Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• L.6.4 – Opening A: Students consult a dictionary to confirm the precise meaning of an unknown word in the text.
• Work Time A: Students complete the Mid-Unit 1 Assessment. The assessment invites students to use evidence from The Lightning Thief to support their analysis of what the text says, apply strategies to determine the meanings of unknown words as they are used in the text, answer questions about how the author develops Percy’s point of view toward another character, and interpret figurative language and word relationships in the text. (RL.6.1, RL.6.4, RL.6.6, L.6.4a, L.6.4c, L.6.4d, L.6.5, L.6.6)
• RL.6.6 – Closing and Assessment A: Students review point of view.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• In Work Time A, students may want to read the chapter silently and complete the mid-unit assessment without any instruction. Release them to this independence if they are ready for it.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In the lessons leading up to this assessment, students have read the novel for gist and unfamiliar vocabulary and practiced analyzing language and point of view in The Lightning Thief. This lesson continues those routines in an assessment with the next chapter of the novel.

Support All Students

• As before, continue to be mindful about issues and characterizations that may be sensitive for students or with which some students may connect personally or deeply. In addition to the issues that have been noted previously, this chapter does include a mention of suicide and talk about the death of Percy’s mom’s parents in a car accident. Additionally, Percy is feeling isolated, alone, and further bullied when someone leaves an upsetting newspaper article for him to find.
• Students may need additional support with the reading of the chapter. As during previous lessons in which reading takes place, provide students with a number of options (small group, pairs, individual), sometimes allowing them to decide and sometimes deciding for them, taking into account their strengths, needs, and interests and grouping deliberately as needed. ▲ No matter what options are chosen, also be mindful about variety, being sure to change the routine to maintain engagement and to support students effectively.
• Some students may need the text read aloud before they work on the questions. Invite students who require this support to sit in a group away from the rest of the students, so as not to be distracting.
• Students who would benefit from fluency practice should be encouraged and supported during Work Time A to read with a partner or small group. ▲
• If students receive accommodations for assessments, communicate with the cooperating service providers regarding the practices of instruction in use during this study as well as the goals of the assessment.
• For some students, this assessment may require more than the 35 minutes allotted. Provide time over multiple days if necessary.

Assessment Guidance

• Mid-Unit 1 Assessment: Analyze Language and Point of View: The Lightning Thief, Chapter 9 (student and teacher versions) are included in the Assessment download on this page.

Down the Road

• In the next lesson, students continue in their anchor text, reading from chapter 10 of The Lightning Thief for gist and unfamiliar vocabulary, and then begin determining themes in The Lightning Thief, which sets the stage for continued work with theme in Unit 2.
• For the rest of Unit 1, students continue to read excerpts from chapters of The Lightning Thief, determining gist, recording unfamiliar vocabulary, and examining point of view and use of language. During Unit 2, students read Greek stories introduced in the novel and view clips from the film version of The Lightning Thief to compare the experience of reading versus viewing the story.
• Students’ Mid-Unit 1 Assessments will be returned in Lesson 15 with feedback.