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Summer SAVY, Session 2 Day 3, Timeless Tales: Archetypes All Around Us (3rd-4th)

Posted by on Wednesday, June 18, 2025 in blog, SAVY.

Today was a day full of creativity and really working out our brains! We began the day with a “Would You Rather” game based on superheroes and the choices they have to make. An example of the questions asked includes the following: “Would you rather solve the problem and get no recognition, or have someone else solve it, but you get the credit for it?” While some of the questions were challenging, I was surprised by the students’ answers and impressed by the reasoning used to support their opinions. Next, we took a few minutes to finish up the comic strips from yesterday and allow everyone to present theirs to the group. This was a great way for us to review the steps in a hero’s journey as we learned about what everyone chose for their comics. 

 

After reminding ourselves of the hero’s journey, we took some time to examine some real-life heroes – Mother Theresa, Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride, Oprah Winfrey, and Lin-Manuel Miranda. Learners worked together to read through a biography of the chosen hero and map out the journey they went on to become successful. It was interesting to see how the journeys could be so different but still end with the same result of great success!  

 

After enjoying ORA, students came inside and worked together to try and solve a riddle! We spent about 25 minutes thinking and coming up with some great ideas together, but could not solve the riddle! If you want to give it a try with your child, search “can you solve the bridge riddle” from TED-Ed on YouTube. 

 

Following lunch, we reviewed our character and situational archetypes using a short film called “Runaway” about a fridge whose handle falls off and can’t be fixed. As a result, the fridge thinks his owner is going to replace him, so he runs away before he can be replaced. Using anchor charts displaying multiple character archetypes, students were able to identify this character as an example of the “unhealed wound” situational archetype!  

 

We spent most of our afternoon designing and building board games! The games must use a situational archetype to guide the game and at least 4 character archetypes. Other than those constraints, the activity is open-ended to allow students the opportunity to really explore their ideas and express their creativity. They had to have a deep understanding of the archetypes within the game to implement their design ideas, but were having so much fun that it didn’t even feel like work! As students were heavily invested in perfecting their games, we didn’t have time to play them all today, but we are very excited to start our day on Friday by playing each other’s games! 

 

Below are some questions to consider asking your child to help them solidify new knowledge and reflect on their learning: 

  • How did you try to solve the riddle? 
  • Tell me about your board game. How did you decide which archetypes to use? 
  • Do you think the person you read about should be considered a hero? Why or why not?