Beowulf Unit Overview
Students are to read and complete the following activities for Beowulf.
These notes will be taken up as Formative Assessment proving they are
ready to complete the Summative Assessment(s).
Part One: Informational Reading (Historical Background)
1. Students read Historical Background Information for Beowulf (Pages 18-26).
2. Formative Assessment: As students read, they take notes. These notes will be taken up and
entered as a Formative Assessment. They will also be able to use these notes on the Summative
Assessment.
3. Summative Assessment: Students complete Summative Assessment over pages 18-26.
Part Two: Informational Reading (Epic)
1. Students read about The Epic (pages 28-29).
2. Formative Assessment: Students will take notes. After reading these pages students should be
able to (1) Define and Epic and (2) Know characteristic of an Epic.
3. Summative Assessment: Students will complete a portion of the test (Summative Assessment
over Beowulf) that lists the characteristics of an Epic. They will have to explain how Beowulf
meets each characteristic.
Part Three: Informational Reading (Specific to Beowulf)
1. Students will read Preparing to Read Beowulf (Pages 30-31)
2. Formative Assessment: This activity is entire formative assessment, meant to prepare students
for reading Beowulf. Students will discuss the difference between Old English and modern
English. Specifically the misconception that Old English is “Shakespeare talk” will be addressed.
3. Activity: Students will watch a You Tube video of the Prologue (portion) being present in Old
English.
Part Four: Reading Literature (Beowulf)
1. Students will spend several class days reading Beowulf. At times, the Instructor will read. At
times, student volunteers will read. At times, students will follow along to an audio recording.
2. Formative Assessment: As students read they will be taking notes each day. These notes will
include all activities assigned by Instructor AND an ongoing summary of the poem. These notes
will be taken up and reviewed by the Instructor. If a students wishes to re-take a Summative
Assessment over Beowulf, they must have completed all summaries and in-class activities.
3. Summative Assessment: Students will take a two part summative assessment over Beowulf.
Part One will be a traditional assessment containing multiple choice comprehension questions
AND a section pertaining to the characteristics of an Epic found in Beowulf. Part Two has two
options. Students can choose to create a comic strip/artistic representation of an assigned
section of the story. The other option is for students to write a parody (modern-day) of Beowulf.
There will be a rubric for both options.
The Activities/Notes/Summary to be completed as “Beowulf Notes”
These activities are combined and taken up as one Formative Assessment.
1. Summary: Students should have an ongoing summary of EVERY section of the poem. If a student
is absent, it is their responsibility to check out a Literature Book and complete a summary for
the section they missed. The summary will be the majority of their notes. It is (mostly) done as a
class. It is copied on the board as students are reading. It should be in the students own words
and contain all main events of each section.
2. Activity: Diction Charts: As students read the beginning sections of Beowulf (pages 33-39), they
should complete diction charts for Beowulf and Grendel.
3. Activity: Prediction: As students finish page 39, they should predict who will win the battle
between Beowulf and Grendel.
4. Activity: Prediction: After students finish page 46, they should predict who will win the battle
between Beowulf an Grendel’s Mother.
5. Formative Assessment (not written down unless instructed by teacher): Thinking Through
Literature: As we read as a class, we stop to answer the Think Through Literature Questions
(pages 44 and 51). The answers to these questions are discussed and do not have to be recorded
unless instructed by teacher.