ELACC4RL4
o Vocabulary o Mythology o Culture o Allude o Significant o Context o Greek myth
: o Read a wide variety of books from all genres, including ones you pick out for yourself o Notice when you see references to mythology in popular culture, and make yourself familiar with the basics of Greek and Roman myths (you will find that they are everywhere!) o When you read, think about why an author chooses the kinds of words he or she chooses, noticing whether they are formal or informal, old-fashioned or modern, aimed at children or adults; think about how those words make you feel o Use all the strategies you’ve learned to understand words you don’t know, and keep a list of new words you’ve learned
Strategies for Teachers o Provide explicit instruction and scaffolding as necessary for the skills and concepts students should acquire for RL4 (see above) o Guide students in recognizing how the different word choices of authors impact their understanding of a text, and how those choices are purposeful (pay attention to how words make you feel, and to considering what other words could have been used instead and how the experience would have been different) o Include works from Greek and Roman mythology throughout your lesson plans in grade
4, but also remember to include mythology from o American Indian, African, Chinese, and other cultures from around the world o Provide explicit guidance and instruction on vocabulary from mythology, especially important foundational concepts

Collect a 4 or 5 myths from a single culture that are grade-level appropriate and that can be read in a reasonable amount of time. Put students into small groups and provide each group with a different myth from that culture. Students will use chart paper to note any unknown vocabulary. (It will be useful if you can purposefully select stories that you know to have resonant vocabulary, but this should happen naturally. If you choose 5 Greek myths from a single volume, they will doubtless share idiosyncratic vocabulary). Have students compare the words taken from the story and note words that occur in more than one group (for example
“muse”). Start a word wall with these words and add to the list throughout the year as your study of mythology continues. Use all strategies familiar to the students (context, roots, affixes and suffixes, and resource materials) to determine meaning.
Roman myth Native American myth African myth Chinese myth Creation myth Culture