• Say: Based on your self-assessment and your recent work, I'll be meeting with small groups while others work independently. Let's start by rating your confidence.

Instruct students to reflect on their ability to do each of the following using the Reflection routine.

Connection to Today's Learning

• Say: Using your confidence ratings in addition to how you've demonstrated your understanding in recent work, you'll get individualized learning sessions so you get what you need today.

• Three 10–15-minute teacher huddles:

  • Huddle 1: RI.6.9 (Comparing Two Informational Texts)

  • Huddle 2: L.6.1.b (Using Intensive Pronouns Clearly)

  • Huddle 3: L.6.1.e (Revising to Standard English)

• Students not in a huddle work independently on one choice task.

Group students using:

1. Reflection responses

2. Data from recent formative assessments (exit tickets, annotations, short responses)

Huddle 1 (RI.6.9) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are first going to pull students for additional work on RI.6.9 (Comparing Two Informational Texts). Pull students who rated 1–3 on RI.6.9 and/or have shown difficulty with comparing how two authors present the same topic using specific details based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see "Independent Choice Work" below).

Pull this group when students summarize each text separately but do not explain the relationship between them or when they notice that two texts are about the same topic but cannot name how the authors organize, emphasize, or explain that topic differently.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading

• How does the author of your independent reading present a key idea differently from the author of another text we read in class? What does each author's approach reveal about their purpose?

  • In my independent reading, the author presents danger as sudden and confusing, such as when the ground starts shaking without warning. In the article about Underworld myths, the author presents danger through descriptions of the river crossing and the creatures guarding it. One seems focused on emotional experience, while the other looks at how ancient cultures used stories to make sense of death.

Option 2: Knowledge-Building

• Choose two myths or articles from this unit. How do they present the idea that cultures use stories to explain the unknown?

  • The Underworld myth and the creation stories article both show how cultures made up stories to explain things they didn't understand. The myth does this by describing the way a river crossing explained the unknown journey after life. The article explains that lots of cultures did this for a similar purpose.

Huddle 1—Comparing Two Informational Texts (RI.6.9)

Use any teacher-selected short paired informational passages for this huddle. Students should have the texts in front of them.

Reteach

• Compare means to explain what is similar and what is different. When we compare texts, we look at how each addresses the same topic.

• Presentation means how an author chooses to explain, organize, and emphasize information.

• When comparing, we can use phrases like “Both texts say . . . ,” “However, the second text . . . ,” “While the other text . . . ,” and “On the other hand . . .”

• Say: In this huddle, we are going to look at two short texts about the same topic and figure out how each author presents it. We are not just asking, “What are these texts about?” We are also asking, “How does each author choose to show that idea to the reader?”

Guided Practice

Have students read the titles and first few lines of both short texts and identify the shared topic.

• Ask: What similar topic, event, or myth idea do both texts discuss?

  • Both texts discuss the same myth topic: how a culture explains an Underworld journey. They are both about what happens when a person crosses into a place of the dead.

Have students underline one detail in each text that shows what each author chooses to emphasize most about the topic.

• Ask: How does each author present the same topic using different details?

  • One author presents the topic like an explanation with facts and background, while the other author focuses more on the sequence of events. Both are about the same idea, but they look at it in different ways.

Have students say one comparison sentence aloud and then write it in their journal using both texts.

• Ask: Which difference in the presentation is most important to how a reader understands the topic?

  • The biggest difference is that one text emphasizes explanation and the other emphasizes process. That matters because the reader learns either why the belief mattered or how the journey was imagined.

Quick Check

• Say: Now you are going to show that you can compare texts on your own. Write a short response that names one difference and supports it with a new detail from each text.

• Ask: In one to three sentences, explain one way the two texts present the same topic differently. Cite one detail from each text.

  • Both texts are about the same myth idea, but they present it differently. In Text 1, the author gives background information about why people feared the Underworld, while in Text 2, the author focuses on the steps of the journey itself. These details show that one text explains the belief and the other shows the experience.

Huddle 2 (L.6.1.b) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are going to pull students for additional work on L.6.1.b (Using Intensive Pronouns Clearly). Pull students who rated 1–3 on L.6.1.b and/or have shown difficulty with identifying or using intensive pronouns for emphasis based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see "Independent Choice Work" below).

Pull this group when students confuse intensive pronouns with reflexive pronouns, add pronouns that make the sentence awkward, or cannot explain that an intensive pronoun adds emphasis but is not necessary for the sentence to make sense.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading and Writing

• Find one sentence in your independent reading that could be revised to add emphasis. Rewrite it and add an intensive pronoun clearly.

  • Original: “The narrator made the choice.” Revised: “The narrator himself made the choice.” The intensive pronoun adds emphasis.

Option 2: Knowledge-Building

• Write one sentence about a myth or article from this unit using an intensive pronoun correctly.

  • Percy himself has to decide whether he will trust the gods.

Huddle 2—Using Intensive Pronouns Clearly (L.6.1.b)

Use any short teacher-selected informational passage or sample draft for this huddle. Students should have the text in front of them.

Reteach

• A pronoun takes the place of a noun.

• An intensive pronoun ends in -self or -selves and adds emphasis, but the sentence will still work without it.

• It is different from a reflexive pronoun because if you remove a reflexive pronoun, the sentence will no longer make sense.

• Say: In this huddle, we are going to look at how writers add emphasis with pronouns like himself and themselves. Our job is to make sure the pronoun adds strength to the sentence without confusing the meaning.

Guided Practice

Have students read a sentence from the text and identify a noun that could be emphasized.

• Ask: Which word in this sentence names the person or thing that might need extra emphasis?

  • The noun is the hero. That is the word the sentence is mainly about, so that is the word that could be emphasized.

Have students look at the model sentence with an added pronoun: “The travelers themselves would have to find a way through.”

• Ask: Is the word themselves being used as an intensive pronoun or a reflexive pronoun? How do you know?

  • It is an intensive pronoun because it adds emphasis, but the sentence would still make sense without it. It is not receiving the action back on the subject.

Have students revise the sentence they initially identified by adding an intensive pronoun where it fits naturally.

• Ask: How can you revise the sentence so the intensive pronoun adds clear emphasis?

  • I can revise it to say, “The hero herself explains the crossing.” That makes the emphasis stronger and still sounds clear.

Quick Check

• Say: Now you will show that you can tell when a pronoun is adding emphasis and when it is doing a different job. Label each one and think about whether the sentence would still work without it.

Use the following key: I = intensive / R = reflexive

1. The author herself visited the site.

2. The traveler blamed himself for getting lost.

3. According to the myth, the gods themselves shaped the world.

• Ask: Label each underlined pronoun as I or R. Then write your own sentence using an intensive pronoun.

  • 1 = I, 2 = R, 3 = I. The god of the underworld himself would decide the fate of every soul that crossed into his realm.

Huddle 3 (L.6.1.e) + Independent Choice Work (10–15 minutes total)

Explain that you are going to pull students for additional work on L.6.1.e (Revising to Standard English). Pull students who rated 1–3 on L.6.1.e and/or have shown difficulty with recognizing variations from standard English and revising them for grammar, spelling, and language based on recent work. All other students begin independent work (see "Independent Choice Work" below).

Pull this group when students use casual spoken forms in formal writing without revising, keep nonstandard grammar in a final response, or notice that a sentence sounds informal but cannot name a strategy to improve it for formal school English.

Independent Choice Work

Students not in responsive huddles choose one task and write a brief response.

Option 1: Independent Reading and Writing

• Find one sentence in your reading notes or response that sounds informal or nonstandard for school writing. Rewrite it in standard English.

  • Original: “The hero don't trust nobody.” Revised: “The hero doesn't trust anyone.” The new version fits school writing better.

Option 2: Knowledge-Building

• Write one informal sentence about a myth or article from this unit, then revise it into standard English.

  • Informal: “The travelers was real scared of the Underworld.” Revised: “The travelers were very scared of the Underworld.”

Huddle 3—Revising to Standard English (L.6.1.e)

Use any teacher-selected short passage or sample draft for this huddle. Students should have the text in front of them.

Reteach

• Language variation means people may speak or write differently depending on community, audience, and situation.

• Standard English is the form usually expected in school writing and formal speaking. It includes rules about grammar, spelling, and language use.

• A revision strategy helps a writer keep the idea while changing the wording, grammar, or usage to fit the audience.

• Say: In this huddle, we are going to notice when a sentence sounds more like casual speech than standard school English and practice revising it. The goal is not to say one way of speaking is wrong. The goal is to choose the form that fits the situation.

Guided Practice

Have students read a short passage or sentence that includes a variation from standard English.

• Ask: Which part of the sentence doesn’t sound like standard school writing?

  • The part “them travelers was” doesn’t sound like formal speech. In a school response, I would want to revise those words.

Have students identify one strategy they could use to improve the sentence without changing the meaning.

• Ask: What change would help this sentence fit standard English more clearly?

  • I would change “them” to “the” and “was” to “were.” That keeps the same idea, but it matches standard English.

Have students identify and revise a second sentence in their journal.

• Ask: How can you revise another sentence so it keeps the same idea but expresses it in standard English?

  • I can revise the sentence to say, “They were trying to leave because the warning sounded serious.” It still means the same thing, but it sounds clearer for formal writing.

Quick Check

• Say: Now you will show that you can recognize a variation from standard English and revise it for a school audience. Rewrite a sentence so it uses standard English, and name one change you made.

Have students identify and revise a sentence from their own writing, or provide a sample sentence: He were gonna need a better idea and he needed it real quick.

• Ask: Rewrite the sentence in standard English and name one strategy you used.

  • “He was going to need a better idea, and quickly.” One strategy I used was changing the pronoun and verb form to match standard English. I also changed “gonna” to “going to” and “real quick” to use the adverb “quickly.”

Students complete a brief reflection based on what they did today (huddle reflection or independent work reflection). Invite 2–3 students to share.

Quick Write

Option A (students who attended one or more huddles):

• Re-rate your confidence for RI.6.9, L.6.1.b, and L.6.1.e. What specifically improved?

  • Before, I was a 2 on L.6.1.e, but now I am a 4 because I can notice when a sentence sounds too informal for school writing and revise it. I also moved up on RI.6.9 because I can explain how two texts present the same idea differently.

Option B (students who did independent reading/knowledge-building):

• What are you learning about on the unit topic from today's reading/work? Cite one detail.

  • I am learning that myths often explain danger by showing a crossing into an unknown place. One detail from my reading is that the character has to pass a boundary before reaching the world of the dead.

Students read their independent reading book for 20 minutes and complete a reading log entry.