Young Readers' Series: Greek Myths Revisited

Course Description

Description

Modern children's literature has been invigorated by a most ancient source: Greek myths. In this course, students first become familiar with traditional Greek myths and then examine how two popular authors draw upon Greek sources to create exciting new adventures. In the beloved illustrated classic, D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths, readers of all ages learn about myths that have inspired great literature for thousands of years. In Anne Ursu's The Shadow Thieves, Charlotte and Zee attempt to stop Philonecron's plan to usurp Hades' throne even though it involves traveling across the river Styx, facing angry harpies and cranky gods, and outwitting ghosts with a thirst for blood. In Lost Hero, the first book of Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series, teenagers Jason, Piper, and Leo leave the comforts of Camp Half-Blood to take on the dangerous mission of rescuing Zeus's wife Hera.

Appropriateness

Parents should be aware that each theme contains books with humor, mystery, adventure, and heroism as well as suspense and sadness. Overall, while our courses contain advanced grade-level material, we strive to select materials appropriate to the ages of the students. Please look inside the books and read reviews to decide whether these books are appropriate for your child. If you are still uncertain whether your child is ready for a course, please email ctyonline@jhu.edu or call 410-735-6144410-735-6144.

Look inside the books.

Look inside D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
Look inside The Shadow Thieves
Look inside Lost Hero

Read reviews. Parents are urged to review for appropriate content.

Reviews of D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths
Reviews of The Shadow Thieves
Reviews of Lost Hero

Materials Needed

• D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire (Delacorte Press, 2003) ISBN 9780440406945
• The Shadow Thieves by Anne Ursu (Atheneum, 2007) ISBN 978-1416905882
• Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (Hyperion, 2010) ISBN 142311339X

Detailed Course Information

Course Details

Lesson 1: D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Begin reading D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 2: D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Finish reading D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board questions.

Lesson 3: The Shadow Thieves
Begin reading The Shadow Thieves
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 4: The Shadow Thieves
Continue reading The Shadow Thieves
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 5: The Shadow Thieves
Finish reading The Shadow Thieves
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 6: The Lost Hero
Begin reading The Lost Hero
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 7: The Lost Hero
Continue reading The Lost Hero
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 8: The Lost Hero
Continue reading The Lost Hero
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board

Lesson 9: The Lost Hero
Finish reading The Lost Hero
Vote your Opinion in the Poll
Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board
Contribute two thoughtful posts to the Summary Discussion Board

Lesson 10: Summary Assignments covering all three books
Vote your opinion in the Poll
Post ONE of the Blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum.
Complete the Literary Terms Quest [Quest=More questions than a quiz, but fewer questions than most tests!]
Note: You are provided with a list of “Mind-Expanding Vocabulary Words” from each book that you can use to help better understand the book and increase your knowledge of vocabulary words in general.

OPTIONAL Fun and Challenges:

• Prepare for the Literary Terms Quest by playing the online Literary Terms games and puzzles.
• Share your favorite stories and authors with other students in the Recommended Reading Wiki.
• Print out and work on the crossword puzzles that have been provided to help reinforce your knowledge of the "mind-expanding" vocabulary words.
• Use the Vocabulary Words Review Games to help learn the vocabulary words in a fun way.
• Participate in a group writing wiki activity.

Time Required

This course requires approximately three hours for each of the ten lessons. Students should expect to spend approximately 3 hours per week during the course.

Note: Students do not have to meet in the classroom at the same time. A student's written work can be posted in the virtual classroom at the student's convenience as long as deadlines are met.

About Summer Sessions:

The Young Readers' Series offers 12-week summer sessions that allows families to take a week or two of vacation and 10-week sessions. All sessions cover the same course material and assignments.

While the 12-week summer sessions courses allow for 2 weeks total vacation, students in the Young Readers’ courses are encouraged to work ahead or make up their work to try to keep up with their classmates whenever possible. Experience has shown that these courses are most fun when all students are working on the same lesson. Students must notify the instructor at the course's start about any planned vacation dates and must meet scheduled due dates when they are not on vacation. Students who make up their work can finish their summer course in 10 weeks.

If you have any questions, please contact us before applying at ctyonline@jhu.edu. 
Note: Students do not have to meet in the classroom at the same time. A student's written work can be posted in the virtual classroom at the student's convenience as long as deadlines are met.

Sample Assignment

Demo

Greek Myths Revisited Sample Assignment

To give you an idea of the type of assignments involved, the following is the first of ten lessons:

Instructions for Lesson One

All work is due by the due date listed in the classroom.

1.Begin reading D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire, preferably reading in the following reading chunks:

Read pages 8-69 (from “In Olden Times” to “Dionysus”)

Read pages 70-107 (from “Minor Gods, Nymphs, Satyrs and Centaurs” to “The Muses”)

2. Vote your opinion in the Poll.

3. Post ONE of the following blog assignments (your choice) to the Blog forum:

a. Pretend you are Prometheus and you want to send an Iris Message to your son Deucalion thanking him for attempting to set you free from your chains AND explaining why you disobeyed Zeus to try to help the humans. [An "Iris Message" is a message sent through the goddess of rainbows, Iris.] Write a 150-300+ word letter to Deucalion, thanking him and defending your actions in helping humans.

Please note: You may write more than the 300 word limit, but do NOT write less than 150 words!

b. We learn early in the reading assignment that Hera is a very jealous wife. Choose a story from the Lesson 1 reading assignment in which Hera does something to one of Zeus’ other wives out of anger or jealousy, and write about the incident in a 150-300 + words journal account from Hera’s first person point of view. Writing as Hera, you should certainly find a way to present yourself in a positive light in this scene!

Please note: You may write more than the 300 word limit, but do NOT write less than 150 words!a.

4. Contribute two (or more) thoughtful posts to the Discussion Board in response to any of the following questions. (Remember! At least one of your two thoughtful posts should be in reply to a discussion post made by another student.)

a. Mother Earth. After reading about Gaea, or Mother Earth, in the beginning of the book, how would you describe her? What character traits does she possess? Do you think she could be categorized as a positive or negative force, or a little bit of both? Use examples from the reading to support your thinking.

b. Prometheus' punishment. In the first half of the book, readers learn about Prometheus' unusual punishment by Zeus. Why does Zeus punish Prometheus so severely for giving fire to humans? Can you think of a more appropriate punishment for Prometheus' "crime"?

c. Code of Conduct. Most schools provide a “Code of Conduct” that lists the rules of the school and includes details about the disciplinary actions that will follow when these rules are broken. Most societies establish laws that serve the same purpose. Wouldn’t it be helpful for humans to have a list of rules to follow to keep them from angering the Greek gods? Imagine that Mt. Olympus provided a “Code of Conduct” for humans, and write one or two of them along with the consequences to be expected if these laws are broken. Use the details from your reading to guide your writing. [And if a classmate has already listed a rule and its consequences, do not write the same rule unless you disagree with the classmate and are wish to explain your reasoning.]

d. Hades and Persephone. What is your reaction to the story about how Persephone became Hades’ queen? Do you think Zeus’ solution to the conflict was fair? Do you think this “ending” to the story was intended to be happy either to those involved in the story or to those who heard about it? Why or why not? Aside from its entertainment value, what purpose did this story serve for the Greek people?

e. Hephaestus and Aphrodite. How did Aphrodite come to be the wife of Hephaestus? How does she feel about her husband? Do you think that Aphrodite and Hephaestus are a good match? Do you sympathize with Aphrodite in this situation? Do you sympathize with Hephaestus? Why or why not?

f. “The wild and vulgar centaurs.” What is the story of how the centaurs came into existence, and what can readers infer about Zeus from this story? What purpose did the centaurs’ continued existence on the earth serve? Do you think it’s fair for a whole community to be punished for the actions of its leader? Do you think this type of punishment happens in the “real world”? Explain.

g. Cyclopes. The Cyclopes seem to have an uncertain status among the Greek gods and goddesses. Which gods/goddesses support them? Which gods/goddesses do not? Why? From what you have read so far, do you think Cyclopes serve more of a positive or negative purpose in the world? Would the Greek myths be very different without them? Give examples from the reading to support your thinking.

Note: You are provided with a list of “Mind-Expanding Vocabulary Words from D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths” that you can use to help better understand the book and increase your knowledge of vocabulary words in general.

OPTIONAL -Not required- Fun and Challenges:

· Share your favorite stories and authors with other students in the Recommended Reading Wiki

· Print out and work on the crossword puzzles that have been provided to help reinforce your knowledge of the "mind-expanding" vocabulary words.

· Use the Vocabulary Words Review Games to help learn the vocabulary words in a fun way.

· Participate in the Greek Myths Revisited Adventure Wiki, a group writing activity.

· Play some literary terms review games

Technical Requirements

This course requires a properly maintained computer with high-speed internet access and an up-to-date web browser (such as Chrome or Firefox). The student must be able to communicate with the instructor via email. Visit the Technical Requirements and Support page for more details.

This course requires that the student use a web browser with the Adobe Flash plugin. Note that many tablets and handhelds (particularly the iPad) do not support Flash and cannot view the lessons.

Reviews

"My child loved this class and I felt the feedback, both weekly and the final report, were outstanding. A lot of thought and effort went into the feedback and each week, I felt that it not only called out the instances where my child did well, but also challenged her to try new things or do something better."
CTY Online Programs Parent

"This was a great course and a model for how online courses should be run. The instructor did an amazing job of creating interaction between the students and was very accessible and helpful in her comments. Her detailed and thoughtful comments on my son's assignments were always helpful and challenged him to do better and think deeper while encouraging him and making him feel good about his strengths."
CTYOnline Parent

"It was very easy for me to get used to using the online classroom. It was interesting to be able to communicate and exchange ideas with people all over the world. It is a great class and one that I would definitely recommend!" 
CTYOnline Student

"This was the the first course that my son took at CTY Online Programs and it was such a great experience for him. He loved sharing ideas with other gifted children in many different areas of the country/world. Taking an online course requires developing some skills using your computer and taking this course was a great way for him to do so. The instructor was an excellent teacher - very responsive whenever my son or I had a question and great with feedback."
CTYOnline Parent

"The course was very interesting and fun. The games really helped me with literary terms. The assignments were challenging, but extended my knowledge and love of writing."
CTYOnline Student

"We were impressed with the instructor from the welcome call the day before the class started, right through her final comments. Her responses to my daughter's coursework were terrific and we felt like she knew my child."
CTYOnline Parent