Instruct students to record details from pages 4–9 that support the main idea written at the top of each chart. Students record details in bulleted notes, not sentences. Remind students to write neatly and leave room for other groups to add their thoughts.
Groups work for two to three minutes before rotating to the next chart. Share that if they do not finish before moving on, other groups will finish adding the details as they rotate through all of the charts.
As groups work their way through the charts, students only record new details, putting a check mark next to details that were recorded by a previous group if they agree with what is there.
Have students return to their seats once they have visited all of the charts.
Myths are stories with special characteristics.
Heroes. Supernatural beings. Gods and goddesses. Monsters. Explain things in nature. Explain how people should behave. Told by word of mouth. Songs, poems, stories.
There are two main types of myths. Creation myths describe how aspects of nature came to be. Morality myths describe how people should behave and what would happen if they didn’t. Greek culture was built on myths. Forces of nature were gods with faces. Greeks prayed to gods. Images of gods on art. Built temples to worship gods. Held festivals to honor gods.
Myths have common themes. Hero’s quest. Fate. Prophecy. Love and beauty. Lessons on how to behave. Greece is a real place and myths are part of their history. Greek civilization built 2500 years ago. Greece has mountains and many islands. Difficult to travel there so they developed different cultures. Surrounded by water on three sides. Mythology was part of their history.
Heracles was a Greek hero. Son of Zeus and Alcmene. Hera was jealous and tried to kill Heracles. Zeus made deal with Hera to have him complete twelve challenging tasks. Heracles defeated fierce beasts like nine-headed hydra. He became a god.
Facilitate a discussion about the text students read today. Use the following Text-Dependent Questions (TDQs) to help guide the conversation:
8 How did the ancient Greeks celebrate or worship their gods and goddesses?
They made art, like statues, of the gods they worshipped. They built temples and made frescoes, which were like big murals that showed the characters in their myths.
9 What did you learn about Ancient Greece from page 6 and 7 in the text?
The main area of the land was called Attica. There were different areas in Ancient Greece and they could be hard to get to, so the culture was very different from one part of Greece to another. In Athens, people focused on art. In Sparta, they focused on the military.
10 Who was Zeus?
Zeus was one of the most powerful gods. He was the king of the gods.
11 What were the two main types of myths in the Greek culture? What can we learn from them?
There were creation myths and morality myths. The creation myths explained how the earth and the universe were created. The morality myths taught people lessons about how to behave and what would happen if they did not behave. Many myths had a hero that had a quest to complete. Some of the famous heroes were Heracles and
Perseus.
Students may need help understanding the word morality or morals in order to understand the difference. Explain that in myths, as well as in fables, morals are lessons about how to behave that characters learn. Have students record the definition in their Vocabulary Journals:
Word
moral (adj.)
Meaning
Having to do with what is right and what is wrong in how a person acts.
Synonym
good, responsible, honest
12 Look at page 8 in Understanding Greek Myths. In the second paragraph, we learn a little bit about the word quest. Can you figure out what it means based on the context clues in this paragraph?
The text says a hero goes on a journey, but is trying to solve something along the way. Heroes go on quests to help people or solve a problem.
Students add quest to their Vocabulary Journals:
Word
quest (n.)
Meaning
A search or a journey.
Synonym
chase, hunt
Distribute Handout 2A: Exit Ticket and read it aloud to students.
Exit Ticket: Write three characteristics of myths, the names of two Greek gods/goddesses, and one way Greeks honored their gods.
Students take five minutes to write a response to the Exit Ticket, and will share these responses in the Land activity.
G4 M4 Handout 2A • WIT & WISDOM™
Name:
Date:
Handout 2A: Exit Ticket
Directions: Write three characteristics of myths, the names of two Greek gods/goddesses, and one way Greeks honored their gods.
Copyright © 2017 Great Minds®
EXAMINE EVIDENCE IN A PARAGRAPH 15 MIN.
Whole Group
Display the Craft Question for today’s lesson: Why is evidence in explanatory writing important?
Explain that students will be gathering their own evidence about myths in order to write an explanatory paragraph about Greek mythology that answers the focusing question in future lessons. In order to write that paragraph well, students will examine two example paragraphs to determine which one uses evidence most effectively.
Instruct students to don their “Writer’s Glasses” to examine the paragraphs as writers instead of readers.
Distribute Handout 2B: Evidence Paragraphs.
Students read each of the paragraphs, looking for how the author used evidence in each paragraph. As students are reading, they should underline text evidence that they find.
Ask: “What do you notice about the use of evidence in these paragraphs?”
The first paragraph has some facts, but the writer didn’t give examples to explain the facts. In the second paragraph, the writer gave evidence that supported the facts. The second paragraph has more evidence and is more detailed. The evidence helps explain the information in the paragraph.
G4 M4 Handout 2B • WIT & WISDOM™
Name:
Date:
Handout 2B: Evidence Paragraphs
Directions: Examine the two example paragraphs to determine which one uses evidence most effectively. • Read each of the paragraphs, looking for how the author used evidence in each paragraph. • Underline text evidence that you fi nd.
Evidence Paragraph 1
A myth is a story that is told over and over and explains why something is the way it is. The ancient Greeks had many myths they shared about all the gods they believed in. The ancient Greeks created myths to teach people why natural events happened and to tell their people how to behave. Myths help us understand what the ancient Greeks believed long ago. Their myths were told over and over to spread their beliefs and shape how people behaved.
Evidence Paragraph 2
A myth is a story that is told over and over and explains why something is the way it is. The ancient Greeks had many myths they shared about all the gods they believed in. The ancient Greeks created myths to teach people why natural events happened and to tell their people how to behave. Creation myths explained everything in nature. The myth about Demeter explains why we have seasons. Demeter was sad when her daughter was stolen away by Hades to the underworld. Because she was sad, Demeter stopped caring for the crops, and they died. This explained winter. Greeks had morality myths, too, which taught people how to behave. For example, the myth about Arachne explains that someone who
Copyright © 2017 Great Minds®
The second paragraph is easier to illustrate because there are so many good details that create a picture in my mind of what is happening in the text. The first paragraph would leave the reader with lots of questions. The second paragraph does a better job of explaining the information, so that someone could learn more about the myths.
Return to the Craft Question and ask: “Why do you think evidence is important in explanatory writing?”
You have to back up your writing with evidence. Otherwise, people might think you are making something up. Evidence helps explain the point that you are trying to make. When we focused on opinion writing, we used text evidence to explain our thinking.
Land 8 MIN.
ANSWER THE CONTENT FRAMING QUESTION
Return to the content framing question: What is happening on pages 4–9 in Understanding Greek Myths?
Have students take out the 3-2-1 Exit Ticket they completed earlier in the lesson. Give students a minute to review what they wrote and clarify any ideas. Then have students pair up with someone new and share the first part on their Exit Tickets. After two minutes, have students find a new partner and share the second part of the Exit Ticket. Finally, have students find a third and final partner to share the last part on their Exit Tickets.
Bring the whole group back together. Ask: “How did the inclusion of the stories of Heracles and Zeus in this introduction help us as readers?”
Reading some examples of Greek myths helped us understand what the author was saying in the paragraphs. Reading the myths helped us understand better what a myth is.
Collect the exit tickets for formative assessment.
Wrap 2 MIN.
ASSIGN HOMEWORK
Distribute Handout 2C: Fluency Homework. Read the excerpt aloud to students modeling fluent, expressive reading. Tonight, students read the passage three to five times focusing on accuracy.
G4 M4 Handout 2C • WIT & WISDOM™
Name:
Date:
Handout 2C: Fluency Homework
Directions:
1. Day 1: Read the text carefully and annotate to help you read fl uently. 2. Each day: a. Practice reading the text aloud three to fi ve times. b. Evaluate your progress by placing a checkmark in the appropriate, unshaded box. c. Ask someone (adult or peer) to listen and evaluate you as well. 3. Last day: Answer the self-refl ection question at the end.
But when the battle of Troy broke out and Achilles went to fight, the very thing his mother had tried to prevent happened: during a siege on the city, one fateful arrow pierced his heel, his only mortal part, killing him.
Still, Achilles became revered as one of the greatest Greek heroes, for without him, the Greeks never would have defeated the Trojans. He lives on in our language also. We call a person’s weakness his or her Achilles’ heel, especially if that person seems otherwise invincible.
Lunge-Larsen, Lise. Gifts from the Gods: Ancient Words & Wisdom from Greek & Roman Mythology. Illustrated by Gareth Hinds, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011, pp. 4–5.
Student Performance Checklist:
Accurately read the passage three to five times.
Read with appropriate phrasing and pausing.
Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4
You Listener* You Listener* You Listener* You Listener*
Copyright © 2017 Great Minds®
Analyze
Context and Alignment
Students respond to TDQs and organize supporting details around the teacher-provided main ideas that help students understand the concept of a myth (RI.4.1). They also reflect on the author’s decision to include summaries of major myths in an informational text (RI.4.5). Use the TDQ responses, Chalk Talk and Exit Ticket to check for the following understandings:
Do students understand the origins of myths? Do students understand the two main purposes of myths and characteristics of each type? Do students recognize the role of a few major gods and goddess, specifically Zeus and
Hera?
Do students have a sense of at least one major theme/lesson that runs through myths and stories?
Next Steps
Students may need more support identifying themes/lessons that run throughout the myths. If a small number of students need help, pull them in the following lesson to support them in identifying themes. This is a skill that students will continue to work on in the coming lessons.
LESSON 2 DEEP DIVE: VOCABULARY
Content Vocabulary: Moral/ morals/morality
Time: 15 min.
Text: Understanding Greek Myths, Natalie Hyde Vocabulary Learning Goal: Explain the meaning of the words moral, morals, and morality and their opposites, and how they relate to a purpose of Greek mythology. (L.4.4.a, L.4.5.c)
Launch
Display the following quotation:
“So far, about morals, I know only that what is moral is what you feel good after and what is immoral is what you feel bad after.” – Ernest Hemingway
Have students Think-Pair-Share to discuss what they think the quotation means and how it is related to the word moral in their Vocabulary Journals. Tell them to use context clues to figure out the meaning of the word immoral, and to share what they notice about the quotation.
Have a few pairs share out.
I know moral means something that is good and right. I notice that the word morals is used differently than moral. I think morals is a noun to describe a good or right way of thinking or acting. I notice that –im is like the prefix –in. I think it also means “not.” I think the word immoral is the opposite of moral, because of the prefix –im. It makes the word immoral mean “not moral” or “not good or right.” So immoral means “bad or wrong.” I think this quotation means that if you do what is moral, you will feel good. If you do something that is immoral, or bad and wrong, you will feel bad. Many of the Greek myths are about this idea of how to live a moral, or good, life.
Clarify as needed the meanings of the adjectives moral and immoral. Have students add immoral to their Vocabulary Journals.
Word
immoral (adj.) Not in agreement with accepted ideas of what is right and wrong; not moral. bad, wrong, corrupt
Meaning Synonym
Learn
Have a volunteer read aloud the following excerpt from page 8 in Understanding Greek Myths, which they read earlier:
“There were two main types of Greek myths: creation myths and morality myths.”
Ask: “How do you think the word morality is related to the words morals and moral?”
Clarify as needed that all the words are different forms of the same idea: morality and morals are the ideas people have about what is good and right, and moral is an adjective to describe the right things or someone who does right things. Guide students to see that immorality, like immoral, is the opposite, so these words have to do with ideas about what is bad or wrong.
Display example sentences such as the following to illustrate each form in context:
The ancient Greeks created many myths about morality and immorality. People created and passed down these myths to learn how to live a moral life. Some people in stories and real life seem to have no morals. There is often punishment in myths and stories for immoral behavior.
Have students Think-Pair-Share, and ask: “Why do you think the Greeks wrote some myths about creation and some about morality? Why is morality important? Practice using the words morals, moral, and morality in your responses. Try also using their opposites, immoral and immorality.”
They wanted to answer questions about where everything came from. They also wanted to promote moral behavior. They wanted people to get along, and also avoid consequences from immoral behavior. Morality is important because it is the center of how a person behaves. A person with morals is someone who does the right thing. When people are moral, they treat other people well, and in return, other people are encouraged to treat them well. Morality helps people to get along. Morality is important because people want to do the right thing and avoid the consequences of immorality. Sometimes, when people do the wrong thing, they get punished for it.
Facilitate a class discussion regarding morality. Ask students, “In what situations is morality important? Which groups of people would think morality is important?”
Morality would be important in families, religious groups, schools, communities, civic organizations, and governments.
Ask students, “How do people promote and teach morality?”
People teach morality through stories, religious groups, and conversations in families.
Land
Students complete an Exit Ticket: For what purpose did the Greeks create myths? Use the word morals, moral, or morality in your written response. Use also one of the opposites, immoral or immorality.
Many myths were written to teach morality, which is about telling right from wrong. This was supposed to help turn people away from immorality. Many myths are about instilling morals in the people who hear them. Myths often include heroic efforts to stand up for what is right, or moral, and punishments for what is wrong, or immoral.
