Summer SAVY, Session 6 Day 3, “Greek Mythology 2.0” (5th-6th)
Happy Wednesday! We had another fun day in Greek Mythology 2.0! While the first two days of class focused on forgotten titans, gods, and other immortal figures, today’s lessons focused on forgotten heroes and humans from the mythology canon. We began by diving a little bit deeper into the story of Pelops (we had already learned a little bit about him on Monday, as he was a key character in our mock trial), and then we studied the story of Althea and Meleager. Students had the chance to design their very own prophecy as a more modern version of the prophecy that Althea received, and then they transformed their prophecies into riddles for their partners to solve (in the spirit of a true oracle!). I was so impressed with the students’ creativity in creating their riddles, and we had a lot of fun trying to solve each other’s prophecies.
From there, we learned of the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe (actually the inspiration for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet!). In the original myth, Pyramus and Thisbe pass notes through a crack in the wall, so we had our own “note passing challenge,” where students drew images in stages and sent them over the “wall” to get their partner to guess what they were drawing as quickly as possible! It was such a fun way to get the students up and moving.
In the afternoon, students had an opportunity to choose any inanimate object that they would want to come to life if they could have it, and they drew or created a representation of that item to share. This brief activity led us into studying the myth of Pygmalion and Galatea! Finally, we spent the last portion of the afternoon working on our final projects. The students are making good progress, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with for the final presentations.
Some dinner table questions:
- What did you think of the wall-passing challenge?
- Which of the myths that we studied today was your favorite, and why?
- What did you create for your prophecy? Were you able to stump people with your riddle?
- How is your final project coming along?
Tomorrow will be our “Trojan War” day, and students will participate in a full-day competition! I am so excited, and I hope that the students are too!
Warmly,
Ms. Waxman