Mini-Lesson Plan

Teacher Candidate: Abigail Perez, Abby Hanner, Gabi Mckinster, Alondra Florez, Keyri Trejo, and Gisselle
Velez
Session Date: 3/2/2022 Grade Level: 4th grade

Essential Question: What standards-based question should your student(s) be able to answer
following the lesson?
What happens in the Greek myth of Atalanta? What vocabulary words are in the Greek myth of
Atalanta?

Objectives:
Students will be able to summarize the Greek Myth of Atalanta through identifying Key Vocabulary
words.

Standard(s):
ELAGSE4RI2: Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details;
summarize the text.

Activating Strategy: How will you activate prior knowledge and hook interest?
Atalanta Video

The students will be presented with a book teaser on the Greek myth of Atalanta. Before the teaser is
shown to the students, they will be asked “Have you ever heard of the Greek princess Atalanta? If so,
what do you know about her?” If they have never heard of Atalanta, then the teacher will ask the
students “What does the name Atalanta make you think of? It might make you think of Atlanta, which
is where we live, but this name is about a person who has a very interesting story?” The teacher will
then tell the students that “today they will be learning about a new story that is a Greek myth, have
you ever heard of a Greek myth? If so, what are some Greek myths that you are familiar with?” If the
students are unfamiliar with a Greek myth, then the teacher will tell the students that a Greek myth is
a story about the gods, goddesses, heroes, and creatures that lived in Ancient Greece!” The teacher
will then show the book teaser that has been previously created. After the teaser has been shown to
the students, the teacher will then ask the students “What did you think about that teaser, was it
interesting? Are you ready to learn more about the story?” The teacher will then state, “Next, we will
learn the story of Atalanta, remember to pay attention to some key vocabulary words introduced
throughout the story.”

Teaching: How will you teach/model/guide the student(s)? Be specific and step-by-step.
Atalanta Story Video

I do: The teacher will tell the students, “Let’s learn more about the story of Atalanta, first, we will start
out by watching a video that tells us this story.” The teacher will then show the students the video of
Atalanta’s story, which will expose them to the story and engage them in it. After the video is shown,
the teacher will ask the students “what was interesting in that story?” “Did you hear any words you
are unfamiliar with?” The students will respond with what they found interesting and any words they
are unfamiliar with. If the students do not have anything they found interesting, the teacher will
prompt them by saying “What about the race? Have you ever run in a race? Was it fun? Was it
stressful? Or What about Little John? Did you like his character?” In the video, I heard some words
that were unfamiliar. I heard the words, “kingdom, wed, ordinary, clever, course, and interests, keep
an eye out for these words throughout the rest of the lesson.” The teacher will then say, “Now, we are
going to read the story and look at these vocabulary words as we read them.”

We do: The teacher will provide the student with a printed-out text of the summary of the story. This
summary will have the vocabulary words of kingdom, wed, ordinary, clever, course, and interests
highlighted. The teacher will explain to the students that “We are now going to read this story
together and any time you come across these words, I want you to raise your hands and we are going
to stop and talk about the word, now, I will read the first few sentences of the story.” The teacher
begins reading the summary up until the first vocabulary word. The student will raise their hands
when the first vocabulary word is mentioned. The teacher will say “I see that you have raised your
hands, so we have come across our first vocabulary word, can someone tell me what kingdom means?
The students will say what they think kingdom means and the teacher will respond with “these are all
great ideas. A kingdom is a place or area that is ruled by a king or a queen.” The teacher will then
instruct the students to continue reading the rest of the story out loud. When the students come
across the word wed, the teacher will ask “what does the word wed mean?,” after the students
respond, the teacher will then say “wed means to be married.” Then, the teacher will instruct the
students to continue reading out loud until they come across the vocabulary word ordinary, the
teacher will ask “what does the word ordinary mean?” After the students respond, the teacher will
say “ordinary means something with no distinctive features.” The teacher will continue to complete
this process as the students read aloud and come across each vocabulary word.

You do:
The teacher will tell the students, “now that we have learned all of these vocabulary words, we are
going to be filling in this vocabulary chart with some of the vocabulary words. Be sure to write the
word, draw a picture, and then write a sentence with the word.” The teacher will then tell the
students that “this will be completed independently.”

Summarizing Strategy: How will you conclude the lesson and help the student(s) to summarize what
was learned? How will student(s) answer the Essential Question?

The students will write a letter to Atalanta telling her what they enjoyed about her story and what
they learned while reading her story. The students must include the 6 key vocabulary words that were
identified and discussed within the lesson. These vocabulary words must be correctly identified,
defined, and incorporated throughout the lesson.

Assessments:
Formative Assessment:
What was the main idea of the story?
What was the character’s mission? How did they achieve it?
What is the conflict or problem the characters must resolve? How did they do this?

Summative Assessment:
The letter to Atalanta. The vocabulary words must be correctly identified, defined, and incorporated
throughout the lesson.

“The students will write a letter to Atalanta telling her what they enjoyed about her story and what
they learned while reading her story. The students must include the 6 key vocabulary words that were
identified and discussed within the lesson. These vocabulary words must be correctly identified,
defined, and incorporated throughout the lesson. “
kingdom
wed
ordinary
clever
course
interest
Lesson Reflection

Overall, our lesson went better than expected. We loved how seamless and smooth each transition
was. Everyone had a clear idea on what their role was. Our instructions were clear and
student-friendly. We also were surprised by how high student engagement was throughout the lesson.
Everyone in our group gained confidence as teachers and are excited to adapt this lesson into our real
classrooms. We are pleased with our achievements.

References

https://express.adobe.com/page/UXmbkafyLPJ6S/

Atalanta Video
Appendix