Sorry for the break

I apologize for the break in entries. It's been a very busy week. You'll have to see me if you missed school during the past week. As a quick review:

8th graders:

We finished reading The Diary of Anne Frank on Tuesday. Wednesday we had a review for the test. Yesterday we participated in a survey sponsored by Communities that Care. Today we are taking the final test on the play. We will be watching a video about Anne Frank on Monday, then we can look forward to a writing project next week.

9th graders:

We are studying mythology. We had a introduction to mythology and the Olympians on Monday. See the PowerPoint presentation here. We also read this Greek Creation Myth:

Greek Creation Myth
In the beginning there was an empty darkness. The only thing in this void was Nyx, a bird with black wings. With the wind she laid a golden egg and for ages she sat upon this egg. Finally life began to stir in the egg and out of it rose Eros, the god of love. One half of the shell rose into the air and became the sky and the other became the Earth. Eros named the sky Uranus and the Earth he named Gaia. Then Eros made them fall in love.

Uranus and Gaia had many children together and eventually they had grandchildren. Some of their children become afraid of the power of their children. Kronus, in an effort to protect himself, swallowed his children when they were still infants. However, his wife Rhea hid their youngest child. She gave him a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes, which he swallowed, thinking it was his son.

Once the child, Zeus, had reached manhood his mother instructed him on how to trick his father to give up his brothers and sisters. Once this was accomplished the children fought a mighty war against their father. After much fighting the younger generation won. With Zeus as their leader, they began to furnish Gaia with life and Uranus with stars.

Soon the Earth lacked only two things: man and animals. Zeus summoned his sons Prometheus (fore-thought) and Epimetheus (after-thought). He told them to go to Earth and create men and animals and give them each a gift.

Prometheus set to work forming men in the image of the gods and Epimetheus worked on the animals. As Epimetheus worked he gave each animal he created one of the gifts. After Epimetheus had completed his work Prometheus finally finished making men. However when he went to see what gift to give man Epimetheus shamefacedly informed him that he had foolishly used all the gifts.

Distressed, Prometheus decided he had to give man fire, even though gods were the only ones meant to have access to it. As the sun god rode out into the world the next morning Prometheus took some of the fire and brought it back to man. He taught his creation how to take care of it and then left them.

When Zeus discovered Prometheus' deed he became furious. He ordered his son to be chained to a mountain and for a vulture to peck out his liver every day till eternity. Then he began to devise a punishment for mankind. Another of his sons created a woman of great beauty, Pandora. Each of the gods gave her a gift. Zeus' present was curiosity and a box which he ordered her never to open. Then he presented her to Epimetheus as a wife.

Pandora's life with Epimetheus was happy except for her intense longing to open the box. She was convinced that because the gods and goddesses had showered so many glorious gifts upon her that this one would also be wonderful. One day when Epimetheus was gone she opened the box.

Out of the box flew all of the horrors which plague the world today - pain, sickness, envy, greed. Upon hearing Pandora's screams Epimetheus rushed home and fastened the lid shut, but all of the evils had already escaped.

Later that night they heard a voice coming from the box saying,

"Let me out. I am hope."

Pandora and Epimetheus released her and she flew out into the world to give hope to humankind.


We spent the rest of the week working on group presentations on the Olympians. Here is the assignment:

Your group will give a group presentation about the Olympian you’ve been assigned. The rest of the class will take notes on your presentation. You will be tested on all 12 Olympians presented as well as the myths each group presents, so it is important that you include all the following information in your presentation.

Olympian Name: Greek_______________ Roman__________________

1. Family background of Olympian (mother, father, sisters, brothers, etc.)

2. Physical and emotional description (remember, each Olympian had human-like qualities which became his or her strength or weakness)

3. Important milestones (progress made by your Olympian)

4. Hardships (every Olympian had some sort of struggle, this is why they were revered by the Greeks—because they could understand the human struggle)

5. Major accomplishments (what is your Olympian known for?)

6. Include a myth about your Olympian. (from Wikipedia.org—“a myth is a sacred story concerning the origins of the world or how the world and the creatures in it came to be in their present form.”) You may read your myth or retell it in your own words.

7. Include visual aids in your presentation (PowerPoint, pictures, posters, videos, props, etc.)

8. Your presentation must be at least 10 minutes long

We will have a couple of library days to prepare your presentations. I will have books available for you in the library. We will present three groups a day. I will make a schedule of group presentations during class. Your presentation can be a PowerPoint presentation (I have a projector), you can make a video, you can present orally in front of the class, you can make worksheets (give me a master so I can make copies), you can act out your myth in a Greek-style play, or you can present in your own original creative way. The idea is that your group will teach the class all about your assigned Olympian. I am requiring visual aids (pictures, posters, handouts, PowerPoint, etc.). The time requirement is a minimum of 10 minutes. You may go as long as you’d like.

Remember, after we are through with the presentations, we will have a test on all 12 Olympians and the myths each group shared. That means the information you teach will be included in the test. Teach the appropriate information so you and your classmates will do well on the test.

I will be grading group presentations on content (whether or not you included all the required information), length (at least 10 minutes), and visual aids and/or handouts (get some!).