Get Your Greek On!

Greek gods and goddesses

th
Lawson/ Causey 4
block students
Grade:
7
Subject:
Language Arts
Unit Description:
Students will be starting a two week unit studying Greek gods and goddesses. Students will research a Greek
god or goddess of their choice, collecting and organizing information from a variety of sources including online,
print, and media. Students will use an online curation tool to access information. Research will be organized in a
graphic organizer, which will eventually be used to write a seven paragraph informational report.
Day One: The classroom teacher will review genres in fiction: tall tale, myth, fable, and legends. The teacher will
introduce Greek mythology to the students through direct instruction while students create a foldable to use as
notes. The teacher will introduce the expectations of their Greek mythology report: format, number of sources,
citations, paraphrasing
Day Two: Students will investigate Greek Mythology and the significant gods and goddesses through a digital
curation on Blendspace that the librarian has created. The librarian will introduce this to the students allowing
them to explore the topic. At the end of the class, students will choose the Greek god or goddess they want to
research.
Day Three: The librarian will share with the students some of the digital resources such as encyclopedias,
databases, and websites that the students can use. Students must identify three sources they will find useful for
their project. The librarian will discuss the importance of citing resources that information is taken from.
Students will keep an ongoing graphic organizer of sources they have used. This graphic organizer will assist
them in making the bibliography when they finish.
Day Four and Five: Students will research and complete each of the essential elements for their 7 paragraph
informational report. This research will be written in a graphic organizer to assist them in writing their report.
The librarian and teacher will use this time to peer conference with the students to ensure that each student is
progressing.
Day Six and Seven: Students will compose their informational reports using their graphic organizers. Papers will
be typed in their google accounts and shared with the teacher.

DAY 1:
Daily Learning Objective:
The student will investigate different genres of literature
and analyze the characteristics.
The student will read a variety of genres to identify what
they are.

Essential Daily Questions:

What are the characteristics of a myth?
What are the characteristics of a tall tale?
What are the characteristics of a legend?
What are the characteristics of a fable?

Essential Daily Knowledge/ Skill:

Identifying elements and characteristics of tall tales,myths, legends and fables.

Daily SOL:
7.5 c - The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of
a variety of fictional texts, identifying conventional elements and
characteristics of a variety of genres.
7.5 i - Summarize text relating with supporting details.
Anticipatory Set

Focus learners attention

Practice/ Review prior learning

Create Interest

Input
What info do learners need to
complete objective

Modeling

Learners see product/ process

Teacher / learner can model
Visual & verbal

Check for Understanding

Group/ Individual response
Guided Practice

Check for understanding of what to do

Teacher circulates

Provide remediation if necessary

Closure

Ending summary
Review

Independent Practice

Written/ verbal

Intervention/ Extension

Daily Cognitive Levels:

Blooms Knowledge and Analyze
Qualitative Assessment Criteria:
The students will complete their center
worksheet identifying 4 of the 6 genres.

The teacher will introduce the class by giving each student an index card and
having them define the word Narcissist . We will then discuss the definition and I
will have them listen while I read the Greek myth about Narcissis. We will then
discuss how myths teach lessons about how things in nature are created.
post-its
interactive notebook
foldable
myth,tall tale,legend,and fable
After the teacher has read the story Narcissis, the teacher will ask the students
what genre the story was. The teacher will then give each group a sample text and
a recording sheet. The student will read the text and determine whether it is a
fable,tall tale,myth, or legend. The students will rotate through 6 different
stations, identifying what genres each story is.
As the students are independently reading their stories the teacher will circulate to
provide feedback and assist.
Once the students have completed one of their stories and recorded the answer
on their sheet, they will then rotate to the next group and read the next story.
They will continue this until they have read 6 stories and identified their genre.
The teacher will ask each group to share with their neighbors their correct
answers.
The teacher will ask the students to think about myths,tall tales,fables, and
legends they have heard before.
The teacher will provide one on one assistance for any student needing extra
clarification.

DAY 2:
Daily Learning Objective:
The students will read, view, and listen to a variety of
resources curated to make inferences and gather
meaning about Greek gods and goddesses.
The students will choose a god or goddess to research
after exploring the curation.

Essential Daily Questions:

Who are the major Greek gods?
Who are the major Greek goddesses?
What are the relationships among them?

Essential Daily Knowledge/ Skill:

Research and Identify significant Greek gods and goddesses and the myths that accompany them through a variety of
resources.
Daily SOL:
Daily Cognitive Levels:
7.9 The student will apply knowledge of appropriate reference
materials to produce a research product.

Blooms Level Comprehension

a) Collect and organize information from multiple sources

including online, print and media
Standards for the 21st Century Learner:

Qualitative Assessment Criteria:

Skills 1.1.6 Read, view, and listen for information presented in

any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make
inferences and gather meaning.

Students will complete the graphic organizer

giving a brief summary of the each of the
curation tools.

Anticipatory Set

Focus learners attention

Practice/ Review prior learning

Create Interest

Input
What info do learners need to
complete objective

Modeling

Learners see product/ process

Teacher / learner can model
Visual & verbal

Check for Understanding

Group/ Individual response

The librarian will begin the class by asking students for prior knowledge of Greek
Mythology. Students will be given a post it to write what they already know about
Greek Mythology to place on a board in front of the room. This will lead into the
librarian introduce the students to the
Blendspace
curation of Greek Mythology
that students will explore.
computers/tablets
Smartboard
post-its
graphic organizer
The librarian will project the Blendspace on the SMARTBOARD, demonstrating how
to access the information.
The teacher and librarian will circulate around the room as students are using the
Blendspace to ensure it is working properly.
The teacher and librarian will conference with students to discuss what they have
found in their Blendspace exploration.

Guided Practice

Check for understanding of what to do

Teacher circulates

Provide remediation if necessary

Closure

Ending summary
Review

Independent Practice

Written/ verbal

Intervention/ Extension

The students will investigate different gods and goddesses on the assigned
Blendspace to find the particular one that interests them the most and that they
would like to find more about.
Based on the information explored, students will choose a Greek god or goddess
they would like to research and complete a project.
Students can continue to discover new information on their chosen god/goddess
and begin filling in their graphic organizer.
Teacher and librarian to meet will provide one on one assistance and conference
with students individually to ensure they have accurately used the resources
gathered on the curation tool and selected a further research topic.

Day 3
DAY 3:
Daily Learning Objective:

Essential Daily Questions:

Students will discuss plagiarism.

What is plagiarism?

Students will be able to clearly articulate why it is

important to cite sources.

Why is it important to cite your work?

What information is required in a citation?

Students will cite sources they use in their research.

Essential Daily Knowledge/ Skill:
Demonstrate the ability to analyze a source and cite it properly.

Daily SOL:
7.9 e
Define the meaning and consequences of plagiarism and
follow ethical and legal guidelines for gathering and using
information.

Daily Cognitive Levels:

Blooms Level Understand and Application

7.9 d
The student will apply knowledge of appropriate reference
materials to produce a research product.
d) Cite primary and secondary sources.

Students will fill create a citation for at least

three sources that they used as reference for
their research paper.

Qualitative Assessment Criteria:

AASL Standard:
1.3.1 Respect copyright/intellectual property rights of creators
and producers.
1.3.3 Follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using
information

Anticipatory Set

Focus learners attention

Practice/ Review prior learning

Create Interest

Input
What info do learners need to
complete objective

Modeling

Learners see product/ process

Teacher / learner can model
Visual & verbal

Check for Understanding

Group/ Individual response

Guided Practice

Check for understanding of what to do

Teacher circulates

Provide remediation if necessary

Closure

Ending summary
Review

Independent Practice

Written/ verbal

The librarian will begin the class with a video,

How to Avoid Plagiarism-Tips for
Students.
Students will share through discussion why it is important to give credit to the
author.
Students will learn what it means to paraphrase. Students will be read an
informational passage from the National Zoo website on
Asian Elephants
. Students
will be asked to paraphrase what they have learned about the Asian elephant
without looking at the screen.
Computer/tablets
books on Greek Mythology
citation graphic organizer
report graphic organizer
Smartboard
The librarian will model how to properly cite a source and where to find the
necessary information on a website and book on the smartboard.
The librarian will ask the students to share their summary of what they wrote
about the Asian elephant. Students will look for evidence of plagiarism and
paraphrasing in their own work as well as others. The teacher will circulate the
room reviewing paragraphs as well with individual students.
Students will begin researching their greek god or goddess. As students use facts or
paraphrase information from a resource, they are to record all necessary
information to create a citation in the graphic organizer. The teacher and librarian
will circulate around the room assisting students and conferencing to check for
understanding.
Discussion: 5 minutes prior to leaving
The librarian will ask: Why is it important to cite your sources?
Why is it important to do this while you are researching?
What kind of information is required when citing a website?
Students can continue to research and cite sources independently.

Intervention/ Extension

Teacher and Librarian will assist students one on one who are having a hard time
identifying citation information.