Wings
Below-Level Reader
The Lesson
of Icarus
Unit 4 Week 1
CAUSE AND EFFECT ANSWER QUESTIONS
LESSON VOCABULARY attention,
complained, drifting, giggle, glaring,
looping, struggled, swooping
SUMMARY The Lesson of Icarus retells the ancient Greek myth about the
boy who flew too high. Daedalus and his son, Icarus, make wings of wax to escape from prison. Icarus flies too close to the sun, his wings melt, and he
falls into the sea and drowns.
INTRODUCE THE BOOK
BUILD BACKGROUND Invite students to talk about times when they did not
listen to an adult's advice or warnings about something.
PREVIEW Look through the pictures on the cover and inside the book with students. Explain that this story is a myth from Ancient Greece and is more
than 2,000 years old.
TEACH/REVIEW VOCABULARY Assign words to groups of students. Have
groups break the words into syllables and make educated guesses about pronunciations and meanings. Then provide correct definitions and pronunciations.
Point out to ELL students some common pronunciation rules that
apply to the vocabulary words.
TARGET SKILL AND STRATEGY
CAUSE AND EFFECT Explain to students that if they can figure out what happened and why, they will better understand the story. Direct students to read looking for what happens to the title character Icarus and why.
ANSWER QUESTIONS Remind students that they
answer questions, they may find the answers to their questions right in the book's pages.
Suggest that knowing where to look for answers can help them figure out what happened in a story and why. Tell students to look for places in the book that answer the questions about what happened to Icarus and why.
READ THE BOOK
Use the following questions to support comprehension.
PAGE 5 Why did Daedalus tell Theseus to tie a long string onto the prison
door? (so he could follow the trail of string out of the maze)
PAGES 6–7 What happens to Daedalus and Icarus? Why does this happen?
(King Minos puts them in prison; he thinks Daedalus helped Theseus run away
with the princess.)
PAGE 9 Why does Daedalus warn his son not to fly too close to the sun? (The
sun will melt the wax wings, and Icarus will crash.)
TALK ABOUT THE BOOK
READER RESPONSE
| 1. |
What Happened: The wings fell apart. Why It Happened: The Sun melted
the wax that held the feathers together. |
| 2. |
Theseus came to slay the Minotaur and marry the princess; page 4. |
| 3. |
Possible response: swooping, looping, drifting; soaring, gliding, flapping |
| 4. |
Possible response: Yes, because the warning would have frightened me |
RESPONSE OPTIONS
WRITING Tell students to write a paragraph about a time when an adult gave
them advice or a warning.
CONTENT CONNECTIONS
SOCIAL STUDIES Have each student read another myth and write a story map of their myth in which they list the characters, the important events in the plot, and what the myth teaches.
L.R. TOC
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