Our Greek Study is well underway with lots of engaging learning happening! Read about each of the learning experiences and see pictures below.
At the Athena station, kids are putting their map skills to work. After adding a compass rose to their map, they needed to read the map and find locations of cultural, geographic and mythological significance to answer the questions. The trickiest questions were those that asked if one location were east or west of another. But with the teamwork of the group, they were able to successfully navigate this station.
At our Hades station, kids were doing some very contemplative work. Now that they have become very familiar with the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece, they reflected on which god or goddess they would most like to be. Some kids chose Athena for her wisdom, or Aphrodite for her beauty, while others chose Zeus and Poseidon for their powers of destruction! They wrote their opinions in their Underworld journal to share with the group and colored a picture of their chosen god or goddess to feature on their folder covers. It was interesting and enlightening to hear about the gods and goddesses they chose - we're pretty glad they don't actually have those superhuman abilities...
At the Apollo station, kids have been crafting instruments inspired by those of Ancient Greece. Many kids created a version of a Pan's reed pipes while others adapted the stringed lyre of Apollo. Others constructed a war drum worthy of Ares! Each child played their instrument for the group and the other students had to guess which god or goddess "voice" was sounded by the instrument. Some were clear to guess while others were trickier.
At the Zeus station, kids are learning about the Greek alphabet. They are learning how to write their own names using the Greek symbols (which is tricky because the letters and sounds do not necessarily correlate to what we are used to). They are also translating names of famous Greek figures into English. Challenging work, but many kids are now writing their names in Greek which is making us work harder!
At the Hephaestus station, kids learned about the mosaic artwork that decorated many homes and buildings in the Ancient Greek world, including a famous floor that we will get to see on our trip to the MFA next week! Using colored squares, each child created a mosaic design that was related to our study. Hanging in the hallway are their displayed mosaic images of gods, goddesses, symbols of power, temples, monsters and heroes.
At the Hermes station, students used what they have been learning about the features of Ancient Greek architecture to build a temple to a figure of Greek mythology. Columns and arches were evident in their constructions as were color choices appropriate for the intended honoree. Most temples were dedicated to more than one god or goddess as teamwork demands compromise.
The next time the kids visit these stations, there will be new learning tasks to be done. They are looking forward to another round!
