The Story of King Arthur and His Knights

King Arthur, as the leader of his people, is expected to function as a role model. What lessons are taught by his behavior in these stories? How should people behave in their own ordinary lives, according to the lessons conveyed in the stories?

Teaching Suggestion: If drawing lessons from the book as a whole is unmanageable due to time constraints or your students’ ability level, you might consider splitting students into small groups and assigning select chapters to groups to gather evidence. Once they have finished this step, they can pool information and discuss their findings. If you want students to respond to the prompt in writing, they might do so after this preliminary discussion.

Differentiation Suggestion: Literal thinkers may benefit from helpful strategies in understanding how Arthur’s adventures apply to an ordinary person’s life. You might, for example provide a specific example of a lesson taught by Arthur’s behavior and how it might translate to everyday actions. Those with attentional and executive function challenges may find it difficult to draw evidence from the book as a whole; you may wish to allow these students to base their answers on a smaller section of text. If your class is answering in writing, students who struggle with written expression might be allowed to substitute a T-chart listing adventures on the left and lessons on the right instead of submitting essay-style responses.