UNIT OVERVIEW

This five lesson unit explores the journey of life.  Use journey or episodic film and literature such as The Odyssey.  If The Odyssey is not taught in ninth grade communication arts, you may want to use only one episode from The Odyssey.  If students read the complete anthologized text, complete Lesson One and Two before they begin reading.  Students draw on and enhance their abilities to decode problem words, use reading comprehension strategies, evaluate media messages, and use note-taking and summarizing strategies. 

 

UNIT PLAN

 

Lesson One

Life is a Journey - Students understand a journey can be a metaphor for life.

  • Literature:  A work of fiction previously read in the school year or other stimulus piece
  • Supplies: Overhead, white board, chalk board, transparencies, transparency markers
  • Handout:
  • Formative Assessment:  Use the List-Group-Label strategy provided to categorize the characters

 

Lesson Two

Journey to Understanding Vocabulary - Students develop vocabulary through text, using roots and affixes.

§          Literature:  Classroom copies of or cast of characters from The Odyssey

§          Supplies: Overhead, white board, chalk board, transparencies, transparency markers

§          Handout:  List of Greek prefixes, suffixes, and roots

§          Formative Assessment provided

 

Lesson Three

Reading About the Journey: The Odyssey - Students self-question and correct during reading.  Students predict and check meaning using cuing systems (meaning, structure, and visual)

  • Literature:  Classroom copies of or cast of characters from The Odyssey
  • Supplies: Overhead, white board, chalk board, transparencies, transparency markers
  • Handout: Say Something Class Activity: The Cyclops provided
  • Formative Assessment provided

 

Lesson Four

Chronicling the Journey - Students summarize information clearly and concisely in a multi-paragraph text using an appropriate method for note-taking.

  • Literature:  Classroom copies of fiction text about a journey (see bibliography for suggestions);  Think-Aloud strategy;  Summarizing strategies
  • Handout:  Life is a Journey graphic organizer provided
  • Formative Assessment:  Students read the excerpt and complete the Life is a Journey graphic organizer.  Using these notes, students write a multi-paragraph summary of the events in the excerpt.  Scoring guide provided.

 

Lesson Five

Journey to Understanding Elements of Media Messages - Students analyze, describe, and evaluate the elements of messages projected in film.

  • Supplies: DVD or video player, television;  film segments from journey films (see bibliography for suggestions)
  • Handout:  Viewing Log provided
  • Formative Assessment provided

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Teacher Reflection

 

  1. As I reflect on the unit, to what extent were the students productively engaged in the work?

 

  1. Did the unit allow for students to engage in activities and learning situations which were consistent with the district’s curriculum guide?

 

  1. What feedback did I receive from students indicating they achieved understanding and that the objectives were met for this unit?

 

  1. Did I adjust my goals or my work as I taught the lesson? Why and how?

 

  1. What specific elements of the assessments did students have the most difficulty with? What could be done to enhance student learning for these specific skills?

 

  1. If I had the opportunity to teach this unit again to the same group of students, what should I do differently?

 

  1. If there were one thing from this lesson that I could share with a colleague, what would it be?