Title of the resource
Title of the resource in english
Publisher
Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute
According to the publisher, "the webpage for the Curricular Resources of the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute allows users to search for thousands of curriculum units in STEM and the humanities. These units were written by Institute Fellows in local seminars in New Haven led by Yale University faculty members between 1978, the year the Institute was founded, and 2019. These units are readily adaptable for use throughout pre-college grades.
Users can browse and search for these units using keywords, our topical index, and our listings of units by year and by volume. The topical index might be especially useful to audiences of your project interested in curriculum units about mythology, Ancient Greece, and other subjects related to Antiquity.
URL: https://teachersinstitute.yale.edu/curriculum/
For similar content, see also the Yale National Initiative
URL: https://teachers.yale.edu/curriculum/search/start"
Links accessed on 17 June, 2020
Original language
Target and Age Group
6th – 12th grades
Link to resource
Accessed on 17 June, 2020
Author of the Entry:
Ayelet Peer, Bar- Ilan University, ayelet.peer@biu.ac.il
Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Lisa Maurice, Bar-Ilan University, lisa.maurice@biu.ac.il
Second Peer-reviewer of the Entry:
Susan Deacy, University of Roehampton, s.deacy@roehampton.ac.uk
Laura Ferrante-Fernandes
Laura Ferrante-Fernandes is part of a group of seventy-nine teachers from New Haven, who organised seminars on topics related to curriculum developments between March and August 1983, including one on The seminar entitled “Greek and Roman Mythology”, led by William G. Thalmann, Associate Professor of Classics from USC.
Contents & Purpose
This unit is aimed to “teach English to speakers of other languages (ESOL) through the myths of love and passion while concurrently introducing students to mythology.”
This dual goal is achieved via skit (brief dramatic pieces) adaptations of Daphne and Apollo, Pyramus and Thisbe, and Aphrodite and Adonis (they myths are adapted from Bulfinch’s Mythology).
The creator notes that students are engaged with TV’s soap operas and therefore the theme of love and passion was selected.
The creator lists numerous further myths for this unit: Hero and Leander, Zeus and Io, Eros and Psyche, Orpheus and Eurydice, Peleus and Thetis, Zeus and Europa, Theseus and Ariadne, Echo and Narcissus, Perseus and Andromeda, Jason and Medea, Philemon and Baucis, Apollo and Hyacinth, Alcestis and Admetus, and Pan and Syrinx.
The emphasis is on developing oral, reading and writing skills.
Before proceeding with the skits, the students will be introduced to Greek and Roman gods and heroes. Additionally, the teachers are advised to use visual stimulations, such as paintings, and discuss the painters and their works. The students are also encouraged to prepare their own skits.
The unit provides the skits, 3 lesson plans samples, Pronunciation List, List of mythological characters, students and teacher’s bibliography, classroom materials (filmstrips).
Further comments
Apart from the myths, we see in this unit an element of classical reception in paintings as part of introducing the subject to the students. Bulfinch’s Mythology was specifically chosen since the creator feels that “exposure to Victorian English will in my opinion create a need to learn proper English” yet this view if of course open to discussion and nowadays there are various options for myth adaptations.
The use of skits and theatrical activities can propel further engagement of students with the source materials.
