GREEK MYTHS
▶︎ Greek myths are very popular with 2G students!
The structure provided by NY Engage was most helpful for the “formal, instructional” pieces.
Again, we did not use all of their material.
But— we used the NY Engage structure when adding our own myths and creating “formal instruction”
Note 1.0: As you will see in the Norse/Viking unit, 2G students love short videos of the stories. While we never used any, I did discover a number just recently. You will find links below.
Note 2.0: We also used the NY Engage materials for Fairy Tales and Hindu myths
Occasionally, myths pop up in World Tales, one of which was read every Morning Circle.
Play “Going to the Moon” (to develop memory for story details)
Quick discussions can touch on what’s been learned during the “formal, instruction” pieces (e.g., FT vs. myth, characters, setting, etc.)
▶︎ NY Engage (links to download files below)
“The Twelve Gods of Mount Olympus” — teacher guide
— student activities: we didnʻt use the NY Engage activities but created our own if/as needed (e.g., “Letʻs see if we can name all the gods and goddesses and what they do.”)
“Promethus & Pandora” — teacher guide
— student activities — 6 images to sequence; we sometimes did this, depending on time (“Going to the Moon” and Tree House News gets to a lot of the same instructional goals!)
“Demeter & Persephone” — teacher guide
— student activities — 5 images to sequence; we rarely did this, again, “Going to the Moon” and Tree House News gets to a lot of the same instructional goals!
“Theseus & The Minotaur” — teacher guide
— student activities — writing worksheet, First/Then exercise, sequencing exercise; again, rarely done as “Going to the Moon” and and Tree House News are such good instruction tools!
— Note: 2G students enjoy other versions of this story to be found in the class library or at the ʻAina Haina library
“Daedalus & Icarus” — teacher guide
— student activities — writing worksheet, First/Then exercise, sequencing exercise; again, rarely done as “Going to the Moon” and and Tree House News are such good instruction tools!
— Note: 2G students other versions of this story to be found in the class library or at the ʻAina Haina library
▶︎ NY Engage + Usborne Greek Myths
For Hercules we used 2 sources:
Intro to Hercules: Usborne Greek Myths pp. 62-64
“Other Adventures of Hercules” — use the NY Engage “Nemean Lion” section
— student activities — “Going to the Moon” and Tree House News
“Hydra” story, Usborne Greek Myths pp. 66-70
▶︎ Usborne Greek Myths
For The Odyssey we used only Usborne Greek Myths
The Cyclops
Circe the Sorceress
Bag of Winds
▶︎ Videos (used 2014-2025)
“Hercules” — Disney — discuss differences!
▶︎ New videos (discovered summer 2025)
I wish I’d discovered these earlier! (Will have to find a way to use in 5G!)
Most are from TedEd “Myths from Around the World”
“The scientific origins of the Minotaur” — this one is really good! In Hawaiian myths we talk about how the myths follow seismic activity, and this is mentioned in this video! (Will be using in 5G for myth, geology… itʻs great!)
“The Science Behind the Myth: Homer’s Odyssey” — the Circe myth
▶︎ NY Engage materials: complete
There’s a lot to read in the complete NY Engage materials.
Worth skimming, but it’s a bit (maybe way) overkill and way too much to fit into a busy 2G day!
Complete Greek Myths — teacher guide
Complete Greek Myths— visuals
▶︎ If anything critical is missing…
Nancy will remind me what we did and…
… this page will be updated!
