“Black Ships Before Troy” Excerpt Activities for Collections grade 6 engage students when reading this rigorous text. This 1220 lexile level text is several grade levels above the independent 6th grade reading level. Therefore, the more preparation you can give for your students to understand this text, the better.
These activities are designed with a writing workshop type of classroom in mind. So, if you teach using a writing workshop, these activities work really well to get kids engaged in reading and writing Black Ships Before Troy excerpt.
NOTE: These are activities that go with an excerpt, not the novel!
Common Core Standards in Black Ships Before Troy
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
Writing Activity for the Topic of Greek Myths
As a pre-reading activity, I ask students to write down everything that comes to mind about Greek Myths. This allows them the opportunity to get their minds ready for what we’ll be learning. For about 2-3 minutes, students jot down the ideas they have about this topic in their interactive notebooks or journals:
What do you know about Greek myths?
Some students will have some knowledge of Greek mythology, especially if they’ve read the Rick Riordan Percy Jackson series. But others may not know who Zeus or Perseus are. Therefore, this writing activity will give you an indication about what your students already know about myths.
Allow students to share out with a partner, and whole class, if time permits. This will engage and excite your students about learning. This is so important for building a classroom community of trust and acceptance.
The Role of Myth in Ancient Greece HMH Grade 6
At the end of Collection 6, there’s a great article that actually pairs really well with Black Ships Before Troy grade 6. Instead of diving right into Black Ships Before Troy, we read this selection: “The Role of Myth in Ancient Greece.”
“The Role of Myth in Ancient Greece” explains the behaviors of the people as well as the gods and goddesses in the story Black Ships Before Troy. It also helps students to understand how the mythology in the story affected the Ancient Greek people. There are some higher-order thinking questions in Black Ships that will be easier to answer if students read this first.
For the fastest and easiest way to teach this selection, use a jigsaw strategy. I have students take notes on each part. This is how I divide my students:
For the first two paragraphs, model reading and writing down main idea and details. Next, you can then divide up the rest of the paragraphs amongst the class. Students read and take notes on their assigned paragraphs, and then students share their notes with their groups. (See the image above.)
Vocabulary for Black Ships Before Troy Excerpt Activities
When introducing new words for a story selection, I project each word one at a time on an overhead projector. I teach a word, its pronunciation, parts of speech, definition and synonyms, using the whole brain teaching approach. With each word, students partner up to review the word, its definition and synonyms over and over again. Like rehearsing the lines of a play or learning song lyrics. Then, I give a quiet signal and teach the next word. This interactivity keeps students actively learning and alert.
Once I’ve introduced all of the words, I have students work independently, or in pairs. They draw and write sentences to further review these new vocabulary words throughout the week.
For more ideas about how to play with vocabulary words in your classroom, read this blog post 5 Word Games to Play with Middle Schoolers .
For ten editable vocabulary and writing activities students can use with interactive notebooks or in learning centers, click here.
Previewing “Black Ships Before Troy” Excerpt Activities
After learning why the Greeks shared these myths, students listen to the TEXT IN FOCUS in the HMH grade 6 online textbook. The video provides an overview of Black Ships Before Troy. Also, I point out to students that this selection is an excerpt from the novel by Rosemary Sutcliff. Each section is a scene or mini-story from the novel.
- Scene1: The Golden Apple
- Scene 2: Ship Gathering
- Scene 3: Quarrel with the High King
Reading and Writing Black Ships Before Troy Activities
The teaching approach I use for these activities is I do, we do, you do. I gradually release responsibility for learning onto the students.
For this activity, your focus standard is: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3
Describe how a particular story’s or drama’s plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.
Plot Activities: The Golden Apple
For “The Golden Apple,” I either read the text aloud, or allow the computer to read it. Then, we discuss the plot while I model filling out a plot chart.
Students take notes as I fill out a plot chart.
Plot Activities: Ship-Gathering
Depending on the students’ reading abilities and focus, I have students either read the Ship-Gathering section with a partner or independently.
Then, students meet together in pairs or groups and discuss what should be recorded on their plot charts.
Plot Activities: Quarrel with the High King
I use the third part of the selection of plot activities for Black Ships Before Troy Grade 6 as a formative assessment.
Quarrel with the High King focuses on the character of Achilles and his quarrel with King Agamemnon during the Trojan War. I have students fill out a third plot chart for this part of the selection.
Using a rubric for plot, I grade this and give back to students for revision. I like allowing students to revise their formative assessments, so they can learn from components they did not complete or did not completely comprehend. I send them back into the text to find more accurate answers.
For students who do not need the revision or remediation, I have students find out more about Achilles and what happened to him next.
Theme Activities for Black Ships Before Troy Excerpt Grade 6:
Once students understand the story characters and structure, I move on to theme.
For theme, I always have students look at the following: the title, conflict, important symbol or symbols, what the main character learns, and the setting. Then, I have students try to state the theme and find 1 or 2 pieces of text evidence that supports this theme.
Theme Activities: The Golden Apple
Once again, I use the scaffolded method of I do, we do, you do approach. So first, I skim over the selection and show students how I would use a graphic organizer to figure out a theme for The Golden Apple. Remind students that theme is inferred, and there can be more than one theme in any literary piece.
Theme Activities: Ship-Gathering
Next, I have students do the same thing. If students do not have a graphic organizer, I will list these questions on the board to guide students in their thinking about theme. In pairs they discuss the following:
- How does the title fit in this section of the story?
- What does the main character learn?
- What object in the story that might be a symbol? Why is it important to the story? What does it stand for?
- How does the setting fit with this part of the story?
- What do you think the author is trying to tell us about human nature or life based on your answers from above?
- What text evidence can you find for this inference?
Theme Activities: Quarrel with the High King
Finally, I use this activity as a formative assessment for theme where students answer the above questions or fill out a graphic organizer. Then, I usually have students write a paragraph to explain the theme of this section of the story. Using a rubric, I grade the paragraph and then allow students to revise if needed.
Formative Assessment Activities for Black Ships Before Troy Excerpt Activities Grade 6
For a summative assessment, students complete plot and theme activities for Black Ships Before Troy Grade 6 just like those above for the overall plot and theme of all three parts of the selection.
Finally, I have students choose ONE section of this story and write an essay about what their section reveals about the values of ancient Greek culture, using examples from the plot and characters, as well as text evidence.
Other Activities for Black Ships Before Troy Grade 6:
I hope you found this article helpful in teaching resources for Black Ships Before Troy grade 6 selection in the HMH Collection 6 Grade 6 textbook. If you would like a full lesson plan with handouts and foldables that I have already developed for you, you can find that here: HMH Collections Grade 6 Collection 6 Black Ships Before Troy
