Mythology Club

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by NDE Digital Learning

University of Nebraska- Lincoln Digital Commons - Honors Club

Mythology Club

By: Lauren Dubas After school club lesson plans. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2019. Copyright 2019 by Lauren Dubas under Creative Commons Non-Commercial License. Individuals and organizations may copy, reproduce, distribute, and perform this work and alter or remix this work for non-commercial purposes only.

NEBRASKA HONORS PROGRAM CLC EXPANDED LEARNING OPPORTUNITY CLUBS INFORMATION SHEET:

Name of Club: Mythology Club

Age/Grade Level: 4th and 5th grade 

Number of Attendees: 8-10 

Goal of the Club: (learning objectives/outcomes) Introduce students to the ancient mythologies of Greece and Rome, with a brief view into Nordic and Egyptian myths as well. 

Resources: (Information for club provided by) Access to basic school and arts supplies for students. Access to a projector is also helpful but not needed for every lesson. 

Content Areas: (check all that apply) 

  • ☐ Arts (Visual, Music, Theater &Performance) 
  • ☐ Literacy 
  • ☐ STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering &Math) 
  • ☒ Social Studies 
  • ☐ Wellness (Physical Education, Health, Nutrition &Character Education) 

Outputs or final products: (Does the club have a final product/project to showcase to community?) 

Introducing your Club/Activities: Mythology club aims to teach students the importance of learning about the past through the beliefs of ancient civilizations. Students can find an appreciation for history in a way they might not have exposure to during their normal time in school. 

General Directions: Each week, students will learn a different aspect of mythology, or practice information learned in a previous lesson. Activities aim to be as hands on as possible to encourage participation 

Tips/Tricks: As students are younger, it is important to be prepared but flexible with lessons. Sometimes, if something isn’t working for your students you might to revert to a backup activity. It is also good to have multiple activities planned for each day. Having a schedule for students in the layout of the club (ex: snack, lesson, cleanup) is helpful for keeping students on track. 


LESSON PLAN WORKSHEET

Lesson Activity Name #1: Introduction

Length of Activity: 30-45 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Sticky Notes
  • Writing Utensils 

Directions:
Introduce yourself to the group. (I had a slideshow of pictures and things about me)
Have students briefly introduce themselves to you and the group.
Tell them why you are teaching this club.
Go over expectations for the club. 

  • This can look different depending on where your students are and what you want from them. I used expectations my elementary school provided me and gave examples for what they would like in my club. Be safe, respectful, responsible, productive. 

What is mythology? 

  • Ask students what they think mythology is. 
  • Mythology is a collection of stories and beliefs. People in ancient times did not have the technology we have today to explain the world around us. They did, however, understand that humans were unpredictable, much like the world to them at that time. Therefore, many cultures believed human-like gods controlled the natural world around them. Everything from a raging ocean, to the changing of seasons could be traced back to these gods and goddesses. 

Why is it important to study mythology? 

  • Mythology helps us understand the people of the past, and how much we still have in common with them. To this day we like to search for meaning in the world, just like they did. In that way, we’re all connected to the past. 

Describe an overview of the club and what you plan to teach them. (If more time, start another lesson) 

Conclusion of the activity: Use the sticky notes as an “exit ticket” for students to write their name, grade, something they are excited to learn about, something they would like to learn about, or something they have a question about. 

Parts of activity that worked: Students were excited to answer questions and interact with them. The feedback from the exit tickets was also helpful for me as a club leader. 

Parts of activity that did not work: The exit tickets were difficult as students finished them at different speeds. The students finished first got a little antsy. 

Lesson Activity Name #2: Introduction to Greek Gods and Goddesses

Length of Activity: 20 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Projector 

Directions:
Explain to students the origins of Greek mythology: 

  • I used the following website for information https://www.khanacademy.org/partnercontent/big-history-project/what-is-big-history/origin-stories/a/origin-story-greek 

Create a PowerPoint or google slide to introduce the main gods and goddesses: 

  • For each god/goddess write their title, relevant family information, characteristics, and symbols. Picture representations for each god or goddess is helpful.  
  • Make sure to include: Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Ares, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis, Apollo, Demeter, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia. 

Conclusion of the activity: Students learned basic facts about Greek Mythology 

Parts of activity that worked: Students were engaged in learning about Greek Gods and Goddesses 

Parts of activity that did not work: Students would benefit from a way to keep track of the information given. Depending on the students, an empty chart to fill out, or filled in chart of information would be useful for remembering information. These charts can be kept and passed out at each lesson for reference and other activities. Leaving room to put in the Roman counterparts later in the clubs would also.

Lesson Activity Name #3: Greek Gods and Goddesses Quiz

Length of Activity: 10 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Slideshow from previous lesson 

Directions:
Using the slides from the previous lesson, review the material learned. Ask students questions “who is the god/goddess of _____” 

These are the examples I used: 

  • God of the Sun, light, music, and healing 
  • God of fire, blacksmith to the gods 
  • Goddess of Love and Beauty 
  • God of the Underworld 
  • King of the Gods 
  • Goddess of War
  • Goddess of Agriculture 
  • Goddess of Marriage, wife of Zeus 
  • God of war 
  • Goddess of hunting 
  • Messenger of gods 
  • God of the sea 

Conclusion of the activity: Students reviewed what they learned and had another chance to go over material that might be new to them. 

Parts of activity that worked: This activity was planned as a review and worked well for that. 

Parts of activity that did not work: Students need some extrinsic motivation so using stickers for correct answers was useful. However, make sure you let all students have an equal opportunity to answer as some students know the material better with previous knowledge. 

Lesson Activity Name #4: Greek Vases

Length of Activity: 20 minutes 

Supplies:

  • Paper
  • Art Supplies 

Directions:
Show students examples of cases from ancient Greece. Explain how they used pottery as a means to create and share art about their culture.
Students will create their own Greek vases. 

  • Depending on supplies that the club leader can provide, this can be done with anything from markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or paint. 
  • My students used markers and printer paper for their vases.
  • For the vase, I had students pick a god or goddess as their inspiration for their art. They could draw that god or goddess or draw other images and symbols that represented them. 
  • Vase designs were then shared across the class. 

Conclusion of the activity: Students learned more about how Greek Mythology connected to Greek culture. 

Parts of activity that worked: The students enjoyed having the creative expression to make their vases and were proud of their work. 

Parts of activity that did not work: It would have been helpful to outline vase shapes for the students, as they had a little trouble drawing them in a way that let them color inside. 

Lesson Activity Name #5: Olympic Games

Length of Activity: 45 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • 3 cups
  • Water
  • Spoon/scoop
  • Small gems/stones/beads
  • Building materials
  • Paper 

Directions:
Explain to the students a little about the Olympic Games and what kind of activities were included in them. We will be doing activities with a Greek God/Goddess twist.
Split the class into two teams of equal ability.
For each round of the games, the winning team gets to scoop water from the main cup into their team’s cup, the team with the most water at the end of the game wins
4 Corners: 

  • As the instructor, you will be Zeus. 
  • Play the game 4 corners (I modified it to 3 because of the small size of my class). 
  • Each round count to ten and point to one of the corners. The students who chose to hide in that corner will be out. Keep playing until there is one student left. The student who wins can scoop water into their cup. 
  • As “Zeus” every time you point to a corner you are “throwing lightning bolts” at that corner and smiting the humans there. 

Treasure Hunt: 

Tell students that “Hades has given his fellow gods and goddesses precious gems to hide (Hades is the god of riches) Follow the clues to find where they would be! Have to work as a team.” 
Before class, go around the classroom space and hide small stones/gems in pairs of two. Connected to each jam is a clue for the students. Each clue is one of the other gods or goddesses telling the students where to find the gem they hid and is connected to their powers. 
A few examples: 

  • My gem can be found where the earth blooms (Demeter, goddess of agriculture— hidden near a plant.) 
  • My gem can be found surrounded by love (Aphrodite, goddess of love—placed on a Valentine’s day display.) 
  • My gem can be found on the throne of the library (Zeus, King of the gods— placed on the librarian’s desk) 

Architecture: 

  • Provide students building materials (Legos, blocks, Maker materials) and have them use those items or what they found in order to create a temple to a god or goddess. 
  • Show students an example of the Parthenon and the acropolis and explain what role those buildings provided for believers. 
  • Encourage creativity and tell them they will have to explain the different parts of the building to try and get them to think outside the box. 

Javelin Throwing: 

  • AKA tossing crumpled paper! 
  • If you have an extra bit of time to fill, have students ball up printer paper and see who can throw theirs the farthest. 

Conclusion of the activity: Have students help with the clean up effort! Decide who won (it is easiest if you can just tell them it was a tie.) 

Parts of activity that worked: Students loved this day so much! They were excited for everything. 

Parts of activity that did not work: Things got a bit hectic. Try and control the crazy as much as you can, but sometimes you just have to ride the wave of figuring out what worked and what did not each activity and adjust.

Lesson Activity Name #6: Greek Gods and Goddesses Review

Length of Activity: 30 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Greek God/Goddess charts
  • Paper
  • Writing utensils 

Directions:
Matching: 

  • Using the same descriptions from the Greek God/Goddess introduction and quiz list out descriptions of the deities in one column. In the other, list the corresponding names of the Gods and Goddesses in a random order. Have students take turns one by one matching the two lists together and explain what else they know about that God or Goddess 

 Charades: 

  • Have students come up to you, whisper in their ear a god or goddess you would like them to imitate in the style of charades. 
  • Have the other students in the classroom use their charts to guess which god or goddess it is and why they think that. 
  • It is helpful to give students symbols that represent a god or goddess to act out, to give them something tangible to play. 
  • Examples: Owl-Athena, Lightning-Zeus, Fish/Water-Poseidon, Love-Aphrodite, SunApollo, War-Ares, Tree/Plants-Demeter, Peacock-Hera. 

Create:

  • With any remaining time, you can assign students to use what they know to either create their own god or goddess, or their own myth with an existing god or goddess they learned about. 
  • Give students paper and writing utensils so they can draw out a representation of what they created. 
  • Have students stand up in the class and share what they came up with 

Conclusion of the activity: Students gained even more familiarity with Greek Gods and Goddesses 

Parts of activity that worked: Students loved the charades game. They had fun getting to be at the front of the classroom and acting in front of their peers. 

Parts of activity that did not work: This week, about half of my students were gone so the lesson did not go exactly as I planned. I also figured out it is easier to give students charts of gods and goddesses already filled in. They had a lot of trouble with the information, and frustrated students held the class back a lot. 

Lesson Activity Name #7: Introduction to Roman Mythology

Length of Activity: 30 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Projector Screen
  • Sticky Notes
  • Roman to Greek gods chart
  • Paper
  • Markers 

Directions:
I started with a video to explain the origins of how Roman Mythology developed from both Greek (which we’ve been learning) and the surrounding areas 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPAwnvyN6xw 

Heads up: 

  • One by one students come to the front of the classroom. I hand them a little card or sticky note that has a Roman god or goddesses’ name on it. The class has to explain to the person at the front clues about what Roman god they have. The person at the front has to guess who they have. 

Coloring: 

  • After the game, students picked a Roman God or Goddess they liked and made a drawing or representation of that God or Goddess. 

Conclusion of the activity: Students were introduced to Roman Mythology and the similarities between it, and Greek Myths 

Parts of activity that worked: The students enjoy art projects, so the coloring at the end was good. Keep reminding them to use the Roman name now instead of the Greek. 

Parts of activity that did not work: Heads up did not go really well. So many students missed the last weeks and as younger students meeting once a week it was very difficult to get them to retain any information. This activity would have been better if they were more familiar with the names of who we had been learning about.

Lesson Activity Name #8: Ask for help

Length of Activity: 45 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Projector
  • Gods and Goddess chart 

Directions:
Using the names of my students, I came up with fun scenarios about each one as if they were from ancient times. Split the class into two teams and read them the scenarios. After each one, let the teams go back and forth trying to come up with Roman gods or goddess they could ask for help. The scenarios have multiple options, so let the teams go back and forth until they can’t come up with any more. Use your best judgement for if you should count the answers for a point or not, and when to move on.
1. ______ is a fisherman who lives on the coast of Italy. The winter weather has been a bit colder than usually which makes it hard for him to fish. Who should he ask for help??
2. ________’s one and only true love has tragically fallen ill and died. Who should she ask for help?? Who should she ask for help??
3. ______’s letters keep getting stuck in the mailing system, and so his spouse always gets mad at him for never returning her scrolls! Who should he ask for help?
4. _______ owns a metalworking shop and one day tragically broke her arm! Without her, her shop is a mess! Who should she ask for help??
5. _______ is a gardener. Her flowers are so beautiful. But those darn deer are getting out of control and eating her garden. Someone needs to take care of that. Who should she ask for help??
6. _______ is a world-famous singer. But the Romans are always at war and he just can't figure out how to get past the battlefield in time for his performance! Who should he ask for help??
7. _______ is an avid studier. Books Books Books, all the time! But to get other people to listen to her she needs some help communicating her ideas to the public.
8. ________ needs a shield to protect her from boys, but her dad wants her to buy farming equipment instead. Who should she ask for help??
9. ________ loves swimming and everything about the summer, but a flood has blocked the road into the city where the music festival is. Who should she ask for help??
10. _______ is the son of a Roman emperor, but helplessly in love with the daughter of the enemy they are at war with! Does he choose his family or his heart! 

Conclusion of the activity: Students had more practice interacting with the Roman Gods and Goddesses 

Parts of activity that worked: Students got really creative and loved the competition side of this activity 

Parts of activity that did not work: Some students who did not have as high of ability, or dominating personality got pushed to the side. It is important that all team members get to participate. 

Lesson Activity Name #9: Ship’s Captain

Length of Activity: 15 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Space 

Directions:
This game can be played inside or outside but was great for a nice weather day we had!
“Ship’s Captain” (or “Captain of the Ship”) is a fairly common game and directions can be found on the internet with a quick search. For this lesson, I talked about the importance of the Coliseum in the lives of ancient Romans. During some of the coliseum battles, the romans flooded the floor with water and had ship battles, which was the inspiration for this activity.
Here are some commands the club leader will give and the responses for the class: 

  • To the ship - run to the right 
  • To the island -- run to the left 
  • Hit the deck -- lay down on the ground 
  • 3 men in a boat - in groups of three sing row row row your boat 
  • Scrub the deck -- on your knees scrubbing 
  • Captains quarters - run towards the captain 
  • SHARK - everyone run to the base (giraffe)
  • Sick turtle - on your back feet wiggling in the air 
  • Man overboard- groups of 2. One on their knees, the other with one hand on their shoulder and the other hand looking overboard 
  • Captains Calling - hands on hips say “o captain my captain” 

Conclusion of the activity: Students learned more about Roman culture 

Parts of activity that worked: Kids really loved the physical activity. They are cooped up inside a lot, so this change of pace was welcomed. 

Parts of activity that did not work: Student’s attention did not last long! Make sure you have backup games if you are going outside, or something else lined up. Their attention will be hard to get after this activity. 

Lesson Activity Name #10: Roman Art

Length of Activity: 30 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Art Supplies 

Directions: Similar to a previous lesson, have students complete an art project on a Roman God or Goddess. I provided paper and acrylic paint for students and let them create either a painting of the deity, or painting of things that represented them. (Aka Neptune and/or the Ocean) 

Alternate/Additional Activity: 

  • I let some students create their own “Mad Libs” written story about a Greek god or goddess. They asked for the fill in blanks and then read it aloud to the class 

Conclusion of the activity: Students explored a Roman God or Goddess of their choosing more in depth. 

Parts of activity that worked: We had not previously used acrylic paint in my club, and the kids enjoyed doing something a little bit different than the daily routine. They cared more about the ending product because of it 

Parts of activity that did not work: Students complete this activity at various speeds and have different levels of interests. This will mean some of your students will complain about not having enough time and some will complain about not having anything to do. 

Lesson Activity Name #11: Nordic Mythology

Length of Activity: 45 minutes 

Supplies: 

  • Projector
  • Building Materials 

Directions:
To introduce Norse Mythology, I used this presentation for the students. Turing the volume up, it walks through what the Vikings believed was the creation story for the world. 

http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/2_norse_full.htm

After that, I had students use the various building and maker materials I found at the school to create their own version of a Viking’s Ship. 

Directions: 

  • Needs to be long and skinny 
  • Needs to have a sail 
  • Needs to have oars 
  • Any other features count as bonus 

I also had them each name the ship (in English) and write out the name in with the alphabet the Vikings used. I had a chart of this alphabet pulled up on my computer screen so kids could sit and copy letter by letter. 

Conclusion of the activity: Students were introduced to the basics of Nordic Mythology 

Parts of activity that worked: Students really enjoyed building their own Viking ships and got very into the details. A few created their own moving parts which was very neat. 

Parts of activity that did not work: The students got materials everywhere, so make sure you are more organized with the materials because cleanup for this lesson took a long time. 

Lesson Activity Name #12: Egyptian Mythology

Length of Activity: 45 minutes 

 Supplies: 

  • Paper
  • Markers

Directions:
To teach Egyptian Mythology, I focused on the Egyptians beliefs about the afterlife. This lesson is about what they believed their souls did traveling through “Duat”. 
First, the Egyptians would weigh their hearts against a feather from the Goddess Ma’at (truth, balance, harmony). If the heart was lighter, then the soul would move on. If the heart was heavier it would be devoured by Ammit. 

  • Students were instructed to create their own scale using materials found around the library. They then needed to balance something they found against the weight of my laptop. 

The next step for the soul was being judged by 42 gods for their sins. 
For this section, I found riddles online and had students solve them. 

  • I am an odd number. Take away a letter and I become even. What number am I? sEVEN
  • What has to be broken before you use it? Egg. other examples acceptable 
  • What goes up but never comes back down? Your age 
  • What begins with T, ends with T, and has T in it? A teapot 

After that, the soul would cross the Lake of Flowers and go into the Reed Fields. 

  • Student would draw their own flower on a piece of paper. These flowers were placed on chairs in a circle and the students then played musical chairs. 

If there is extra time, students can play the game “telephone,” with the theme of the original saying being about what would be found in their Egyptian afterlife. 

Conclusion of the activity: Students were introduced to Egyptian Mythology 

Parts of activity that worked: Students were really engaged in solving riddles. 

Parts of activity that did not work: The difference in ability levels and interests in my class made this activity very difficult. Sometimes the teamwork meant some students did not have as much say as they liked and on the particular day that I did this lesson many students refused to participate. Make sure you set clear rules and time limits to try and keep the class together. My original idea was to use an actual scale for the first part of the lesson, but it did not get in my materials and I had to improvise. I would recommend using an actual scale and having students find something that equals a certain weight. 


Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/honorshelc
Part of the Higher Education Commons
This Portfolio is brought to you for free and open access by the Honors Program at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Expanded Learning Clubs by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Dubas, Lauren, "Mythology Club" (2019). Honors Expanded Learning Clubs. 14. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/honorshelc/14

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