Alignment to Assessment Standards and Purpose of Lesson

• W.6.2 – Work Time A: Students read a model Painted Essay®, preparing them to write their own explanatory essays on a similar topic. The Painted Essay® (Diana Leddy, Vermont Writing Collaborative) guides students in coding each section of an essay a different color in order to understand the function and content of each part of the essay, and how the different parts relate to one another. By generating criteria from a model and coding its structure, students begin to internalize the ideal characteristics for their own essay as they work toward the end of unit assessment.
• RL.6.7 – Work Time B: Students watch a clip from the film version of The Lightning Thief and compare it to the corresponding chapter from the novel.
• W.6.9 – Work Time B: Students draw evidence from a scene depicted in The Lightning Thief novel and film in order to support their analysis of the scenes’ similarities and differences.
• W.6.2 – Work Time C: Students practice “painting” the model essay according to its structural components, with attention to the introduction, clarity of focus statement, development of ideas, and conclusion.
• W.6.4 – Work Time C: Students analyze an example of clear and coherent writing, whose organization and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• W.6.2 – Closing and Assessment A: Students reflect on the Painted Essay® structure as a guide for their own writing.

Opportunities to Extend Learning

• Several reviews can be found online critiquing the film version of The Lightning Thief. Provide some critiques for students to explore; challenge them to identify the strongest criticisms and/or defend the movie director’s choices.

How It Builds on Previous Work

• In the previous lesson, students completed the Mid-Unit 2 Assessment, in which they compared and contrasted themes in literature. Over the next several lessons, students will use the knowledge they have acquired about the novel to begin writing their own informational essay.

Support All Students

• For students who may be overwhelmed by too much print on a page: Reduce anxiety and support sustained effort by offering a copy of the model essay with one paragraph per page with double-wide spacing and large font.
• Students may require additional support when reading for gist. Pair students heterogeneously for this activity, or group students who may need additional reading support together while the text is read aloud. ▲
• Watching and comprehending the movie clip in real time could be difficult for some students. Think about scaffolding their experience with the movie clip by turning on the closed captioning feature or encouraging active note-taking. Make the film available ahead of time to allow students to preview it a few times before discussing it in class. ▲
• The Painted Essay® requires high levels of comprehension and attention. This lesson could include simple examples, some inductive learning, or practice opportunities with partners to reduce cognitive load. ▲

Assessment Guidance

• Throughout Work Time C, frequently review student work to ensure they are color-coding accurately. Use common issues as whole group teaching points.

Down the Road

• In the next lessons, students will plan their essays comparing a scene from the book to the movie. They will use their plan to draft and revise their essays in end of unit assessment.