Name

Megan Majerle

Date Taught

4/6/16

Lesson Title

Mythology Jigsaw

Subject

Reading

Time Needed

45 minutes

Grade

Students Involved

27

Minnesota Academic Standards:

(List the complete text of the relevant parts of each standard)

4.1.4.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g.,
Herculean).
4.1.2.2 Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text;
summarize the text.

Learning Objectives:
Content Objective:
C1: Students will be able to work in a cooperative learning group in order to read and
analyze a Greek mythology reading.
C2: Students will be able to determine the theme and connection to todays language
use of the myth they have read in their groups.
Academic Language Objective:
ALO1: Students will summarize, in writing, a Greek myth using complete sentences
and content specific vocabulary such as gods, goddesses, Achilles, theme, etc.

Previous Learning:
Prior Knowledge: Prior to this lesson, students will have been introduced to
mythology, and will have read two Greek myths already. They will have read one in a
whole group, teacher-led setting, and the other will have been read in a small peer
group setting.
Key Skills: reading comprehension, critical thinking, character and story analysis.

Assessments to Monitor Student Learning:

(Assessment type and what is assessed)

Informal formative:
For this lesson, students will be informally assessed on their ability to work in peer
groups of roughly 5 students. They will be assessed on their ability to make
connections between todays language and world, with the Greek myth theyve been
presented with. Students will also be assessed on their note taking, on an
independent level.

Provisions for Individual Differences:

In order to differentiate for students who need extra assistance today (i.e. students
with learning disabilities) I have placed students in a cooperative learning group with
a variety of ability levels of students. For example, I have some really high literacy
achieving students in groups with my lowest students. This will provide everyone with
supports in their groups, to keep the activities moving along. I will also be
conferencing with each group throughout the lesson to ensure that everything is
going well and to answer any questions they may have.

Resources and Materials:

-

Smartboard
Greek Mythology Smartboard files
Greek Mythology stories, by Hubbards Cupboard
Student copies of their story. Either: Hercules, King Midas, or Achilles.

Instructional Strategies and Learning Tasks to Support Student

Learning:

Time

Objectiv
e
Code

Learning Activities (What and How)

(C1, C2
or L1,
L2)
(Todays lesson will be built upon previous lessons, including the
introduction of mythology as a genre. In order to ensure that all
students are hearing an array of myths, we will focus on a jigsaw
activity to teach one-another about different stories.)
Introduction:
Good morning fourth graders! Today were going to continue our
investigation of mythology. So far weve heard about two different
Greek myths. Who can remind us about the first myth we read? I
would like a summary in one or two sentences.
(wait for student responses) I would then do the same with the second
myth we read, asking for students to remind us about what weve
already covered thus far. Next, I will step in to remind the class that
we are focusing on the connection and validity of the myth in todays
world, and that weve also been focusing on some of the features of a
story such as the characters and the theme of the story.
I will then explain to students that its great that they now know about
mythology as a genre and that they know about Pandora and Atlas,
but that there are hundreds of other myths for us to explore. In order
to get students to hear about a few more common myths, we will do a
jigsaw learning activity.

5 min.

Okay fourth graders, today you will all get the chance to read
another myth and discuss it in detail. You will have an opportunity to
teach your fellow classmates about a specific myth that you are about
to become the expert on! Are you up for the challenge?

6 min.

C1

I will have already split students into three groups, one group for each
of the common myths that we will cover in our jigsaw. The three
mythology pieces are: the story of King Midas, Achilles, and the story
of Hercules. I will explain to students the basic set up of how a jigsaw
works, and then they will be sorted into their groups to work.

So fourth graders, this activity we are going to do today is called a

jigsaw. Whos ever heard of that word before? Yes, like a jigsaw
puzzle! And were sort of doing a puzzle of myths. You will all be
assigned a group; either 1, 2, or 3. In that group you will read one
specific myth. After you have read and discussed the myth to the
point that you could teach someone else about it, you will then move
into a second group tomorrow. The second groups will be comprised
of three students; one from group 1, one from group 2, and one from
group 3. (As this is being explained, I will also be drawing example
groups on the board to enhance the understanding and to show
directions in more than one format) You will then take turns being the
teacher by providing the other two students a summary of the myth
youve read. You will then explain to them what youve learned about
todays application as well as the theme of the story. When someone
else is teaching you about their myth, you will take notes on what
youre learning in your Mythology Guides. These notes will help you to
remember this storys main events. By the end of class today, you will
have read one story in depth, and by the end of tomorrow you will
have learned about 2 others from classmates. So how many new
myths are you learning about? (students should answer 3 if they are
following teacher instructions/explanation)

30 min.
C1
C2

ALO1

4 min.

After explicit instructions have been provided for students, I will read
off the groups for the initial reading and discussions. I will have the
students pre-divided into groups 1,2, and 3 based on abilities. I want a
variety of abilities in each group so that they can help each other
learn and synthesize their reading. There will be roughly 9 students in
each group, and from there I will have them work with a smaller group
of 4-5 to generate better discussions. ( 2 groups will read Hercules, 2
will read Achilles, and two will read about King Midas).
Students will have around 30 minutes to read through their myth with
their small groups, and they will then move into discussion about the
mythology components in the guide together as a group. During this
student work time I will be checking in with students, to see how their
groups are doing. If a group is having trouble with the connection to
today, I will give them a sample use of the term or idiom. Based on
my example I will use some follow up questions to guide their
learning.
Along with discussing todays connection, the theme, as well as
identifying major characters, they will also need to summarize. They
must be able to summarize the story in a few sentences so that they
can be the expert on this story when they get into their second
groups. The summary that students come up with should be between
2-3 sentences, as we have been practicing since the beginning of the
year.
Summaries can also be written in the Mythology Guide, as there will
be places under these three stories for a summary to help students
remember what they will be teaching their classmates tomorrow.
After students have met with groups, read the story, discussed, and
taken all of their notes I will bring the whole class back together to
close the lesson. I will explain to students that they will have 5
minutes with their initial groups tomorrow morning to review their

summaries and the important information they want to teach their

other classmates in the jigsaw. I will then ask students for an informal
assessment of how they are feeling about the concepts covered
throughout the lesson. I will ask for a fist to five rating (on their
hands they hold up between 0-5 fingers, with 5 being complete
understanding/confidence, and a fist being totally confused or lost)
about how they feel with determining the theme of a mythology
piece. I will also ask for a fist to five rating about how they feel about
finding todays connection.