Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• W.6.2 – Opening A: Students review the informative essay drafts that they completed in the previous lesson and note ways to make the essay more effectively convey ideas.
• W.6.2 – Work Time A: Students participate in a Language Dive, which facilitates a closer look at the use of transition words and phrases in the model essay. This Language Dive will give students the opportunity to dissect and practice transitional phrases that express contrast (yet) and that situate events in time (at the end of the scene of the novel). Deeper understanding of the ways in which transitional devices can be integrated into writing will help students produce clearer, more organized essays.
• W.6.5 – Work Time B: The Peer Critique protocol is introduced, and students collaborate to generate criteria for giving kind, helpful, and specific feedback. Ensure that students understand the purpose of revising their work and gaining insight from multiple people. Allow for students to share stories of a skill in which they are now proficient but with which they once struggled (e.g., playing an instrument, competing in a sport). Model what the Peer Critique protocol looks like, and monitor closely to ensure that students are being gentle in their critique.
• W.6.5 – Work Time C: Students provide feedback to partners on their compare and contrast essays using the Peer Critique protocol.
• L.6.2b – Work Time C: Students give one another feedback on areas in the informative essays that could be improved, such as spelling.
• Closing and Assessment A: Students complete the End of Unit 2 Assessment, revising their essays using feedback from their peers as guidance. (RL.6.1, RL.6.7, W.6.2, W.6.4, W.6.5, W.6.6, W.6.9a, W.6.10, L.6.6)

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• Select trustworthy students to model a peer critique before expecting students to do this work independently. Alternatively, as a class, watch an EL video demonstrating the Peer Critique protocol and outlining the benefits (http://eled.org/0105).
• Direct students who finish early to http://eled.org/0128, an interactive anthology of myths, to compare and contrast creation stories from a number of different cultures.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In the previous lesson, students completed the end of unit assessment, in which they composed a four-paragraph essay comparing and contrasting a scene from the film version of The Lightning Thief with the same scene in the novel. Students will have one more opportunity to revise their work in this lesson as they incorporate peer feedback.

Support All Students

• Much of this lesson is discussion-based, so students who struggle with oral language and/or auditory processing may need additional support. Provide sentence frames for students to refer to during discussions or a note-taking template for students to take notes during discussion. ▲
• Think about strategic grouping during the peer critique. Mixed-proficiency groups may still be helpful. Alternative options are having students interact (1) in home language groups if the task is particularly challenging or (2) in homogeneous proficiency groups to promote English language development through grappling. ▲

Assessment Guidance

• Review students’ Language Dive: Compare and Contrast Model Essay, Appropriate Transitions note-catcher from Work Time A to ensure students understand how to connect one point to another in a smooth, coherent way using precise words, phrases, or sentences.

Down the Road

• This next lesson commences the final unit in Module 1. In Unit 3, students practice narrative writing by rewriting a scene from The Lightning Thief, adding a new character to the action. Incorporating research on another Greek god or goddess and narrative techniques, students develop a new demigod character to join the main characters of The Lightning Thief in a specific scene from the novel.
• Students will also share their progress on their Independent Research Reading task. Refer to the Independent Reading: Sample Plans to guide students through a research reading share, or use your own routine.