Kathryn+Hotton

Unit Rationale This unit will take a contemporary look at literature and the typical archetype of the Hero’s Quest. It will be a thematic unit geared towards high school sophomores. The novel, //Graceling//, provides reading that is not too challenging for their grade level, allows them to become familiar with the classic archetype, and to see how this journey is adapting to fit the current day and age. We will be comparing //Graceling// to a classic, //The Oddyssey,// as well as //Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief//, which combines ancient gods with a young modern boy. While this book is captivating and relevant to students, it also employs sophisticated literature strategies that help students learn to analyze and become familiar with classic literature techniques. Students will also be asked to consider moral issues as a result of this book. We will spend a great deal of time focusing on character development; much of our close reading will attempt to make sense of why the characters act as they do. In addition to contemplating the characters’ actions, the students will also think about what they would do when placed in the same situations. They will step in to Katsa’s life and explore her life as if it were their own. There will also be an integration of technology in the formative assessments. By creating wikis that explain specific characters, students will have a chance to interact with multimedia and cross-genre projects. The summative assessment will allow students to express their creativity in a few different ways. It will first require some sort of artistic input from them, be it drawings, web images, or poems that represent the steps of The Hero’s Quest. They will also be forced to think creatively by specifically noting instances in which Katsa’s journey deviates from the typical Hero’s Quest.

I will do a read aloud from //Graceling//, pages 12-15, which mentions Graces and will help to get the students interested. After the read aloud we will have a class discussion about what the students think Graces are, whether or not they think it would be cool to have one, and brainstorm about how Graces are different from regular talents.
 * Day 1**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapters 3**

We will start with a free write that asks students to reflect on Katsa’s encounter with “The Lienid” and the debate she has with herself as to what she should do with him. This will progress to another class discussion, this one focused on character development. The second half of class will allow students time to read independently.
 * Day 2**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapters 6**

Today we will concentrate on the use of foreshadowing in novels. We will look at the story Katsa tells of her first experience with her Grace and discuss what the author could be hinting at, or telling us to focus on with this passage. Students will divide into small groups and come up with a few examples that they think could be foreshadowing. With about fifteen minutes left in class we will come together and they will informally share one of their examples.
 * Day 3**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 9**

Students will separate into groups and each focus on exploring one character. Halfway through the class, the groups will come together and the students will fill out a chart of all the characters which details their personalities.
 * Day 4**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 12**

Students will do a free write: if Lienid were a real place on Earth where would it be? What would it look like? What country would it be in? We will discuss some of our ideas and consider why we chose them, as well as how these reflections might say something about Po. The second half of class will be spent reading individually so that we can make some more progress on the novel.
 * Day 5**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 13**

As a class we will read aloud the last few pages of Chapter 14, what they were assigned as homework for today. As a class we will breakdown what happened; what Katsa discovered about Po, Giddon, and herself. The discussion will also revisit forshadowing and what might be foreshadowed in this chapter.
 * Day 6**
 * Homework: Read up to Part Two**

We will have an in class essay in which students will write about their own personal Grace and how it is both a benefit and a burden to them. They will need to discuss what they would use their Grace for as well.
 * Day 7**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 18**

Students will watch the first half an hour of //Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief// then compare and contrast the movie to //Graceling//. Are they the same sort of story? Are they completely different?
 * Day 8**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 19**

I will introduce the formative assessment in this class period. The students will be divided into four groups and will be creating wikis that detail what a Grace is, Po, Katsa, and Leck’s Graces.
 * Day 9**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 22**

Class will begin with another free write. Students will consider what they have read about Leck’s Grace. How does it differ from Katsa’s or Po’s? Why is his Grace significant? I will read aloud from the end of Chapter 21, when Katsa realizes that her Grace is different then she thought, and as a class we will discuss what this means for her and the novel.
 * Day 10**
 * Homework: Read up to Chapter 24**


 * Formative Assessment:**

Students will be split up into groups to create wikis pertaining to the characters in Graceling. There will be four different groups: one will explain what a Grace is, the others will each be about one Graced character, Katsa, Po, and King Leck. Because this is a formative assessment, we will do the majority of this work in class. Students will only have to work on it outside of class if they do not finish it in time. Students will be responsible for adding content to their provided wiki page, fully explaining what a Grace is, detailing what each character’s specific Grace is, elaborating on how their Grace effects their personality and their actions, and using the novel to support their statements. Students will be graded mostly on the content of their wiki, but some consideration will also be taken from the technical aspects required: proper formatting, and pictures, and editing the wiki as a team.

Rubric:


 * Everyone has contributed to the group work as a whole: __/5
 * Information provided is thorough and accurate (someone who has never read the novel would come away with a good understanding of Graces and the characters who possess them): __/10
 * Supporting evidence (quotes) from the novel is provided: __/5
 * Wiki is properly formatted (text is neat and looks put together) and is visually stimulating (at least two images on the page): __/5


 * Summative Assessment:**

For the final summative assessment, students will be required to demonstrate their knowledge of both the novel and the theme of the Hero’s Quest that they have been studying. Students will be provided with list of the typical steps found in every Hero’s quest. For each step they will be required to tell how this step happened in //Graceling//. Students may use any medium they wish to describe these steps: drawings, collages, a collection of images from the web, a poem, or another format that must be approved by me. Students will also hand in a short paper that explains what each step is in a typical Hero’s Quest and what this step is in //Graceling//, especially considering that this story has a Heroine as a opposed to a hero.

Rubric:

Paper is grammatically correct and easy to read (organized, does not rambe): __/
 * Steps of the Hero’s Quest are represented in the proper order: __/5
 * Each step is represented through the chosen medium and is accurate: __/10
 * The representations of the quest’s steps are creatively represented: __/5
 * The accompanying explanation is accurate: __/5
 * The explanation gives examples from the novel: __/5
 * The explanation explains why you chose the representations for each step: __/5