Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Bibliography
Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. New York: Hyperion Books, 2005.
Riordan, Rick. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. New York: Hyperion Books, 2005.
Target Audience
Grades 4-8
Grades 4-8
Academic Vocabulary
Kleptomaniac: one who has a persistent impulse to steal
Paraphrase: to restate in other words
Triumphant: joyful over a victory or success
Frieze: a decorative band running across the upper part of a wall
Hallucination: false perception of reality; delusion
Sot: person made foolish by excessive drinking
Conjugating: to change forms of a verb to indicate who is doing the action
Minions: those who are followers of a more powerful leader and are in service of that person
Anticipating: looking forward to
Pummeling: to strike or beat with the fists
Kleptomaniac: one who has a persistent impulse to steal
Paraphrase: to restate in other words
Triumphant: joyful over a victory or success
Frieze: a decorative band running across the upper part of a wall
Hallucination: false perception of reality; delusion
Sot: person made foolish by excessive drinking
Conjugating: to change forms of a verb to indicate who is doing the action
Minions: those who are followers of a more powerful leader and are in service of that person
Anticipating: looking forward to
Pummeling: to strike or beat with the fists
Genre
Fantasy and fiction
Fantasy and fiction
Summary
Percy Jackson is a normal 12 year old boy, or so he thinks, until he learns that he is of a very special bloodline, a bloodline of the gods. Percy is what is known as a half-blood, a child of a god and a mortal. Percy is sent to Camp Half-Blood to live with other half-bloods who, like Percy, need protection from monsters who seek to kill children of the gods. While at camp, Percy learns that he is the child of Poseidon, god of the sea and brother to Zeus and Hades. The story really gains momentum when the half-bloods learn that Zeus' master bolt, the tool that allows him to make lightning, has been stolen. Poseidon is blamed for the theft, but he is not to blame. Percy sets out on a quest with his best friends Annabeth and Grover to prove his father's innocence. Percy and his friends travel from New York to Los Angeles where they find the entrance to the Underworld. Percy believes that Hades has stolen his brother's master bolt. However, it turns out that Hades has had his own symbol of power stolen: the helm of darkness. Hades blames Percy for the theft of the master bolt and the helm of darkness because the master bolt mysteriously appears in Percy's bag while he is in the Underworld. Percy and his friends narrowly escape Hades' Underworld. Once they are safe, Ares, the god of war, presents himself to Percy. Ares explains that he stole the helm of darkness and the master bolt from their original thief because he was tempted to start an epic war between Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. Ares and Percy battle on the beach in LA to gain control of the missing items. Percy wounds Ares and wins the items. He returns them to their rightful owners and returns to camp. When he is back at camp, a fellow camper and friend, Luke, takes Percy into the woods where he reveals himself as the original thief of the helm of darkness and the master bolt. Luke tells Percy that Kronos, the titan and father of Zeus, is regaining power and strength. Kronos is seeking to take Olympus by storm. He is seeking revenge on Zeus and the Olympians as they took his throne of power. Luke leaves a scorpion to kill Percy, but Percy narrowly escapes with his life. He is injured, but nursed back to health back at camp. Percy decides he will live with his parents during his 7th grade year.
Percy Jackson is a normal 12 year old boy, or so he thinks, until he learns that he is of a very special bloodline, a bloodline of the gods. Percy is what is known as a half-blood, a child of a god and a mortal. Percy is sent to Camp Half-Blood to live with other half-bloods who, like Percy, need protection from monsters who seek to kill children of the gods. While at camp, Percy learns that he is the child of Poseidon, god of the sea and brother to Zeus and Hades. The story really gains momentum when the half-bloods learn that Zeus' master bolt, the tool that allows him to make lightning, has been stolen. Poseidon is blamed for the theft, but he is not to blame. Percy sets out on a quest with his best friends Annabeth and Grover to prove his father's innocence. Percy and his friends travel from New York to Los Angeles where they find the entrance to the Underworld. Percy believes that Hades has stolen his brother's master bolt. However, it turns out that Hades has had his own symbol of power stolen: the helm of darkness. Hades blames Percy for the theft of the master bolt and the helm of darkness because the master bolt mysteriously appears in Percy's bag while he is in the Underworld. Percy and his friends narrowly escape Hades' Underworld. Once they are safe, Ares, the god of war, presents himself to Percy. Ares explains that he stole the helm of darkness and the master bolt from their original thief because he was tempted to start an epic war between Poseidon, Hades, and Zeus. Ares and Percy battle on the beach in LA to gain control of the missing items. Percy wounds Ares and wins the items. He returns them to their rightful owners and returns to camp. When he is back at camp, a fellow camper and friend, Luke, takes Percy into the woods where he reveals himself as the original thief of the helm of darkness and the master bolt. Luke tells Percy that Kronos, the titan and father of Zeus, is regaining power and strength. Kronos is seeking to take Olympus by storm. He is seeking revenge on Zeus and the Olympians as they took his throne of power. Luke leaves a scorpion to kill Percy, but Percy narrowly escapes with his life. He is injured, but nursed back to health back at camp. Percy decides he will live with his parents during his 7th grade year.
Literary Concepts
Theme: The theme of bravery and perseverance runs through this book. Students can analize these themes through analyzing the text.
Setting: The setting of the story changes several times as the half-bloods complete their quest.
Character: Percy learns a lot about himself as he begins his journey to meeting his father.
Percy changes as he begins to form a friendship with Annabeth and Grover.
Climax: The rising and falling action around the climax are easy to spot. The climax of the story occurs when Percy battles Ares on the beach.
Theme: The theme of bravery and perseverance runs through this book. Students can analize these themes through analyzing the text.
Setting: The setting of the story changes several times as the half-bloods complete their quest.
Character: Percy learns a lot about himself as he begins his journey to meeting his father.
Percy changes as he begins to form a friendship with Annabeth and Grover.
Climax: The rising and falling action around the climax are easy to spot. The climax of the story occurs when Percy battles Ares on the beach.
Activity
When the class completes a chapter, the class will do an activity on summarizing Percy Jackson.
The activity is called “Breakout”. The teacher will draw a huge circle on the board. Each student will be given a 3”x5” Post-It. Each student will summarize the chapter on the front of the Post-It and they will write their name on the back. The students are learning how to minimize their summaries and include the events in the beginning, middle, and end of the chapter while including little detail. The students will place their Post-It in the middle of the circle. The teacher will read the summaries out loud to the class. The students will decide if the summary meets the criteria of a good summary. If it does, it will “Breakout” of the circle. If the summary is mostly correct, it will be placed on the line with most of it outside of the circle. If the summary is on the right track, but still lacking some important information it will be placed on the line of the circle with most of it still inside. The summaries that still need work will be on the inside of the circle.
When the class completes a chapter, the class will do an activity on summarizing Percy Jackson.
The activity is called “Breakout”. The teacher will draw a huge circle on the board. Each student will be given a 3”x5” Post-It. Each student will summarize the chapter on the front of the Post-It and they will write their name on the back. The students are learning how to minimize their summaries and include the events in the beginning, middle, and end of the chapter while including little detail. The students will place their Post-It in the middle of the circle. The teacher will read the summaries out loud to the class. The students will decide if the summary meets the criteria of a good summary. If it does, it will “Breakout” of the circle. If the summary is mostly correct, it will be placed on the line with most of it outside of the circle. If the summary is on the right track, but still lacking some important information it will be placed on the line of the circle with most of it still inside. The summaries that still need work will be on the inside of the circle.
Assessment
The teacher will use the “Breakout” activity to assess the students’ summaries. The summaries that “Breakout” will be given an A. Those mostly accurate will receive a B. Those lacking but on the right track will receive a C. The ones still in the circle receive a D. If they are not based on the chapter at all, they will receive an F. The teacher can gauge the students’ participation in classroom reading, the students’ comprehension of materials being read, and their ability to
identify important events in the plot. The activity will double as a formative assessment as the students are reading. The students can create an in-depth character profile or plot analysis for their final project.
The teacher will use the “Breakout” activity to assess the students’ summaries. The summaries that “Breakout” will be given an A. Those mostly accurate will receive a B. Those lacking but on the right track will receive a C. The ones still in the circle receive a D. If they are not based on the chapter at all, they will receive an F. The teacher can gauge the students’ participation in classroom reading, the students’ comprehension of materials being read, and their ability to
identify important events in the plot. The activity will double as a formative assessment as the students are reading. The students can create an in-depth character profile or plot analysis for their final project.
Integration
Social Studies/History: The students will imagine they are a half-blood of the god or goddess of their choice. After thoroughly researching that god or goddess, they will write their
own imaginary life story. They will specifically point out any traits, talents, or powers they may have as a result of their parent’s power.
Geography: The students will be making a map of Percy’s travels. They will identify his stops and the characteristics, climate, and important landmarks that Percy passed along the way.
The students will be given a map of the United States that they will use for this lesson.
Social Studies/History: The students will imagine they are a half-blood of the god or goddess of their choice. After thoroughly researching that god or goddess, they will write their
own imaginary life story. They will specifically point out any traits, talents, or powers they may have as a result of their parent’s power.
Geography: The students will be making a map of Percy’s travels. They will identify his stops and the characteristics, climate, and important landmarks that Percy passed along the way.
The students will be given a map of the United States that they will use for this lesson.