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DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
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DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

6th Grade English

MYTHOLOGY MONTH

 

 

 


MYTHOLOGY MONTH OVERVIEW

 

You can start even before the official start of Mythology Month to cover creation stories, comparing and contrasting various cultural interpretations and approaches.  A good creative writing assignment for a weekend is for them to dream up their own fantastic approach to a creation story.

 

From there you can start to discuss how Myths are formed and how they evolve.  I like to link this to an enormous game of cultural ‘telephone’, and have even played the telephone game with my group: a fun ice-breaker and group bonding activity never hurts to start a unit!

 

This month for my class also requires a fresh journal, one dedicated to this month’s topics (they are always free to journal anything personal and unrelated in my class if they choose, but I like to have a fresh clean start for the start of such an enormous unit).   I’ll enclose a good list of journal topics that help flesh out this unit.

 

On top of that I like to have ready some music that might help set the mood and get them in an ‘epic’ headspace- but you can gauge your own tastes and whether or not your class responds well to that type of stimulus.

 

If your classroom isn’t already arranged into learning stations, I would recommend it for this month.  There’s a lot of material to cover in a relatively short amount of time, especially since we are cramming in and\or disguising a lot of other topics in here, so Stations can be a lifesaver for this!

The stations I always rely on are as follows:

 

Listening Station- the students listen to books on tape and follow along with their own copies.  There are some good BBC radio pieces for a lot of the Greek stuff which can be fun for this age group- but if you can find an American company that usually helps ground the activity for them.  As I run a theatre company I’ve had the luxury of making my own, using a wide range of ages and ethnicities and it works great for my situation.  E-mail me and I’ll see if I can send along a copy if you are interested!

 

Computer  Station- This is a series of projects that are going to require a lot of research for all sorts of things and they should have access to this in class if you are at all able.  It is especially important in my situation because many of my students won’t have access to the internet at home, and especially not to printers, so if you need things with images from the net, or even if you just require a typed paper (we have a newspaper activity as a cumulative project) you’d better provide them with the time and resources to complete the assignment.

 

Vocabulary Station- I have this one all year, and it requires a lot of pre-planning but helps the whole year run much more smoothly.  At this station in small groups they do vocabulary building games and puzzles, have vocab challenges and generally focus on familiarizing themselves with the vocabulary you’ve selected.  The Mythology section is often one of the more challenging sections for vocab, so I like to make sure this station is solidly engaging and productive. 

 

Reading Station- In addition to the reading we’ll do together I’ll also have the usual leveled readers with their own stories to get through at their various paces.  This is usually where I’ll need to be during station time, helping them read aloud, checking for comprehension and leading small group discussions. 

 

Free Station- This station becomes more and more critical toward the end of the unit as they will have a lot to accomplish for their big project.  This is a time when they can be working on that, including drawing\coloring, working with partners, writing pieces for the final task and finishing\adding to their journals.  Depending on which activities you choose they may also need to be rehearsing for a performance or finishing work on the computers (I always have one or two free for the free-station kids to  share, or a pass to the computer lab could help!).

 

Ideas for Activities

After the intro with various creation stories and the establishment of ‘myth’, I like to segue into a bit of Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey.  Before you raise your eyebrows too high, it isn’t that we read text from the book, but rather we begin to discuss the idea that there is really only one story told over and over again.  This will, generally, blow their minds and after an awed acceptance, you will then (hopefully) get push-back.  As this idea settles in what often happens is a collective sense that a gauntlet has been thrown down and they have been challenged somehow, to an intellectual duel.  Now every story we read from then on they are trying out, testing it against the Hero’s Journey, comparing it and contrasting it to find exceptions to the rule.  It is a fun and fabulous way to get them thinking analytically while also spurring them to new creative heights- as in their creative writing journals they are trying very hard to be new and fresh and Joseph Campbell-defying! (As they read these stories with the Hero’s journey in mind it also amps up their skill of prediction—all of a sudden the “what do you think will happen next?” prompt yields a lot more richly mined results!)

 

I’ve done the unit without doing the Hero’s Journey stuff and I think the retention of much of the stories is about half what it could be otherwise.  Essential questions having to do with this topic are often the most controversial and provocative, and 6th graders are right at that age where provocative is the best way to get them motivated.

 

I’d recommend something along the lines of: “Why does anyone bother writing when every story has already been told?”.  Incendiary language like “crazy”, “waste of time” “what’s the point” and such really help get their blood pumping!  In my experience essential questions like this may seem like they will lead to an apathetic, tune-out response, actually do the opposite.  It seems no one is quite willing to accept that there is nothing new to be said, no new story to be told. 

It’s a challenge, not a barricade.

 

It’s also fun to pop-corn brainstorm on this topic, having them think first of stories that easily fit into the classic mold of the hero’s journey and then make a counter list (when they are ready) of films, books, and stories that don’t seem to fit quite so easily.  A lot of debate can occur with this one as they challenge assumptions and re-examine familiar stories to bend it to fit the mold in some way, or defend it as unique.  Always have them follow up with a journal entry about their thoughts on this.  You can even encourage them to have a running list of stories that fit and ones that they don’t believe will fit.

 

It can be fun for the more visually inclined learners to make a collage of this same idea, even in a ven diagram sort of way with classic images and story icons on one side, off-beat and a-typical stuff on the other side and images which represent a melding or a marriage of the two toward the center (or however they want to structure it—it is after all an art piece, so not too much restriction, I beg!).

 

Alright, now on to some more mythology!  If you’ve done the Campbell stuff you’ve just equipped your class with a thirst for more stories and the tools with which to attack their prey!  Their appetites whetted they are generally very receptive to hearing tales from when storytelling was fresh and young, and are also fascinated to see how stories they know and love from their own lives are often re-telling of ancient myths.  If you have room to watch an appropriate Disney movie or other such appropriate re-hashing of a classic myth, it is always fun to do that and then have them do an analytical writing piece sort of uncovering the truth behind it, comparing it and contrasting it with the myth.  It’s a fun detective-like exercise and the general reaction seems to be one of “heyyyyyyy!” as though the filmmakers were caught trying to pull a fast one!  If you don’t have time (I often don’t)- you can relate do a similar popcorning activity and have them do it as homework on a movie they come up with on their own (you might want to make suggestions so they don’t spend a week trying to find one!).

 

Some of my favorite activities to go along with the reading of these myths, aside from what they are doing at their stations, include the following:

 

Make a board game based on the story.  This is generally best done in groups of no more than 5, though 4 works best.  This is a fun way for them to boil down the story into what was most important and a good way to reinforce the narrative structure.  The Hero’s Journey will usually play a predominant role in the creation of this piece.

 

Create a Comic Book of the story.  This is the one my boys go crazy over.  The girls aren’t generally as interested, so I usually allow them to create a Fairy Tale version instead.  Both activities are fun and are a great way for you as a teacher to assess what they’ve retained and also how they are personally connecting to the material.  Please note that I do not segregate the class into boys and girls, it just usually happens that way for this assignment.

 

After we’ve read a few stories I like to have them do research and find a greek (or whatever culture you are focusing on) god or goddess who appeals to them and learn all about them much the same way 4th graders have to learn about the states and the presidents.  However instead of a book report I like to set up a get-together for all these gods and goddesses wherein they are allowed to interact in character.  It’s fun to have a party, like a harvest festival, but the situation is often more pointed and productive if you can have a summit in order to solve some crisis first.  There’s nothing like a crisis to draw out opinions and personalities!  Maybe after they’ve come to a resolution they can mix and mingle at a big gods and goddesses office party.  The harvest is fun because a lot of them will have done research on ambrosia and grapes and grain and other related things and many students like to incorporate that into their particular god or goddess characterization. 

 

*I’ve heard from collegues that doing a “reality show” is a good one, but haven’t tried that yet myself.  I like the level of debate inherent in a summit or in a court trial of some kind, but imagine arguments over who used the last of the peanut butter and didn’t buy a new one could be entertaining (though not necessarily as challenging for them).

 

The big wrap-up is the keystone to my entire project.  I will always arrange the groups for this one, according to the learning styles and also the dynamics of the group, since this is essentially their final exam on the unit. 

 

Earlier in the year we will have covered to some extent journalism and the newspaper.  I always like to revisit that with this project because now that they are so invested in their mythology it helps elevate their interest in the newspaper unit (which can be like pulling teeth!).  Their task is to put together a newspaper as a class, with each student responsible for contributing to a section and each section adding up to a whole, complete project.  This will completely consume them, and it’s best not to try to test their vocab or push journaling at this time, as they will all want their contributions to be strong and polished. 

The newspaper must be all about the world of the mythology… the Olympus Tribune or something along those lines.

 

For topics\sections I recommend:

Leading News; Politics; Sports; Arts & Leisure; Entertainment\Gossip; Style; Advice Column; Letters to the Editor; Op Ed; Obituaries (gauge your group’s sense of humor and the macabre); Horoscope; Crossword Puzzle & Jumble;

Now obviously some sections seem lighter than others, so I often allow many jumbles and crossword clues to be submitted for anyone interested in extra credit.   I also love to invite everyone to submit comics for the funnies page and choose maybe 5 earn their place in the paper.  Along with all the writing I expect pictures to be submitted and encourage drawing them as well as finding internet sources and taking their own pictures.  In the past it has worked well to have all of them journal a letter to the editor or a ‘Dear Abby’, and choose several to have the advice column group and the editorial staff respond to. 

 

I like this activity because it stretches their minds creatively, challenges them to collaborate not only with small groups but then work together as an entire class to figure out format and order and over-all look and flow of the project, and it really gives them ownership over the topics.  They become the experts, and really flex their muscle while doing a very fun project. 

 

Often I have two English classes and I up the ante by inspiring a competitive spirit between the rival classes.  A little competition tends to breed great creativity in my classes.

HAVE FUN!

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Sample Vocabulary List

Myth

Legend

Muse

Mentor

Labyrinth

hero

nemesis

odyssey

nectar

ambrosia

tantalize

meander

catharsis

achilles’ heel

chimera

chorus

colossal

Hades

Elysian Fields

Archetype

Hubris

Sample Journal Topics for Exploration:

Remember to encourage the use of vocabulary words…


Try re-telling a part of the story in 1st person narrative.

 

Write a scene from the story (or not found in the story but ‘between the lines’) as a scene from a play.

 

Write the story from the point of view of the villain (or any other side character).

 

Write a letter to one of the gods or goddesses.

 

Re-write the ending to one of the stories we’ve read.

 

Create a new god or goddess and tell us his\her myth.

 

Make your case for how this story does or does not fit the Hero’s journey mold.

How could you make it different?

 

How are gods and superheroes alike?  How are they different?

 

If your life were a myth, how would you want it to be told\remembered?

 

Which myth would you make into a movie- why?

 

Write a hero’s journey style story for something inanimate, using personification.

 

Write a poem or song about something\someone from the myths.

 

These are just some of my many topic starters.  You can e-mail if you are stumped for more, but often they arise from class discussion and grow organically out of how the students are progressing from day to day.

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.