3 Effortless Greek Mythology Lessons
Get started with teaching Greek Mythology today!
Have you been wanting to teach Greek Mythology in your class, but don’t where to start? There is so much to Greek Mythology that it can feel overwhelming.
Look no further!
In this FREE download, you’ll get three days of lessons to get you started. These lessons are easy to implement, engaging for students, and will give you no-fail lessons to start your unit on Greek mythology.
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Lesson 1: What is Mythology?
Help students understand the complex literary nature of Myths by exploring examples of myths and creating definitions in collaborative groups. This product has every thing you need: lesson plan, myths, student notes, instructional strategies and resources.
In this detailed lesson plan, I walk you through the collaborative vocabulary definition activity that I did on the first day of my Mythology class every semester. I started my Mythology class with this lesson because students would often read myths as tall tales or false stories. Students became overly concerned about how people could believe or not believe the myths we were reading. I wanted to help them understand that the definition of mythology as a literary form is not about truth – it is a belief system. I believe it helped to set the tone for my class in respecting other beliefs.
Students read the Myth of Orion, the Boy Who Cried Wolf, Creation (2 versions), and a summary of Hercules to create a list of characteristics of Myths. Then they use these elements to create a definition in pairs or teams. They further refine their definitions by changing groups, until the class creates a definition collaboratively.
This activity created deep understanding of the key vocabulary for any mythology class or unit. It also teaches the expectations and routines for partner and group work.
Lesson 2: Clash of the Gods Zeus
The History Channel’s Clash of the Gods episodes introduce the myths and add history. These 40 minute videos are perfect to spice up a mythology unit. In this lesson, you’ll receive a comprehensive video guide for Episode 1: Zeus (you can find the video on Youtube).
Episode 1 covers the Greek Creation story and introduces all of the important gods in Greek Mythology.
What’s Included:
1. 40 short answer questions that follow along with the video. These are in chronological order with the video.
2. Guided notes. These notes, give students guiding questions or topics that they take notes on while watching the video. This allows students to practice note-taking by identifying and choosing important ideas and allows for student interest.
3. Multiple Choice and True/False quiz to be used after showing the video.
4. Answer keys for study guide and quiz.
Arachne the Weaver Podcast Notes
Incorporate and practice the speaking and listening standards during your Greek Mythology unit by listening to National Geographic Kid’s podcast Greeking Out – Season 1, Episode 5: Arachne the Weaver. Keep students engaged in listening to the kid-friendly podcast by using these student notes and listening guide.
As students listen to the podcast they will write a summary, keep track of characters and gods, incorporate drawing, learn new vocabulary, and be introduced to cool new facts in a way that only National Geographic Kids can do.
A lesson plan for the teacher is included with links to listen and ideas for after listening activities. You can play the podcast from your computer, phone, or iPad from Apple’s podcast library or Spotify. This is perfect for a substitute or emergency lesson since everything is print and go.
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