Greek Gods Lesson Plan: Learning About Greek Mythology

Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

In this lesson plan which is adaptable for grades 5-12, students use BrainPOP resources to explore the gods and goddesses of Greek mythology who were also later worshipped, though renamed by, the Romans. Students will practice and apply a wide variety of ELA skills, including making predictions, organizing information, sequencing events, and creating a timeline. Students will also develop research and communication skills as they use internet resources to learn about and present on a selected aspect of Greek mythology.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Use a graphic organizer to record and analyze the connections and relationships between Greek gods and goddesses.
  2. Sequence events by creating a timeline using paper or digital tools.
  3. Research an aspect of Greek mythology that interests them and work collaboratively to communicate their findings to the class.

Materials:

  • Interactive whiteboard
  • Computers with internet access
  • Class set of photocopies of the Graphic Organizer

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Have students brainstorm several questions they have about Greek gods and goddesses. You can project the Q&A for an extensive list of questions other students have asked to help get your students thinking about the topic.

  2. Pass out the Graphic Organizer to students and talk about the concept of a family tree. Explain that the relationships between Greek gods and goddesses can be quite complicated, and students should use the graphic organizer to help them keep track of the relationships between different gods.

  3. Play the Greek Gods movie for the class. Turn on closed captioning to aid students in comprehension. We recommend playing the movie through twice: once for students just to listen and watch, and a second time to allow them to take notes and complete the graphic organizer.

  4. Display the Timeline for students. Have them select a Greek landmark and research its connection to mythology, then create their own more detailed timeline. Or, they can sequence events and create a timeline around the evolution of Greek mythology or a particular story within Greek mythology. Students can use online tools such as Tiki-Toki or mobile apps such as Time Toast to create and share their information.

  5. Encourage students to choose one of the Q&A questions they were wrote at the beginning of the lesson (or one of the questions from the BrainPOP site) and find a more detailed answer using other internet resources. Students may choose to work collaboratively with other students who have similar questions. Have students share their knowledge of Greek mythology through a presentation method of their choice.

  6. Assess student learning by having them take the Quiz You can also show students the Related Reading Comic and have students reflect in writing on the following prompt: "If you were a Greek god or goddess, who would you be? Why?" Alternatively, students could create their own mythological figure, and write about an original god or goddess they would like to be. Students may enjoy writing a more in-depth mythology for their invented god or goddess, and create a family tree for him or her similar to the graphic organizer activity completed earlier.

Extension Activities:

Display the Experiment for the class to see. Talk with students about the crossover between Roman and Greek mythologies, and have students make predictions and inferences about why there are similarities and differences. You may also want students to conduct research on the planets that were named after Greek gods and goddesses. Why do students think those particular mythological figures were selected? Use the In Depth Related Reading as a resource.

Related:

    Filed as:  3-5, 6-8, 9-12, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.9, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.9, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.3, CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.9