This learning module will develop complex thinking strategies as they read and respond to the challenges of understanding the elements of myths. The student will work on creating their own mythological character along with writing a myth.
Thinking Strategies, Myths, Elements of Myths, Figurative Language
Learning Module Description:
This 4th-grade learning module will help students to develop complex thinking strategies as they read and respond to the challenges of understanding the elements of myths. The students will work on creating their mythological character along with writing a myth to showcase their understanding of myths and also the ability to write a narrative.
Essential Questions:
Common Core Standards:
READING: LITERATURE
WRITING
LANGUAGE
ONLINE DISCUSSION POST RUBRIC - FOR INDIVIDUAL OR GROUP MEMBERS
The New Learning Affordances that will be addressed in this unit are:
Ubiquitous Learning: students will be allowed the opportunity to work on the projects and activities on their own time outside of class, as well as in the class with instructor and classmate help and feedback.
Multimodal Learning: students will be utilizing various forms of multimedia throughout the unit to research and complete various tasks
Active Knowledge Making: students will be conducting research on various myths and mythology related topics to create their knowledge bases
Recursive Feedback: students will be reviewing each other's projects when creating mythology cards and original myths and other activities based on a teacher created rubric
Collaborative Intelligence: students will be working together to improve their various projects and group activities
Metacognition: students will be reflecting on the comments and feedback provided to them as they complete their final drafts
Differentiated Learning: students of various levels and abilities will be assessed with the same criteria, but will have the option of choosing projects more to their ability
What do you know about? What do these word sets have in common?
Zeus, Medusa, Mount Olympus
Neptune, Juno, Hercules
Anubis, Ra, Osiris
Thor, Loki, Asgard
Gather in groups of 2-3 and then post a comment to this update on the items you know or how they are possibly related to each other.
Next, move onto the video and watch up to 2:11 of the video to get a better idea of where these names came from.
As a class discuss what other common ties these words have to each other.
Myths normally try to explain something that happens in nature in a supernatural way.
Resources: "What is a myth?" video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0wnvDUsB7Q
Objective/Standards: To introduce the students to myths by giving names and places common to certain cultures. Ex: Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and Norse though not limited to those. Also, this activity is to determine the students' schema when it comes to myths.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Send post to students. They will read the sets of the words and determine what they are and what they have in common, they will then post what they group has come up with. Second, they watch the first 2:11 seconds of the video and then determine if their observations were correct.
Assessment: Student groups will be comprised of 2-5 students and check to see each group has done two posts. One post on the word groups and then a follow up after watching the video. Conduct an informal discussion on ways that one could find what the words have in common and look for that information.
Follow Up: Determine by group responses what students schema of myths and the different types listed and adjust future assignments accordingly. Also, define who the characters, places, and creatures were in the lists creating an anchor chart together and researching the names.
Reference Materials:
Now that you've learned what a myth is it's time to break down the parts of a myth story.
First, look at this anchor chart to help break it down for you.
In a myth the story elements are:
Characters - Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Heroines, or supernatural creatures all usually have human emotions/feelings
Setting - Takes place in the past and somewhere important today
Plot - Usually to try to explain why something in nature is the way it is. Usually through the use of some supernatural power or magic. Sometimes will teach a lesson.
Choose one of these readers theater mythoostories and see if you can pick out the three main elements of characters, setting, and plot and post an update. Include the title of the story you chose along with those parts.
Objective/Standards: For students to break down the elements or components of what make a myth and define those parts in previously written stories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
Directions: Students will look over the anchor chart to get an idea of what parts or elements make up a myth. Reading further will have a breakdown of the three main components of characters, setting, and plot. They will read through one of the readers theater stories and then create an update breaking down the parts of the myth in it. This can be done in small groups or individually. Alternatively, small groups can be assigned and give one story per group.
Assessment: Check for student's understanding through their update posts by seeing if they were successful in labeling all important parts of the readers theater.
Follow Up: Read through the stories as a class and break down the parts of the story together on an anchor chart and check against group's updates/comments.
What are some themes in myth stories?
First, a theme is the subject or lesson of the myth. Here's a list of common themes:
Heroism
Generosity
Faith
Love
Good vs Evil
Fate
Sacrifice
Create a comment to this with your partner and in your own words describe what the definition of these words and come up with an example for each.
Next, click the link below the picture to see some definitions and examples of themes:
Were you right? Discuss in your group on how close your definitions were to the sample ones.
Resources: http://www.gradesaver.com/mythology/study-guide/themes
Objective/Standards: To introduce the topic of themes to the students so they are better able to understand myths they read and are able to determine the theme of the myth independently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.2 - Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Students will read over the list of themes in their group and come up with a comment post on what they as a group decides the definition and example of each theme is. They will then click the link below the picture to read through some definitions and examples for the themes.
Assessment: Student groups will be comprised of 2-5 students and check to see each group has done one post utilizing this rubric.
Follow Up: Determine by group responses what students schema of mythology themes and adjust future assignments accordingly.
There are an assortment of words and phrases that have been carried down from myths and stories from the past that we still used today. They are tied to people, creatures, and places from the past but don't necessarily carry the same meaning today as they did back then.
As pairs you will be randomly assigned one of the twelve words/phrases, one of you will illustrate what your group believes it to mean. The second partner will write the word/phrase on the back of the illustration paper along with what you both believe the definition to be, then both of you will write an update/comment for the class telling them what you think the definition of your word is. Once that step is finished you will use this link to see how close to the actual definition your group was.
As a class we will go through each word/phrase and try to see if we can come up with a definition of the word. This will let us see how closely our definitions match the groups and eventually the true to today defintion.
Words/Phrases:
To harp
Greeks bearing gifts
A mercurial disposition
An Achilles' heel
The Midas touch
A mentor
Nemesis
Phobia
Atlas
Cereal
Cloth
Echo
Objective/Standards: For students to able to determine the meaning of words and phrases commonly used today but are from characters found in the ancient mythology. Using their schema to decipher the words visually and also verbally.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mythology (e.g., Herculean).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Students need to look at the list of words and phrases, and when randomly assigned that word/phrase visually depict it along with attempting to define in their own words what its meaning is.
Assessment: Students will be assessed through their visual depiction and the written definition in the update/comment to see if they were able to come up with their own definition to the word/phrase no matter if it is the exact definition.
Follow Up: Post students work up for the class to see and utilize when it comes to further learning module sections and updates.
When reading and learning about myths it's helpful to use a variety of thinking strategies to help you understand what you've read.
This activity will help your understanding of the myths you read.
Follow these steps to help you get started:
Now you've learned how to use thinking strategies to help you with your reading. Post a response on how you could use one of these strategies to read a myth? (A short paragraph of 3-5 sentences is sufficient.)
Resources: Into the Book Site - http://reading.ecb.org/student/index.html?login=
Objective/Standards: For the students to develop complex thinking strategies as they read and respond to the challenges of understanding the elements of myths.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Students will use the website "Into the Book" to go through the following strategies: visualizing, questioning, synthesizing, making connections, and inferring. They will follow up each section they do by filling out a Google document and sharing it with the teacher.
Assessment: The teacher can follow up when the student submits their documents and provide feedback either in the form of comments or feedback right on the document.
Follow Up: The teacher can check to make sure each student has filled in the appropriate documents over several days. This activity isn't one that can be completed in one day because of time constraints. Once the students have completed all the activities, push out this myth for them to read and randomly assign the groups the following thinking strategies: visualizing, questioning, synthesizing, making connections, and inferring. Give them chart paper, and once they're finished with the reading have them make an anchor chart with their startegy to present to the class.
You will be watching creation myths from 4 different cultures: Greek, Inca, Iroquois, and Egyptian.
These videos all try to explain how that culture believes the world was created.
While you watch the videos make note on the Google document of the similarities and difference you've found between the cultures. Once finished with the document ask teacher for anchor chart paper and markers to transfer your work to a chart to share with the entire class.
Click the captions below the pictures to watch the videos.
Resources:
Greek Creation Myth - http://www.bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_greek_full.htm
Parthenon Image - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon
Incan Creation Myth - http://www.bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_inca_full.htm
Inca Sun Image - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Inca_Empire
Chinese Creation Myth - http://www.bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_chinese_full.htm
Chinese Egg Image - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_egg
Iroquois Creation Myth - http://www.bigmyth.com/myths/english/2_iroquois_full.htm
Iroquois Image - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation_myth
Objective/Standards: To have students compare and contrast creations stories across cultures to determine any similarities and differences between those stories.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.9 - Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Students will create a new document on comparing the four cultures creation stories. They will watch the videos one by one jotting notes down and put them into categories where they crossover and are the same or where they diverge and are different.
Assessment: The students shared documents will be used to check for understanding of like and dislike themes, ideas, characters, etc. from the stories.
Follow Up:As a class watch through the videos and then have group present their anchor charts to the class, create a master anchor chart and list ideas that crossed more than one anchor chart as a master anchor chart.
You've learned about many different characters and creatures from my different ancient cultures. What you're doing to do next is create your own "character cards" for 3 of your favorite gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, and creatures. The three main civilizations you can choose your characters from are from Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythologies.
You will get three 5"x7" index cards. On the front (blank) side you will illustrate a picture of the character either in human or symbol form.
Illustrate the borders of the card or a drawing in the background.
On the back (lined) side you will write three sentences describing the character in one, where he or she lives, and an important event from their life.
Links for ideas on characters:
Here's the rubric which your grading will be based on. You can clink the link and save a copy to your Google drive also. Please also have the teacher print out two hard copies for you to self-grade and to peer grade one of your classmate's work. (Teacher will randomly pick sticks to find who you will peer review.)
Resources -
Greek Characters - http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/gods-and-goddesses-of-greek-and-roman-mythology.html
Egyptian Characters - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Egyptian_deities
Norse Characters - https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Norse_gods_and_goddesses
Objective/Standards: To further students knowledge of important characters from mythology, through their use of illustration and writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 - Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Directions: Students will be given three index cards and follow the directions for picking out their characters and then illustrating/writing about their character on their cards.
Assessment: Completion of the three cards along with the use of the rubric will be used for students to self-grade and also as a tool for the teacher to use to grade.
Follow Up: Scan or photograph cards front and back and upload to student's drive as evidence of understanding.
It's Your Turn Now! - Time for you to come up with your own original myth on how something natural in this world was created in a supernatural way. Don't forget most myths contained: gods/goddesses, heroes/heroines, setting, a problem, and magic of some sort to solve the problem.
Try this link out to get your writing powers flowing and if needed a way to start your story.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm
Go back to the previous updates and watch over the videos to give you some ideas also like the: "Cross Culture Creation Myths" section for starters or even the "Myth Cards" section to give you ideas of supernatural characters to include.
When you're ready to start your myth, create a copy of this Google document, and follow the directions on it. You can delete the directions when your work is complete.
Below is a copy of the rubrics being used to self-grade and also me to use to grade your work. I will print out a copy for you to self-score before you present your myth to the classroom either electronically through the projector and/or as a book to shown on the .
Resources: Scholastic Website - http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm
Objective/Standards: Culminating activity to combine all previous updates to write an original narrative myth for summation of learning.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.3 - Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.5 - With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, and editing. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1-3 up to and including grade 4 here.)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.6 - With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of one page in a single sitting.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.5 - Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.6 - Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal precise actions, emotions, or states of being (e.g., quizzed, whined, stammered) and that are basic to a particular topic (e.g.,wildlife, conservation, and endangered when discussing animal preservation).
Directions: Push out the update explaining how the students will be creating their original myth and have them get a start by following the scholastic link to help give them story starter ideas for their myth. They will make a copy of the original myth document and follow directions as stated on the document.
Assessment: Students final edit of their story along with their title page will be assessed according to the given rubric first by students through a self-assessment and then later by the teacher.
Follow Up: Allow students to add illustrations from the internet or hand drawn images for a title page for their original myth before presenting. This project is a week long project.
