Unit Planner/Teacher: English I /Bordelon
Unit Title: Unit 4 – Mythology (The Odyssey and Antigone)
Standards / Benchmarks: – What are the standards and benchmarks to be addressed?
Standard One: Students read, comprehend, and respond to a range of materials, using a variety of strategies for different purposes
ELA-1-H2: Analyzing the effects of complex literary devices and complex elements on a selection
ELA-1-H3: Reading, comprehending, and responding to extended, complex, written, spoken, and visual texts
Standard Five: Students locate, select, and synthesize information from a variety of texts, media, references, and technological sources to acquire and
communicate knowledge.
ELA-5-H6: Analyzing and synthesizing graphic organizers
Standard Six: Students read, analyze, and respond to literature as a record of life experiences
ELA-6-H1: Analyzing, evaluating, and responding to United States and world literature that represents the experiences and traditions of diverse ethnic groups
ELA-6-H2: Analyzing distinctive elements of ancient, American, British, and world literature
ELA-6-H3: Analyzing, and synthesizing a variety of classic and contemporary fiction and non-fiction literature from many genres
ELA-6-H4: analyzing various genres as records of life experiences
Standard Seven: Students apply reasoning and problem solving skills to their reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visually representing.
ELA-7-H1: Using comprehension strategies evaluate oral, written, and visual texts
ELA-7-H3: Analyzing and evaluating the effects of an author’s life, culture, and philosophical assumptions as reflected in the author's viewpoint (perspective)
ELA-7-H4: Using analytical reasoning skills in a variety of complex oral, written, and visual texts
Standards Analysis:
Critical Questions or Statements:
1.What students are expected to know:
 Who Homer and Sophocles are as
well as their importance to world
literature
 Elements of an epic poem and a
Greek tragedy
 What the following terms are: epic
Essential learning for this Unit:
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hero, myth, archetype, Homeric
simile, tragic hero, tragic flaw
The backgrounds of The Odyssey
(The Iliad and The Aeneid) and
Antigone (Oedipus)
The plot and major literary elements
of The Odyssey (excerpt) and Antigone
Important themes of ancient Greek
literature – love/pride of home,
hospitality, honoring the gods, the
journey/quest, emotion vs. reason
2.What students are expected to be able to
do:
 Read, comprehend, and interpret
ancient Greek literature: The Odyssey
(excerpt) and Antigone
 Identify and analyze complex literary
elements of ancient Greek literature:
1. Who is Homer, and why is he so important to
literature? In which time period did he “write”?
2. What is an epic poem? An epic hero? a myth?
an archetype? a Homeric simile?
3. What are The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid,
and why are they so important to literature?
4. What is the main plot of The Odyssey? What are
the major literary elements?
5. What are the parts of ancient Greek drama
(specifically, a tragedy)?
6. Who is Sophocles, and in which time period
did he write?
7. What is the background of Antigone (basic
Oedipus story)?
8. What is the main plot of Antigone? What are
the major literary elements and themes?
9. Why is Antigone a tragic hero? What is her
tragic flaw?
10. What are the important themes of ancient
Greek literature? How does society still relate to
them today?
11. How does epic poetry and Greek drama
compare and contrast to other genres we’ve read
in this class?
Relevance: Meaningful context for teaching these
standards and benchmarks that engages [even
reluctant learners] students in learning?
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Making comparisons to previous pieces of
literature students have read before this class
as well as pieces of literature read throughout
this course
Connecting the themes and characters to real
life (current events, family life, school life,
spirituality, etc.) This happens through several
lessons, activities, and conversations
throughout the semester where students
respond to the literature through whole class
discussions, small group or partner work, or
individual writing response.
 The Odyssey: compare to more modern
“quest for home” stories like The
Wizard of Oz, O Brother Where Art
Thou and Lost; compare The Odyssey
to modern action movies and
Odysseus to modern action movie
heroes
 Identifying passages in the texts that
are still used today. Antigone: “Woe is
me” and “Don’t shoot the
Messenger”
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Pre-assessment tools / strategies:
The Odyssey (excerpt) and Antigone
 The Odyssey: Quick write: What do you know
Explain the importance of Homer
about epic poetry? Homer? The Odyssey? The
and Sophocles to literature
Trojan War?
Evaluate Odysseus as the epic hero

Antigone: KWL about Greek drama and
and give reasons to support
tragedies
Argue that Antigone is the tragic hero
because of her tragic flaw of passion
and defend that statement with
specific details from the text
Explain the important themes of the
pieces and how they still relate to
readers and society today
Compare and contrast epic poetry
and Greek drama to each other as
well as the other genres we’ve covered
so far
Differentiation strategies:
 Notes for the unit given visually and verbally
 Interactive reader - allows students to take
notes in the reader in individual ways;
guides/prompts students in annotating
 Variation in reading – Most reading for this
unit is done in class together, and as the
students become more comfortable, they read
individually or with a partner
 Side groups – teacher meets with struggling
students to go over reading and help students
with annotating, comprehension, and analysis
of the piece
 Checks for understanding – teacher checks
for individual understanding during daily
lessons by using processing activities (posing
questions throughout lesson, having students
write down responses, using more wait time
to allow all students to think and respond)
 Many formative assessments (graphics
organizers, paragraphs) and the summative
assessment (project) allow choice based on
interest and learning style
 Accommodations given for specific special
needs students
Final Assessment(s) - Body of Evidence: How can
students show what they know and can do?
The Odyssey:
Project – choice of creative project:
 Movie Preview or Movie
 Book - write The Odyssey in your
own words
Antigone:
Traditional test – multiple choice, matching, and
paragraphs/essay
Instructional Strategies: How will students learn this?
1. Lecture/notes – students take notes on new information, then work with the material in some way
(graphic organizers, partner or small group work, quick writes)
2. Modeling – teacher models skills for students (annotating, active reading, identifying literary
elements, analysis of literary elements)
3. Reading – individual, with partner, and whole-class reading; students enjoy taking different
character parts to read (could be whole class or small group)
4. Critical Thinking – students use reading strategies (higher order thinking skills –
compare/contrast, predict, infer, evaluate, analyze, connect, agree/disagree and defend) to answer
questions throughout and at the end of a selection as well as in class discussions of the reading
5. Skills practice – students practice skills in the unit with feedback from teacher: annotating,
applying reading strategies, identifying and analyzing literary elements
Formative assessments / assignments – including classroom and homework – How will you know students have learned this?
1. Annotations – students take notes as they read (checked throughout the unit)
2. Quizzes – on notes, historical background, major sections of the pieces
3. Story elements organizer
4. Story questions for each piece – answered after reading
5. Homeric introduction – students compose a written piece introducing themselves the way Odysseus does in the story using epic poetry elements; share
with partner or whole class
6. Antigone family tree – students organize the complicated family tree of Antigone using Word (inking), One Note, Inspiration, or pen/paper
7. Checks for understanding – teacher checks for individual understanding during daily lessons and class reading by using processing activities (posing
questions throughout lesson, having students write down responses, using more wait time to allow all students to think and respond)
8. Informal review of critical questions – students are asked critical question(s) after learning new material to discuss/quick write/complete graphic
organizer on the material; students are also asked at end of lessons to answer critical question(s) covered that day
Technology Integration
1. Note-taking: students take notes on laptops either typing from lecture or retrieving them from edline (notes on edline are “skeleton” notes that they take
additional notes on). Students use Microsoft Word, OneNote, and Inspiration to organize and take notes.
2. Inking: students use Microsoft Word Inking to complete graphic organizers on the novel elements
4. Projector/Remote: Teacher uses projector/screen to present notes, model annotating, and go over story elements with the class; remote control mouse allows
teacher to walk around classroom
5. Internet: students use edline.com to retrieve notes and other files for class, turn in assignments to the digital drop box , and check the class calendar,
homework and grades
6. Technology for projects: movie making software, Microsoft PowerPoint