Summer SAVY Session 4, Day 2, From Myth to Modern Legend (Schwartz)
Day 2: Today, we continued to read, discuss, and debate interpretations of Greek myths. Students began the day by writing and sharing their thoughts on what makes a hero. Next, we recapped yesterday’s lessons on the gods and goddesses. We returned to one of yesterday’s most important moments, reading and discussing two more poems that present different perspectives on Persephone’s story. Students handled these sophisticated readings very well! We then did our own interpretive work by imagining new gods and goddesses, then bringing them to life to interact with each other.
After a break, we met our first classical hero, Hercules. After reading and watching a version of his story, students had a brief, lively debate about what they liked and didn’t like about the different interpretations. We discussed key ideas like the intended audience which will be important when students begin to draft their own myths later this week. Then, students wrote and performed their own short additional scenes from the film for the class.
We finished with more work on our board games. Students have now gotten to see or read lots of great interpretations of how to retell a classical tale. I look forward to their own storytelling still to come!
Mr. Schwartz