Mythology Daily Lessons
Ares
Nov.
12
• Read page 32 in D’Aulaire’s
• In paragraph form, answer the following.
– Explain “skin deep beauty” using Ares as an example.
– What is ironic about him being the god of war? What
might this say about war?
– Remember what we have studied about writing
effective responses. RACE
Athens, Greece
Nov. 13
Athens, Greece: Ancient Acropolis
and Agora by Rick Steves 4:32
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
xP-FsX0QW88
Athena
Nov. 13
A Link to a Short
Version of Athena’s
Story
http://www.mythweb.
com/gods/athena.html
• Read pages 34-37 in D’Aulaires’.
• Create a visual image of Athena showing her
character, interests, role in mythology, etc. On the
back, write a paragraph about why the city of
Athens is so named. Make sure you have a strong
topic sentence.
Rick Riordan
Nov. 14
Podcast:
http://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/aud
io/kids/068-episode-for-families-percyjackson--the-olympians-the-lightning-thiefat-the-met
• Get out your assignment on Athena. Make sure your
name and period are on it. Underline the topic sentence
of the paragraph that you wrote. Put it in the tray.
• In your journal--What do you think inspires authors to
write the books that they do? What questions would you
ask Rick Riordan about the Percy Jackson series?
• Listen to the podcast.
• In your journal--What would you still like to ask Rick
Riordan? If you could talk to him, what would you ask
him or talk about? What did you learn from the podcast?
• Prepositions
– Introduce Preposition Song
– Next Slide
– Quiz-________
Preposition Review: Write at least 5 sentences about mythology
that contain prepositional phrases.
across
from
over
after
in
round
among
into
since
at
like
through
before
near
to
between
off
under
by
on
until
during
out
up
for
opposite
with
HW—Complete the worksheet on prepositional phrases.
Poseidon—Nov. 17
 Read D’Aulaires’ pages 38-41.
 In the section you just read, you learned about Poseidon’s
personality. It is appropriate that he is the god of the sea
because his personality matches the temperament of the sea.
Write a paragraph comparing Poseidon’s personality to the
temperament of the seas.
 Now, think about what your personality could be compared to.
Explain your thinking.
 After you finish your paragraph, type what you are comparing
your personality to in the opened screen of wordle.net or
http://www.tagxedo.com/. If you have more than one word,
type them as one word and capitalize each word. We will
create a Wordle for each class and one for all of the classes
combined.
Hades—Nov. 18-20
 Read D’Aulaires’ pages 56-63.
 Draw your own map of Hades including the River Styx,
Persephone, Hades, Tartus, Elysian Fields, Hermes, Charon,
Cerberus, and Rhadamanthus. Add one other detail that you
find in the pages read. Use prepositional phrases to help
describe their locations. At least 4 of your sentences must start
with the prepositional phrase. For example, you might draw the
Cererbus beside the gates. Next to your drawing, you would
write, “Cerberus sits beside the gates.” Do not repeat
prepositions. Please underline the prepositional phrases. Make
sure to use correct capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.
Atlas and
Hercules—Nov.
21
• Preposition Test
• Read pages 132-146
• You are starting a company that you are naming after Atlas or
Hercules. What would the company do? What would be its
name? What would be the slogan and logo? What would be
its address? Who would be your target audience?
• Using what you learned about propaganda, create an
advertisement for your company.
• End of Class—What did you think about this task? Why did
you create the ad you did? Do you think your ad tells about
the character of Atlas or Hercules? Why?
Other Myths Dec. 1
• Get a yellow literature book and read
– Apollo’s Tree: The Story of Daphne and Apollopages 658-661
– Arachne- pages 662--666
• After reading, write 5 one sentence
summaries for each of the stories. Make
sure you use correct capitalization and
punctuation.
• If you finish, you may work on the
comprehension sheets that go with the
short myths found on the table.
Contract Dec. 2-4
– You are going to spend the next three days completing a minicontract with different tasks. Some are required and some
provide you with choice. Please make sure you pace yourself
to finish all of your work.
– See next 2 slides.
Contract-2 slides. Handout.
• Everyone should do the following 3 writing to learn tasks:
• 1. Read D’Aulaires’ pages 100-107. What is the connection
between the Muses and the word museum?
• 2. Read D’Aulaires’ pages 182-189. Explain the meaning of
“Achilles heel.”
• 3. Read D’Aulaires’ page 74 about Pandora and her box. On
a piece of white paper, draw a picture of what you think her
box would look like today and brainstorm at least 10 evils
that she would release into the world in a modern version
of her story.
• 4. Read D’Aulaires’ pages 123-131. Using a bulleted list
describe several unusual punishments handed out by the
gods. In paragraph form, answer the following. If you had
been given one of the punishments, which would you
choose? Why?
•
• Choose one of the following.
• Complete your choice on a piece of notebook paper. If you want to be
creative with the text messages layout, you may use a piece of white
paper.
• 1. Write a series of text messages from one god or goddess to another.
You may use texting language. There should be a minimum of 10
exchanges. Make sure that you clearly indicate who is “talking” and
use creativity.
• 2. Write 5 clues for at least 5 different characters, gods, goddesses, etc.
Provide the answer as well. These clues should help others determine
who you are referring to without being too obvious.
• Example:
• Answer: Zeus—You may not use Zeus as one of your 5.
• Nursed by the fairy goat Amaltheia, Feared, A Titan, Loved by his
mother, Could be invisible
•
• If you finish early, get one of my other books on mythology and read
stories from other cultures.
•
Helios and Phaethon and King
Midas—Dec. 5
• Read D’Aulaires’ pages 82-85 and pages 124-125.
• In the first story, Helios promises his son anything he
wanted without anticipating the consequences about
what he might wish for. In the second story, King
Midas almost starved to death because of the wish
King Midas made. If you could make one wish, what
would you wish for? Write at least 5 sentences
explaining your wish. Then, make a t-chart with
positive consequences on one side and negative,
unintended consequences on the other.
• If you finish, you may work on the comprehension
sheets that go with the short myths found on the table.
Theseus-Dec. 8
• Read D’Aulaires’ pages 148-157.
• In the story, Hades had a magic bench that no one
could ever rise from once they had sat on it. If you
had to place the bench somewhere and never rise
from it, where would you choose to put it and
why? What would you want to
see/experience/hear, etc? Use strong details to
help explain why you would choose this spot.
• If you finish, you may work on the comprehension
sheets that go with the short myths found on the
table.
Dec. 9
• Select one of the pieces you have written during
this unit. On a piece of paper provided, re-write
it as a final draft. Make sure you use RACE to
develop a complete response.
• Pick either of the following pieces:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Athena paragraph
Poseidon paragraph
Muse paragraph
Achilles’ paragraph
King Midas paragraph
Hades’ bench paragraph
The Golden Fleece—Dec. 10
•
•
•
•
Read D’Aulaires’ pages 162-175.
The Golden Fleece was hung in
Apollo’s temple in Delphi to
remind all Greeks of the great
deeds of Jason and the
Argonauts. Think forward many,
many years into the future. What
do you want to be remembered
for after your death? Why? What
will you need to do to make this
happen? Explain in a paragraph.
When you finish, organize the
items in your binder to be in the
order listed to the right.
If you finish, you may work on the
comprehension sheets that go
with the short myths found on
the table.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Table of Contents
Ares—skin deep beauty
Rick Riordan—what would you still want to
ask him
Poseidon—describe how Poseidon’s
personality was like the temperament of the
seas; what is your personality like
Echo/Prometheus/Orpheus and
Eurydice/Icarus and Daedalus/Phaeton—
summary of one
Helios and Phaethon and King Midas—what
would you wish for? Pros and cons?
Theseus—where would you put your bench?
The Golden Fleece—what do you want to be
remembered for?
Apples of Love and the Apple of Discord—
characteristics of happy relationships—word
splash—tomorrow’s assignment
The Apples of Love and The Apple of
Discord--Dec. 11
•
•
•
•
Read D’Aulaires’ pages 178180.
This story describes several
relationships that are both
happy and unhappy.
Brainstorm characteristics of
happy relationships of any
kind—parent and child,
friends, spouses, etc. Create
a word splash of these
characteristics.
When you finish, organize
the items in your binder to
be in the order listed to the
right. These will be turned in
tomorrow.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ares—skin deep beauty and irony about him
being god of war
Rick Riordan—what would you still want to ask
him
Poseidon—describe how Poseidon’s personality
was like the temperament of the seas; what is
your personality like
Echo/Prometheus/Orpheus and Eurydice/Icarus
and Daedalus/Phaeton—summary of one—You
may not have finished this. If not, don’t worry
about doing it now.
Helios and Phaethon and King Midas—what
would you wish for? Pros and cons?
Theseus—where would you put your bench?
The Golden Fleece—what do you want to be
remembered for?
Apples of Love and the Apple of Discord—
characteristics of happy relationships—word
splash of brainstormed list
Dec. 12
• Staple the items in your binder together and
turn them in. These were to be gathered
yesterday.
• Who am I? Identify the mythological
character in the PowerPoint. Quiz grade.
• Read D’Aulaires’ pages 182-187.
• If you finish, you may work on the
comprehension sheets that go with the short
myths found on the table.
Dec. 15
• Read the story “The Horse of Wood” by Alfred
J. Church
• In class, you are going to write an extended
response to the following question. This will
count as a grade.
• Explain the expression: “Beware of Greeks
Bearing Gifts.” Cite evidence from “The Horse
of Wood” to support your response.
Dinner PartyDec. 16 and 17
•
•
You and friends have a party planning business
that has been hired to plan a birthday party for
Zeus. The guest list should include another god,
a goddess, a mythological creature/beast, and a
mortal. Again, this is a time to be creative while
also including facts from the stories you have
read.
Your team will have a large piece of paper to
create an idea board for the party.
• Ideas of what to include:
– Develop a menu for the
party.
– Tell how each character is
going to arrive at the party.
– What gift will each guest
give Zeus for his birthday?
– Who is going to sit by each
other at the table and what
will they talk about?
– Is there entertainment?
Song list? Band?
– Is Zeus going to give party
favors? What?
– Memorable quotes from
the party
Your Choice—Dec. 18 and 19
• Today, you have a choice on what you want to do for
the last two days of the unit. Your work should
illustrate what you have learned during the unit.
• Choices:
– Rewrite the ending of your favorite myth.
– Write a proposal for a video game based on Greek
mythology including details about the plot, characters, etc.
– Design a mythological zoo.
– Design and illustrate a comic strip on mythology.
– Use a well-known song and rewrite the lyrics to be about
mythology.