A. Return End of Unit 1 Assessments (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as previous lessons to distribute and review Entrance Ticket: Unit 2, Lesson 5. Students will also need their End of Unit 1 Assessment with feedback.

B. Engage the Learner (5 minutes)

• Repeated routine: Follow the same routine as the previous lessons to review learning targets and the purpose of the lesson, reminding students of any learning targets that are similar or the same as previous lessons.

• Remind students that they saw a version of the first learning target in the previous lesson, and review vocabulary: compare (similarities between two sources), contrast (differences between two sources), and approach (the choices an author or film director makes about conveying a story), as needed. ▲

A. Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Compare and Contrast Themes in Literature – RL.6.9 (25 minutes)

• Distribute Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Compare and Contrast Themes in Literature, and invite students to take out their copies of The Lightning Thief.

• Tell students that for this assessment, they will read a new Greek myth, “Prometheus.” They will then identify the main ideas and key details of the myth, summarize it, and finally, compare and contrast the themes in the myth with those in an excerpt from The Lightning Thief.

• Read aloud the directions for each part of the assessment as students follow along, reading silently. Make sure students understand the assessment directions; paraphrase some instructions, if needed. ▲ Answer students’ questions, but refrain from supplying answers to the assessment questions themselves.

MEETING STUDENTS' NEEDS

After the assessment, ask students to discuss which assessment task was easiest and which was most difficult, and why. In future lessons and for homework, focus on the language skills that will help students address these assessment challenges

Display a "map" of the assessment to reference while explaining directions to the mid-unit assessment. This will reduce ambiguity and give students a clearer picture of what they can expect so that they can better allocate their time and attentional resources. Provide students with colored pencils or highlighters so that they can mark up the map as needed. Example:

Part I: Read a new myth.

1. Guess a word's meaning using context.

2. Guess a word's meaning using roots and affixes.

3. Identify a theme.

4. Identify what happens to show the theme.

5. Write a summary.

Part II: Reread pages from The Lightning Thief.

1. Identify a theme.

2. Identify what happens to show the theme.

3. Compare and contrast the myth and The Lightning Thief.

When giving feedback on the summaries written during the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment, ELLs' writing might contain a multitude of language errors. Focus only on one or two pervasive errors to avoid overwhelming the student. Prioritize attention to content-related and organizational/structural errors over sentence-level errors, unless these errors disrupt comprehension of the summary overall.

• Direct students’ attention to the following anchor charts:

  • Close Readers Do These Things anchor chart

  • Strategies to Answer Selected Response Questions anchor chart

• Remind students to refer to these anchor charts as they read the assessment text and answer the assessment questions.

• Remind students that because this is an assessment, they should complete it independently in silence. Focus students on the Work to Become Effective Learners anchor chart, and review what perseverance looks and sounds like. Remind students that because they will be reading and answering questions independently for the assessment, they may need to practice perseverance.

• Invite students to begin the assessment.

• While they are taking the assessment, circulate to monitor and document their test-taking skills.

• Give students specific, positive feedback on their completion of the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment.

A. Track Progress (10 minutes)

• Review the learning target relevant to the work in this section.

"I can independently read, understand, and explain the meaning of a new text."

• Distribute Track Progress folders, Track Progress: Read, Understand, and Explain New Text, and sticky notes.

• Guide students through completing the recording form.