Greek Mythology: Create Your Own Myth

During the last week, I have been battling the cold of the century. I took two days off work, sat on my couch and felt sorry for myself. (However, I did get through an ENTIRE season of “Outlander” – so not a complete waste).

Now that I am back, and semi-healthy, I thought I would tackle this blog post I have been thinking about for the last couple of months. It is quite extensive, so I have been putting it off… But here it goes.

Greek Myths!  Dun- dun – duuuuun

Greek Myths can seem boring… students groan and yawn when you tell them they’re going to read about Zeus and the gang. However, it doesn’t need to be boring at all. I mean, do they actually think about how many movies are based on Greek myths? Probably not. I bet they didn’t know that The Hunger Games was based on Theseus and the Minotaur right? 

Also – Zeus was a complete hound dog, and had some SPI (serious personal issues). I mean, the guy married his sister. Who does that? 

 

 You could amaze them with this fun fact! Did you know that Ryan Gosling (who is Canadian by the way – no big deal), played Young Hercules early on in his career? *mind blown.*

After you have wow-ed your little nuggets with these tales of wonder you can open the door to the world of the Greek Gods.

Check out my lesson plan for a schedule and learning objectives. I have included a PPT, and a link to the two stories – Persephone and the Story of the Seasons and Echo and Narcissus. These cost $3 dollars on Teachers Pay Teachers, BUT it is so worth it. Trust me. Everything is done for you, and you don’t need to worry about it. Finally there are the handouts, and the “Create Your Own Myth” summative activity. 

As an example of the “Create Your Own myth” to show your class, here is an extremely creative presentation that three of my students did a few years back. These students are great examples of what it means to have a good work ethic, because they put so much effort in to everything they did. The way the system works (thank you National Tests) makes us focus so much on grades and outcomes, and sometimes we forget about praising creativity and hard work. I honestly believe that having a good work ethic will get you much further in life than anything else.

Maybe we need to start teaching students that it doesn’t matter what grade they get, only that they gave it 100% on the way there. 

These girls did that – and I can’t wait to see what they will be doing in ten years.

 

Here are all the attachments.

Lesson Plan: My classes range from between 40 minutes – 1 hour, so I take about 4 weeks to complete this unit.

Powerpoint: Greek Mythology

 

 

 

Handouts: Myth Writing, and Group Evaluation

Persephone Story and Narcissus Story

Teachers Pay Teachers: Echo and Narcissus

Teachers Pay Teachers: Persephone

 

Summative Activity Outline

 

Let me know how your myths go! It would be lovely to see some examples.