The Odyssey An Adapted Novel With Unit - Perfect for Struggling Readers

This is Homer's epic "The Odyssey" adapted for students who struggle with reading and those with learning disabilities. Each part contains reading comprehension, fluency and vocabulary. 

Here is the "The Odyssey ” broken into high interest - low level reading passages. Reading levels range from grades 2 to 3.6 - Lexile Levels 210L-600L. This is an engaging story that older lower readers may never experience – but should.

What is in this Unit?

• There are1 Vocabulary Pages and 11 Vocabulary Color pages – some parts have combined vocabulary. The Vocabulary Color pages are visualization exercises.
• There are two visualization exercises, in addition to the vocabulary visualization activities, to help students build visualization skills and aid in reading and listening comprehension. One to complete at the beginning of the unit and one for the second day. These exercises help set the stage and give students prior understanding of setting, theme and characters.
• There is a sequence graphic organizer for use anytime during the unit.
• There are Quick Draw instructions.
• Each Part of "The Odysssey" is written in Lexend Deca with a lot of white space on each page. Why Lexend Deca? Lexend fonts are intended to reduce visual stress and improve reading performance. Initially they were designed with dyslexia and struggling readers in mind, but Dr, Bonnie Shaver-Troup, creator of the Lexend project, conducted much research and discovered that these fonts help improve reading fluency and comprehension for all students.
• Plot, theme, characters and settings are also included.

Each passage has:

• "The Odyssey passage on pages with a lot of white space.
• A constructed response printable that tells the central or main idea of the specific reading then asks students to put the main idea into their own words. There is also a sequence exercise here that asks students to explain the what happened at the beginning of the passage, what happened in the middle of the passage, and then what happened at the end of the passage.
• The passage written as a timed fluency exercise.
• A printable with 4 multiple choice questions and three constructed response questions.
• Optional Lesson Plan

The Odyssey

Reading Level – 210L – 600L

Reading Level – 2nd – 3rd Grade

Passages 1-6: 410L-600L

Passages 7-29: 210L-400L

Interest Level – Middle and High School

High Interest – Low Readability passages are perfect for Distance Learning. Why? Because students are able to read the passages on their own and complete quick comprehension assessments. The assessments contain multiple-choice questions and one or two short constructed-response questions.

This resource is perfect for reluctant older readers who need reading practice but are put off by text that looks “young” or “babyish.” The passages are “The Odyssey” for them.

Written using research-based techniques – the passages repeat words, scaffold and introduce vocabulary.

Adapted Novels are intended to bring general education curriculum to struggling readers as well as students with disabilities. These novels allow all students the opportunity to access literary classics alongside.  I hope you enjoy "The Odyssey" for all students.

Adapted Novels are intended to bring general education curriculum to struggling readers as well as students with disabilities. These novels allow all students the opportunity to access literary classics alongside.  I hope you enjoy for all students.

Quick Draws For Engaging Reading Comprehension

 Quick Draws

Quick Draws are ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of texts or topics – especially abstract or complex terms and concepts (themes come to mind) – by drawing them out. Quick draws can be used in any content area –

from vocabulary – to themes – to science – to social studies and everything in between. 

Quick Draws are perfect to use after visualization.

Group work is the perfect place use Quick Draws to transition a topic into a mode of higher order thinking as well.

How Quick Draws work:

• Select a vocabulary word, idea or concept from your lesson.
• Ask students to think about the meaning of the concept or idea or word – and paint a picture of in their minds.
• Allow three to five minutes for students to draw it out.
• Have students explain their image to a partner, in small groups or as a whole class.

For students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities – Quick Draws can be Quick Colors. For example, when discussing characters in Macbeth there is a character word coloring page included. As you move through the character descriptions, have students color each character name with a color that comes to mind they think about that particular character. 

Hint: When working with the passages, I often read them first and then have students read them afterwards on their own, and then do fluency work. When I read, I have students circle the character’s name on the page with the color that character represents to them. I don’t do it all the time, but often enough. I tell the students which characters are on the page, let them get out the colors, and then read. They underline or circle as we go along. This is a quick active participation technique for engagement.

I use this for vocabulary words for the same set of students. The vocabulary words in this unit were chosen because they may be difficult for some students to read. It is often helpful to have students put the definition page next to the color page then -

Say: We are going to go over vocabulary. Point to the first word on the list. Say the word after I say it.

Read the word, have them repeat it back to you. Read the definition as they follow along.

Say: Find the word on the color page. As I read the definition again – think of the color that word brings to mind and color the word.

I glance around and make sure they are on the correct word. I roam while we do this whole activity.

Quick Draws and Quick Colors are ways for students to stop and reflect on what they just read, heard, and/or are learning. 

Women's History Month Print and Go Activities

Jump into Women's History Month with these great activities.

BUNDLE Women's History Month: Reading Comprehension, Fluency and More

18 High Interest Informational Text STUDENT-CENTERED UNITS on Women in History. Grades 5-12. . Each Unit contains multiple reading passages and standards-based activities written at different grade levels for whole class accessibility. The entire bundle is differentiated with reading comprehension, fluency, inference and more standards-based activities.

Hundreds of activities perfect for whole classroom use, special education, resource, intervention - so many choices at multiple levels. These units are perfect for any time and work for grades 4-12.

These resources are standards-based, engaging and may be used for pairs, groups, take-home packets, online, or a hybrid of any and all combinations. They are also perfect for whole class, early finishers, centers and more.

Units included in this bundle:

25 Warm-Ups Bell Ringers: WOMEN IN HISTORY Non-Fiction for 5th-9th GradeAsian Women History Differentiated Standards-Based & Reading Comprehension UnitsBlack Women in History - Reading Comprehension, Fluency & Paired Text: 2 LevelsInformational Text Student-Centered Unit: Kamala Harris - DIFFERENTIATEDInformational Text Student-Centered Unit: Queen Elizabeth II - DIFFERENTIATEDMae Jamison Differentiated Standards-Based & Reading Comprehension UnitMaya Angelou Differentiated Standards-Based & Reading Comprehension Unit21 High Interest Low Level Reading Comprehension Worksheets: WOMEN IN HISTORY32 Text Evidence DIGITAL Task Cards - Differentiated - Grades 5-12 - Women in History-themed32 Text Evidence Task Cards | Differentiated | 2 Levels - Women in History-ThemedAnne Frank WebQuest - Standards-Based Anne Frank ActivitiesCleopatra WebQuest - Grades 5-9 - Women in HistoryHigh Interest Low Level Women of World War II - Deep Learning + ComprehensionWomen of World War II - Deep Learning Unit with Reading ComprehensionGOOGLE Mae Jamison Differentiated Standards-Based & Reading ComprehensionWomen's History Month Asian and Pacific Islander Women in History

#womeninhistory #readingcomprehension #reading #teaching #fluency #womeninhistorymonth

Martin Luther King, Jr., and Social Justice Resources

 Martin Luther King, Jr. Differentiated Unit - Standards-Based

This a student-centered, print-n-go, turn-key differentiated unit about Martin Luther King, Jr. This engaging resource includes informational text standard, social studies standards, fluency, reading comprehension and more. Please look at the preview to get an idea of what this unit entails. Included are print, Google Slide and Easel versions.

Each reading passage is written at two reading levels for maximum differentiation.

Passage Reading Levels

• Passage 1: Fluency: The Civil Rights Movement – A Lexile Level 610L-800L
• Passage 1: Fluency: The Civil Rights Movement – B Lexile Level 1010L-1200L
• Passage 2: Fluency: Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.? Lexile Level 610L-800L
• Passage 2: Fluency: Who is Martin Luther King, Jr.? Lexile Level 1010L-1200L
• Passage 3: MLK Facts Lexile Level 610L-800L
• Passage 4: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Nobel Prize – A Lexile Level 610L-800L
• Passage 4: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Nobel Prize – B Lexile Level 810L-1010L
• Passage 5: March on Washington – A Lexile Level 610L-810L
• Passage 5: March on Washington – B Lexile Level 1010L-1200L
• Passage 6: Dr. Martin Luther King’s Assassination A Lexile Level 610L-800L
• Passage 6: Dr. Martin Luther King’s Assassination B Lexile Level 610:-800L

Student Edition Table of Contents

Fluency: Civil Rights Movement A page 3

Fluency: Civil Rights Movement B page 4

Civil Rights Movement Comprehension page 5

Fluency: Who is Martin Luther King, Jr. – A page 6

Fluency: Who is Martin Luther King, Jr. – B page 7

Who is MLK Comprehension and Standards Assessment page 8

Fluency: Who is MLK, Jr. Close Read page 9

MLK Facts page 10

MKL Facts Multiple Choice Questions and Descriptive Paragraph page 11

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Nobel Prize A page 12

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Nobel Prize B page 13

March on Washington - A page 14

March on Washington – B page 15

March on Washington Left Hanging page 16

March on Washington Left Hanging Weblink Activity – Optional page 17

Smithsonian Relic Search – March on Washington page 18

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Assassination - A page 19

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Assassination - B page 20

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Assassination Text Evidence page 21

MLK Making Inferences in Non-Fiction – Early Life page 22

Summing Up the Whole Unit – Main/Central Idea and Text Evidence page 23

MLK Quotes and Meaning Analysis page 24

RAFT – Choose Your Own Assignment page 25

Rubrics page 29

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23 Daily Reading Warm-Ups Social Justice & Discrimination: Standards-Based

Each of these 23 Daily Warm-Up or Bell Ringer passages is aligned with the Common Core State Standards and are written for grades 6 to 12. They contain quick reading comprehension and text structures questions, writing activities, and higher order thinking activities. They are provide a perfect background for the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and work great for Black History Month.

Informational Text/NonFiction

These engaging passages are themed around the history of discrimination in the United States.

The passages are in three formats: Powerpoint, pdf and form fillable pdf.

The questions constructed response to help you incorporate communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity into student assignments. The warm-ups are designed to help students think critically, to prepare for state assessments, and to open important questions about race and discrimination.

The topics are non-fiction and perfect for use as warm-ups, bell ringers, early finishers, unit reinforcers, partner or group work and/or lesson starters. These lessons are designed to foster higher order thinking skills and writing across the curriculum. They are social studies, reading and writing themed and ask thought provoking questions to help students become independent thinkers and provide exercise for their brain muscles.

The passages are designed to be differentiated, so mix it up. Have students work alone, in pairs or in small groups. Encourage dialogue around the questions. If a passage seems particularly difficult for your students – pair emerging readers with patient proficient readers and writers. Some of the best thinking happens this way.

The three versions, pdf, form fillable pdf, and PowerPoint can easily be uploaded to any platform for digital/distance learning.

Table of Contents

page 6: Daily Warm-Up 1 – The Beginnings of the Segregation Stronghold (RI.2)

page 7: Daily Warm-Up 2 – Plessy v. Ferguson – Separate But Equal

page 8-9: Daily Warm-Up 3 – Plessy v. Ferguson – One Judge Did Not Agree

page 10: Daily Warm-Up 4 – Judge Harlan’s Prediction

page 11: Daily Warm-Up 5 – Plessy and Segregation Today

page 12: Daily Warm-Up 6 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States: 1619-1865

page 13: Daily Warm-Up 7 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States Continued: 1712-1776

page 14-15: Daily Warm-Up 8 – Founding Fathers

page 16: Daily Warm-Up 9 – Ben Franklin and Slavery

page 17-18: Daily Warm-Up 10 Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – The Amistad

page 19: Daily Warm-Up 11 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – The Amistad is Not Over

page 20: Daily Warm-Up 12 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – The Amistad Makes it to the Supreme Court (RI.1, RI.2, W.1a

page 21-22: Daily Warm-Up 13: Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – Fugitive Slave Act of 1783 (RH 2.1 and RH 2.2)

page 23-24: Daily Warm-Up 14 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – Fugitive Slave Act of 1783 and Martha Washington

page 25: Daily Warm-Up 15 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – The Underground Railroad – Comprehension

page 26: Daily Warm-Up 16: Timeline of Discrimination in the United States Dred Scott, March 6, 1857 (RH.5 and RH.2)

page 27: Daily Warm-Up 17 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – John Brown’s Raid of October 16, 1859 – Harper’s Ferry (RI.3, W.2 and W.3)

page 28-29: Daily Warm-Up 18 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – January 1, 1863 – The Emancipation Proclamation (RH.1 and RH.2)

page 30-31: Daily Warm-Up 19 – Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – The Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment (W1a,b.c)

page 32-33: Daily Warm-Up 20: Timeline of Discrimination in the United States: Civil War: Slavery Out – Black Codes In

page 34: Daily Warm-Up 21: Timeline of Discrimination in the United States - Reconstruction

page 35: Daily Warm-Up 22: timeline of Discrimination in the Unites States – 40 Acres and a Mule: One More Broken Promise

page 36: Daily Warm-Up 23: Timeline of Discrimination in the United States – Reconstruction Dies a Bid Death – The Compromise of 1877 (RH.2 and RH.5)

Google Slides Version

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3 Week – Social Justice Unit – Standards-Based - See Topics Below

23 Daily Warm-Ups with Corresponding Mini-Units

Social Studies and Language Arts

Over 150 Pages

Distance Learning:

• Detailed 23-day Lesson Plan
• 23 Social Justice Warm-Ups
• 23 Sample Blog posts to correspond with warm-ups to “discuss” each social justice topic with your students virtually
• Extra enrichment activities

In Class:

• 23 Social Justice Warm-Ups
• Presentables (PowerPoint to present each mini-lesson) to spark classroom conversations – full daily mini-lessons around each warm-up
• Extra enrichment/extension activities

IN CLASS: PowerPoint with slides for each Warm-Up topic, conversation starter questions and lesson plan for discussions and activities.

BLOG: The blog is turn-key – with 23 days of pre-written posts. This is great way to augment the effectiveness of the Social Justice Warm-Ups. The blog is secure, interactive, and engaging – with detailed instructions for teacher set-up. Learning about Social Justice and helping students become more aware of prejudice and discrimination is imperative as we prepare them to live and work in our diverse world – and this unit opens conversations and engages students.

BLOG SECTIONS: Each warm-up has an accompanying blog post. The pages are laid out for you in this manual. There are also instructions on how to set up a secure blog with Google Blogger. A blog is great for distance learning. Each separate blog post is on a new page (or pages) - for you to copy and paste and edit – so you can modify them to address issues in your part of the world.

EXTRA READING: Some of the blog sections and in class lessons have extra readings and video clips you can link to (if you are using this unit for distance learning.) Some of the PDFs for those readings are in the folder titled “extra readings” – very original title, right?

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES: There are three enrichment activity/assignment menus before the blog posts begin. The pages state which posts to put them between. I say “menus” because they offer students differentiated activities/assignments to choose from. This type of differentiation makes it easy to assess understanding. Strugglers may choose activities on the lower end of Bloom’s – while advanced students can dig in and think critically.

If you don’t want to edit, the lessons are turnkey – copy, paste and you are off.

It is imperative to teach students about the world and everyone in it by having real conversations around social and cultural differences and privilege. Students need to understand social issues, what society is and how we must all live peacefully together.

We all, students included, need to face the conversations around discrimination and racism happening in our world with frankness and honesty. Teaching Social Justice must occur, not simply because it’s relevant, but so students can explore how their stories fit into the larger quilt of the national and global blanket that make up our world.

This isn’t easy. These activities don’t always feel good and don’t always, or even rarely, end in simple answers. But as educators, we must ensure that each student in our influence, at some point, stands up for what they believe in. They may not always agree with others, but at least we can give them the tools to share their beliefs with respect and compassion for others.

TOPICS

1. What is Social Justice?

2. We All Have Rights – Universal Declaration of Human Rights

3. We All Have Rights – But Are They Equal

4. What About Zero Indifference – Being a Bystander

5. You Have the Key – Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – Education is Key

6. UDHR – Article 2 – Never Judge a Book by Its Cover

7. UDHR – Article 2 and Discrimination – What is Discrimination? Feeling Unsafe taking a Walk – the perspective of a Black person

8. UDHR – Article 3 – Eric Garner – Police have a job to do, but what about when they go too far? How do we overcome institutional racism and discrimination?

9. With Liberty and Justice for All – All People are Created Equal

10. UDHR – Article 4 and Slavery plus Glenn C. Loury’s article “An American Tragedy: The legacy of slavery lingers in our cities’ ghettos.”

11. UDHR Article 5 – Torture – Was George Floyd Tortured?

12. UDHR Article 5 – Torture – Ariana Granadillo’s Story – Was Ariana Granadillo Tortured?

a. Comparing Floyd and Granadillo

13. UDHR Article 5 – Social Justice – Desmond Tutu and Neutrality

14. UDHR Article 6 – Discrimination with Post to Harvard Study on personal experiences with discrimination

15. Social Injustice in Schools

16. Then There is You – The Great Outlier

17. Social Justice on a Global Scale

18. UDHR – Article 10 – Everyone is entitled to a fair and public trail, but does everyone get one?

19. Innocent Until Proven Guilty or Guilty Until Proven Innocent

a. UDHR – Article 11

b. Josesph Lamont Abbitt – Wrongly Accused

20. UDHR – Article 11

21. SATs and Racial Bias

22. Plessy v. Ferguson – Separate is Not Equal

23. Jim Crow Laws and a History of Racism

24. Jim Crow Laws and Plessy

25. Racially Biased Language