The Labors of Hercules X

Focus Question:
Was Hercules a hero? Which of his actions were heroic, and which were not?
Book Summary
Text Type: Fiction/Myth
Greek and Roman mythology is exciting and fascinating for students. The Labors of Hercules
tells the story of Hercules and how he overcame many difficult challenges in his life. Students
will be engaged with this riveting story and the accompanying detailed illustrations. This book
can also be used to teach students how to identify problems and solutions as well as to retell
the events of a story in sequence.
The book and lesson are also available for levels Z1 and Z2.

Guiding the Reading

Lesson Essentials
Before Reading
Instructional Focus
Retell story events to understand text Build Background
• Write on the board the following sentence: Running
Analyze problem and solution
a marathon is a Herculean task. Underline the word
Describe information provided by a glossary Herculean and ask students if they know what it
Identify and use inflectional ending -ing means. Explain that Herculean means very difficult
Place words in alphabetical order or hard to do, or requiring strength or courage.
• Explain to students that the word Herculean comes
Materials from the Greek and Roman hero Hercules, who had
Book: The Labors of Hercules to perform twelve very difficult tasks that required
(copy for each student) strength and courage. Have students use the word
Herculean in oral sentences with a partner. Invite
Problem and solution, inflectional ending
partners to share their sentences with the class.
-ing, alphabetical order worksheets
Discussion cards Introduce the Book
Book quiz • Give students their copy of The Labors of Hercules.
Retelling rubric Guide them to the front and back covers and read
the title. Have students discuss what they see on
Vocabulary the covers. Encourage them to offer ideas as to
what type of book it is (genre, text type, and so
Boldface vocabulary words also appear on) and what it might be about.
in a pre-made lesson for this title on
• Show students the title page. Discuss the
VocabularyA–Z.com. information on the page (title of book, author’s
• Words to Know name, illustrator’s name).
Story critical: feats (n.), immortality (n.),
Introduce the Reading Strategy: Retell
labors (n.), penance (n.), prudence (n.),
Explain to students that engaged readers stop now
pyre (n.)
and then while they are reading to retell in their mind
Enrichment: accumulated (v.), what has happened so far in the story. Stopping to
cautiously (adv.), hide (n.), nymphs (n.), retell the events of the story helps readers understand
pillar (n.), temporarily (adv.) and remember what they are reading. Explain that
when retelling a story or event, it is important that
• Academic vocabulary: allow (v.), cause (v.),
the details are explained in order, or sequence. Using
final (adj.), goal (n.), return (v.), solution (n.)
a book the class has previously read, demonstrate
how to retell a story in order. Invite volunteers to
help with the retelling. Encourage students to use
transitional words such as first, next, then, and finally
when retelling a story.

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 The Labors of Hercules X

Guiding the Reading (cont.) • What would have happened if Hera had not passed
among the Amazons in disguise? (level 3) page 9
Introduce the Comprehension Skill: • When does Hercules use trickery to accomplish his
Problem and solution tasks? (level 2) pages 10–12
• Write the words problem and solution on the board. • Why do people call Hercules a hero? (level 3)
Review or explain that a problem is something that multiple pages
is difficult to deal with or hard to understand and • Which of Hercules’s labors were heroic, and which
must be worked out or solved. A solution is an act or were not? Why? (level 3) multiple pages
a process of solving a problem. Ask students to share
examples of a problem they faced and how they Text Features: Glossary
found a solution for, or solved, the problem. Explain that a glossary helps readers learn the
• Review with students a book the class has definitions of the words in the book. Have students
previously read. Have students work in groups to work with a partner to review the glossary on page 16.
determine the problem and solution in the story. Ask students: How are the vocabulary words arranged
Have students preview the table of contents and in a glossary? Can you define the word pyre? On
illustrations in The Labors of Hercules. Have them which page can you find the word nymphs? Have
work with a partner to predict a problem and students review other vocabulary words in the book
solution that Hercules might face, based on the and discuss in groups where they would be found
title, table of contents, and illustrations. and how they know. Invite volunteers to share their
thoughts with the rest of the class.
Vocabulary
Skill Review
Have students turn to the “Words to Know” box on
the copyright page. Discuss each word with students. • Have students retell the story from the beginning
Then, have students turn to the glossary on page 16. to a partner. Listen to see whether they include the
Explain that the glossary provides definitions for the events in detail and in the correct order. Encourage
vocabulary words in the book. Point out the use of students to use transition words such as first, next,
each content word and academic vocabulary word then, and finally when retelling the story.
in the book, and then use each word in a different • Have students work in groups to periodically review
model sentence. Have students work in groups to the problems Hercules faced throughout the story.
create posters for these words. Have them include Have groups discuss Hercules’s solutions to these
on each poster the word and its part of speech, the problems and evaluate whether those solutions
definition, the word in an example sentence, and were heroic.
a picture illustrating the meaning of the word. • Model identifying problem and solution.
Think-aloud: The story of Hercules’s labors has
Set the Purpose many examples of problems and solutions. In the
• Have students read to find out more about introduction, we read that when Hercules was a
Hercules. Write the Focus Question on the board. baby, Hera, the wife of his father, Zeus, sent snakes
Invite students to look for evidence in the book to murder him in his crib. This was the first problem
to support their answer to the question. Hercules faced in his life. Hercules strangled the
• Have students make a small question mark in their snakes and survived, which was the solution to his
book beside any word they do not understand or problem. I will continue reading in order to identify
cannot pronounce. These can be addressed in a all the problems Hercules faced and the solutions to
future discussion. those problems.
• Model how to complete the problem and solution
During Reading worksheet. Have students identify the problems
and solutions of Hercules’s labors. Then, have
Text-Dependent Questions
students evaluate those problems and solutions in
As students read the book, monitor their understanding order to determine if his actions were heroic.
with the following questions. Encourage students to
support their answers by citing evidence from the book.
• Who is Hercules, and why does Hera want to make
his life so hard? (level 1) page 4
• Why does Hercules need to perform ten labors
for King Eurystheus of Mycenae? (level 1) page 5
• Why was it important for Hercules to use restraint
when capturing the Ceryneian Hind? (level 3)
page 8

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 The Labors of Hercules X

Guiding the Reading (cont.) • Check for understanding: Write several verbs on the
board (make, like, ride, paint, fight, and so on)
After Reading and have students work with a partner to add
the inflectional ending -ing to each word. Have
Ask students what words, if any, they marked in their partners share their answers with the class. Discuss
book. Use this opportunity to model how they can with students the correct spelling and meaning of
read these words using decoding strategies. each verb.
Skill Review • Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and have
students complete the inflectional ending -ing
Graphic Organizer: Problem and solution worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Review the problem-and-solution worksheet that
students completed. Have students share their work Word Work: Alphabetical order
in groups. Invite volunteers to share with the rest of • Write the words feat and feats on the board. Point
the class the problems and solutions they chose, and out that the words begin with the same letter (Ff).
whether they thought Hercules’s actions were heroic. Review the process of putting a list of words in
Have students defend their answers to the class. alphabetical order. Remind students that if the first
letter of each word is the same, they must compare
Comprehension Extension the second letters instead. If the second letter of
Discussion cards covering comprehension skills and each word is the same, they continue to compare
strategies not explicitly taught with the book are the third letters, and so on, until they find two
provided for extension activities. letters that are different. Model how to list feat
and feats in alphabetical order.
Response to Focus Question
• Write the words temporary and temporarily on the
Have students cite specific evidence from the
board. Have a volunteer explain which word would
book to answer the Focus Question. (Answers will
appear first in alphabetical order (temporarily) and
vary. Students should evaluate Hercules’s actions,
why. Point out that all the letters in temporary and
determine whether they find them to be heroic, and
temporarily are the same before the ninth letter.
explain why they do or do not think Hercules is a hero
Point out that alphabetically the (i) in temporarily
[he overcame many challenges in his life or he used
comes before the (y) in temporary.
violence and caused harm].)
• Check for understanding: Write the words immortality
Comprehension Checks and immortal on the board. Have students write
• Book quiz • Retelling rubric the words in alphabetical order and explain their
thinking on a separate of paper. Discuss their
answers with the class.
Book Extension Activities • Independent practice: Introduce, explain, and
have students complete the alphabetical order
Build Skills worksheet. If time allows, discuss their answers.
Grammar and Mechanics: Inflectional ending -ing
• Write the following sentence on the board: I am
Connections
reading about Hercules today. Have students identify • See the back of the book for cross-curricular
the two verbs in the sentence. Underline the verb extension ideas.
reading and have students discuss its meaning.
Point out that reading is a form of the verb read.
• Review or explain that inflectional endings are
word parts added to the end of a base word that
modify the meaning of the original word. Explain
that the letters ing are added to the verb to
indicate that the action described is in the process
of happening.
• Write the following sentence on the board: I am using
my book to read. Discuss the meaning of the verb
using, and ask students to identify the root word
(use). Point out to students that when a verb ends
with the letter e, such as use, the letter e must be
dropped before adding the inflectional ending -ing.

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