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I am sharing it with students this way because with the introduction to the Common Core State Standards, we do a lot less background building before diving into the reading. It is more important that my students begin reading The Odyssey than spend a lot of time building background. This time, I'm giving them the notes, and we'll discuss how Odysseus fits the mold of an epic hero as we read.
For a few minutes, I will talk to my students to access any prior knowledge about Odysseus, Cyclops, the Trojan War, etc. Before we begin our reading, I will tell my students that the Odyssey is an epic poem, and Odysseus is an epic hero. For this part of the lesson, I will read the first couple of pages of the Odyssey aloud to my students in a shared reading of the beginning CCSS.
In a shared reading, the teacher or a student reads the texts aloud while the rest of the group reads silently. The person reading may stop and share their thoughts about characters, events, etc. We'll begin our shared reading from the 9th grade McDougal and Littell Language of Literature text pp. There are other versions of the text, but this is the one to which we have access, and it provides vocabulary and "stop and think" questions to guide students as they read. I am doing it this way to get students interested in the text and to show them how I think about and question the text as I am reading.
I am also doing it this way because there is some challenging vocabulary in this text, and I don't want students to be turned off at the beginning. I need to keep them interested so that we can get to the great parts of the story. After reading pages of Book Nine of the Odyssey in the McDougal Littell text, I will tell my students that I want them to view a clip of the incident with the Cyclops.
I am using this version of the text because it provides a vivid image of the Cyclops with challenging, but not too difficult diction. We will watch only the first 13 minutes of the clip. As they are viewing the clip, I want my students to see if they can point out differences in the video and the events that we read in our version of the video.
We are doing this because it allows them to compare the treatment of the same scene in two different artistic mediums CCSS. We can also discuss why the clip may have been different and which version was more effective for them. An alternate version of the text can be found here. During silent reading time, my students have two options: I am giving them in-class reading time because I think reading is important, and we had gotten away from self-selected reading time due to snow days.
Now that we are in the home stretch 4th quarter we are back to our schedule of reading CCSS. If they choose to read The Odyssey , they should focus on reading for comprehension of the plot and the characters. We'll do more with the reading when we re-read to find examples of problems.
For the closure activity today, I will ask my students to work with a partner to list some of the problems that Odysseus and his men faced in the order that they faced them at the bottom of pg. We are charting these problems with partners in order to help us keep track of the conflicts that Odysseus and his men are facing.
This is also a great way to preview the next lesson in which we will focus on the problems and solutions that they experience. Check out this video of my students searching through the text to find the problems that Odysseus faced in the part of the story that we read today.
I need to give them this type of quiz to make sure they have read before we move on to analysis of the text. Sometimes I feel like I have to tell them that there will be a quiz in order to make sure that they read. Yes, as teachers we hope that they will just love reading so much that they will read just for the sake of it, but sometimes students need a tangible reminder that reading is important. Nothing says reading is important like a quiz!
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Sign Up Log In. Unit 16 Unit 1: The Search for Identity: Introductory Unit Unit 2: The Search For Identity: Four Week Quiz A.
Resources, ideas, lesson plans, and more for teaching Homer's The Odyssey. Save more than when you purchase this as a BUNDLE: The Odyssey Activity. Lesson plans for The Odyssey by Homer - Free English learning and teaching characters, vocabulary, journal prompts, study questions, learning activities.
Four Week Quiz B. Eight Week Quiz A. Eight Week Quiz B. Eight Week Quiz C. Eight Week Quiz D. Eight Week Quiz E. Eight Week Quiz F. Eight Week Quiz G. Mid-Book Test - Easy.
Mid-Book Test - Hard. I am hoping that none of my students include the hero sandwich in their web, but if they do, I can relate. Revenge as a means of obtaining justice was more acceptable in Homer's society than in our modern society, which has a formidable criminal justice system. View all Lesson Plans available from BookRags. As they are viewing the clip, I want my students to see if they can point out differences in the video and the events that we read in our version of the video.
Final Test - Easy. Mid-Book Test - Medium. Final Test - Medium. Mid-Book Test - Hard. Final Test - Hard. The Odyssey Fun Activities Homer. View a FREE sample.