Greek Mythology for co-op - help!

[tinkgumby]

I am going to be teaching Greek Mythology to a group (maybe 15-20?) of 8- to 12-year-old kids this Spring for 12 weeks (1-hour classes). I have never even attended a co-op, so I don't really know what is expected. I have lots of Greek Mythology books, but don't know how to tie it into an interesting and *fun* course.

 

Any suggestions? Has anyone taught this to a co-op before? Would it be too boring to read about a different myth each week and then do some little craft or activity associated with it (make paper wings for our shoes for Hermes and deliver letters; act out a myth with costumes; make Medusa's head out of playdoh and the mirror shield out of cardboard and tin foil)? Are at-home assignments usually handed out at co-op classes?

 

Any input would be extremely welcome! :bigear:

[mcconnellboys]

I think your ideas sound good. Some coops send work home and some don't. I'd check with other adults involved to see what level of work is expected for the classes.

 

Here are some other ideas you might be able to use:

 

http://www.mythweb.com/teachers/tips/tips.html

 

http://www.squidoo.com/ancient-greek-activities

[zenjenn]

As a fun thing on the side, consider reading the Percy Jackson series if your child hasn't already.

 

And.. then it is fun to point out all the places in literature and elsewhere where the references to Greek mythology are abundant. For example, ask your kids to postulate why they think the planets are named after the gods they are named after? Why is the Ares program called the Ares program? Why do the days of the week have the names they have? Compare in different languages. What about popular appearance such as Venus women's razors, or the winged cherubs on Valentine's Day? Why is music called music? A fun prospect, to search for all the places in everyday language where we can find reference to ancient western mythology!

[Dawn E]

There is a Greek Mythology Literature Pockets that could have some activity ideas, too.

[tinkgumby]

Thanks for the links and ideas! Keep them coming, if anyone has more! :001_smile:

[mcconnellboys]

And there's some mythology related lapbooking out there, too.

[Meriwether]

I am going to be teaching Greek Mythology to a group (maybe 15-20?) of 8- to 12-year-old kids this Spring for 12 weeks (1-hour classes). I have never even attended a co-op, so I don't really know what is expected. I have lots of Greek Mythology books, but don't know how to tie it into an interesting and *fun* course.

 

Any suggestions? Has anyone taught this to a co-op before? Would it be too boring to read about a different myth each week and then do some little craft or activity associated with it (make paper wings for our shoes for Hermes and deliver letters; act out a myth with costumes; make Medusa's head out of playdoh and the mirror shield out of cardboard and tin foil)? Are at-home assignments usually handed out at co-op classes?

 

Any input would be extremely welcome! :bigear:

 

I really like you idea of reading a myth and then doing an activity.

[Jamee]

My son would love this. How about some of the activities from the guide to Greek Myths: http://www.teachercreated.com/products/a-guide-for-using-d-aulaires-book-of-greek-myths-in-the-classroom-0423

[tinkgumby]

Thanks for the additional ideas! I'd love to do a lapbook if we had time . . . or at least do an info sheet for each hero or myth we learn about.

 

My 10-year-old son suggested making gingerbread "babies" so we could pretend to be Cronus eating them. Is that too gruesome, do you think? :001_huh:

[tinkgumby]

Now the main trouble is narrowing it down to just 11 or 12 Greek myths! :D Does anyone have an opinion on which ones we shouldn't miss?

 

I want the kids to have a general overview at least of the major Gods and Goddesses, and include some of the most action-packed ones (definitely Perseus - can't wait to make a Play-Doh Medusa head, and maybe a mirror shield!).

 

Here's some ideas in no particular order (thanks largely to the links provided, thanks!) - which do you think kids ages 8-12 would like? Are they possible in a co-op setting? Am I missing anything major?

 

1 - Origins and Zeus - color map of Greece; eat baby cookies as Cronus, make lightning bolts, play Zeus on the Loose game

2 - Perseus/Medusa - make mirror shield out of cardboard and tin foil, Medusa head out of Play-Doh

3 - Hermes - write letters in Greek alphabet, make paper wings for shoes and deliver letters

4 - Demeter/Persephone/Hades - plant something, eat Pomegranate seeds, some sort of invisibility helmet for Hades or possibly a coin to pay Charon

5 - Pandora - make Pandora's box

6 - Poseidon - make trident

7 - Arachne - make a web out of paper and yarn

8 - Hephaestus - make chains out of twisted tin foil and gems, or robots (somehow)

9 - Hercules - so many possibilities! Eat golden apples, make a club or pretend lion skin, draw favorite scene from all of his adventures . . .

10 - Theseus and Ariadne and the Minotaur - make a maze, play Lego Minotaurus game, follow yarn through an obstacle course of chairs

11 - Jason and the Golden Fleece - act out after reading; make a golden fleece out of cotton balls or pom poms; make an easy model of the Argos . . .

12 - Helen/Trojan War - make a Trojan horse out of cardboard boxes big enough to hide in

13 - Overview/review of the Gods and heroes to wrap up the semester - make a family tree of how they all relate, Greek paper dolls, word search, eat Greek food (?)

[Stacy in NJ]

Some are very academics focused, others not so much.

 

The crafts you mentioned in your prior post would be fine for younger kids at a not-very academic co-op.

 

Honestly, those activites are a bit babyish for 12 year olds, though. You might want to create two levels of lesson plans. One for just fun and the younger kids, and then add another resource with extra reading and writing activites. I'd suggest the D'Aulaires' book with the Memoria Press study guide for families that want "more".

[tinkgumby]

Thank you! That's feedback I needed - since my boys are on the younger side, I don't really know what to ask/expect of 12-year-olds. It's a great idea to have different levels; I'll look into that.

[Jen in PA]

I taught a co-op class last spring called Greek Mythology for Percy Jackson fans. We covered a lot of what is in the first two books of the series, basically the main Greek deities and the Odyssey. I used several projects and handouts from this book. We did a mix of trivia games, hands-on activities like making Greek weapons, had a Greek feast, and I had a lot of activities geared toward small group projects. I usually had extension activities so that if students wanted to write, research, or draw more on what we had covered in class they could do so at home and then I would start the next class with a few minutes for everyone to share what they had worked on. I read a short version of the Odyssey aloud in class and was surprised by how much they enjoyed listening. My personal favorite activity was having them, in small groups, write journal entries as if they were members of Odysseus's crew. I also brought in some of the Mythlopedia books, and those were huge hits. I think the youngest student was 8 and the oldest a young 13. The eight-year olds did less writing and more drawing in response to some of the activities, while the 13-year-old did some extra research on the Greek alphabet and weaponry. I think that it worked well at multiple levels.

[tinkgumby]

Jen, that sounds like a total blast! Were your extension activities usually from the book you linked? The Mythlopedia books look wonderful - did you read from them, or give them time to look through them? I love the journal entry idea!

[Susie in CA]

My ds 11 is in a Co-op this year. Our first year ever! It has been wonderful. Books they read are

 

The first two Percy Jackson Books

The Greek Myth series by Mary Pope Osborne (the title escapes me at the moment)

D'Aulaires Greek Myth

 

All the kids in the class picked one character to give an oral report on. They had to present for about 5 minutes with or without props. Ds picked Theseus and brought in a minotaur sculpture he made.

 

All the kids picked a god to make out of sculpey. They all brought their figures to class and over several periods worked on making short movies using their claymations.

 

I am sure they did more things. These two I remember because there was homework involved. DS had a blast and learned tons. On top of that he did his first ever oral presentation and made his first movie. :001_smile:

 

Susie

[Sevilla]

I am going to be teaching Greek Mythology to a group (maybe 15-20?) of 8- to 12-year-old kids this Spring for 12 weeks (1-hour classes). I have never even attended a co-op, so I don't really know what is expected. I have lots of Greek Mythology books, but don't know how to tie it into an interesting and *fun* course.

 

Any suggestions? Has anyone taught this to a co-op before? Would it be too boring to read about a different myth each week and then do some little craft or activity associated with it (make paper wings for our shoes for Hermes and deliver letters; act out a myth with costumes; make Medusa's head out of playdoh and the mirror shield out of cardboard and tin foil)? Are at-home assignments usually handed out at co-op classes?

 

Any input would be extremely welcome! :bigear:

I just finished teaching the Greek Myths at our classical coop. The students were 9-11 years old and loved it. Some ideas:

 

1. Read aloud (this is really good for their oral comprehension). D'Aullieres Greek Myths is an excellent book with good illustrations.

 

2. Have them write journal entry as if they were one of the characters in a myth and then share it with the class

 

3. Divide them into small groups to have them put together a skit acting out a certain story. My students were very creative with this - they included the story of Pegasus' creation and the story of Chronos eating his children.

 

4. Draw a cartoon retelling a story with dialogue/illustrations

 

5. Pictionary with the Greek Myths (write down the names of key gods/goddesses/heros and students draw one that they have to illustrate on the board and their team tries to guess)

 

6. Character analysis: They take the name of a god/goddess (ex. Athena) and then write an acronym for each word of their name (the kids are very creative with this).

All-wise

Teacher

Head-born

Excellent at disguises

Not married

Adventures with heroes

[meet me in paris]

ETC - Excellence Through Classics, which does the National Mythology Exam, has a lot of teaching packets that are great for classroom/co-op, and probably more age-appropriate:

 

http://www.etclassics.org/materials.html

[tinkgumby]

Thank you all! These are such fabulous ideas - I can't wait to try some of them out! :D

[kpnick in nc]

I remember when I was in seventh grade, during a Greek myth unit, I made a model of Athena's throne and wrote a mythologcial story (maybe using Prometheus/fire as a model?). I don't remember the source for the throne descriptions (I remember reading several of them and choosing Athena's for the project).

Even as a 7th-grader, I enjoyed making the throne, which the youngers should be able to do. Maybe the older ones that need a little enrichment could write their own myths.

Just offering a perspective from my school memories of what I enjoyed. Sorry there's not much "here's a resource..." help! :001_smile: