Collaborative Project for William Bingham with Tom Cayer and Joan Rossi

Our overall project involved a study of mythology based on reading The Lightning Thief by
Rick Riordan. My role in the project was to provide the basic mythology of the Olympian gods and
to teach the students the Greek alphabet and how to read and write it (for use in their overall
project). I began my part of the project two weeks before March vacation and continued for four
weeks after vacation (meeting every other day).

Lesson Plans

Lesson 1: Introduction to Greek gods (part 1)

 Goal: to learn the basic information about the Olympian gods

 Activity: the students took notes from the board which included the god’s Greek name,
Roman name, job or duty, and symbols. While doing this we discussed elements of Greek
mythology that appear in our culture today as well as derivatives from the gods’ names (e.g.,
“cereal” from Ceres).

 Homework: study the class notes for a quiz the class after next

Lesson 2: Introduction to Greek gods (part 2)

 Goal: to learn the basic information about the Olympian gods (continued)

 Activity: the students finished the notes on the gods started the previous class. They also
chose a Greek god or goddess to identify with. In this way they reviewed for a quiz by
quizzing each other about their godly personas. They also used this godly identity in the
other classes.

 Homework: study for a quiz on the thirteen main gods and do a practice quiz in the same
format

 Assessment: A quiz that required matching Greek name, Roman name, duties and symbols

Lesson 3: Assessment and connections

 Goal: to assess the students’ knowledge of the basic information about the gods
 Activity: quiz followed by more detailed stories about the gods and their connection to The
Lightning Thief

Resources for Lessons 1-3 (appended below):

 Master list of gods given as a supplement to their notes

 Practice quiz
 Quiz
Lesson 4: Introduction to Greek alphabet (two classes)

 Goal: to learn the letters of the ancient Greek alphabet

 Activity: the students took notes from the board which included the names of the twenty
four ancient Greek letters, as well as the upper case and lower case forms, and what English
letters the Greek letters represent. While taking notes we discussed the history of the
alphabet (e.g., why is “z” at the end of our alphabet when it was the sixth Greek letter) and
the connections to our own alphabet.

 Homework: study the class notes for a quiz the class after next and do a transliteration
exercise based on the Greek gods they studied previously (cf. supra, Lessons 1-3)

Lesson 5:

 Goal: to transliterate Greek words into the equivalent English letters

 Activity: The students learned to transliterate Greek words (with English derivatives, e.g.,
“rhinoceros”) into English letters. They also practiced reciting the alphabet in various ways.

 Homework: Study for an alphabet quiz

Lesson 6:

 Goal: to transliterate English words into the equivalent Greek letters

 Activities: Alphabet quiz. Then the students practiced transliterating English words of
Greek origin back into Greek letters.

 Homework: Transliteration exercise

Lesson 7:

 Goal: to read Greek letters and words in actual Greek inscriptions

 Activity: The students viewed photos of Greek inscriptions from different time periods and
practiced transliterating them and then spelling out the Greek letters. I then translated the
inscriptions for them and gave them the historical context (e.g., we saw an inscription set up
by Alexander the Great).

 Homework: Transliteration exercise and study for alphabet test

Lesson 8:

 Goal: to type Greek words in Greek letters in Microsoft “Word”

 Activity: The students met in the computer lab. I had e-mailed them a document with two
lines of Greek text in capital letters. I provided them with a handout which showed the
keyboard equivalents of the Greek letters (a = alpha, q = theta, etc.). Their task was to type
those letters into lower case Greek letters and then into English. They also had to type the
words they did on a previous transliteration exercise into Greek letters.

 Homework: Study for the alphabet test which included transliteration

Lesson 9:

 Goal: Alphabet test

 Activity: The students took a test to assess their knowledge of the Greek alphabet and their
ability to transliterate from Greek to English and English to Greek. After the test the
students begin viewing the movie The Lightning Thief which was based on the book they
read for this project.

 Homework: None

Lesson 10 (two classes):

 Goal: To veiw The Lightning Thief

 Activity: The students continued viewing the movie The Lightning Thief. As we watched,
we occasionally paused to discuss the action in relation to the book. At the end we
discussed the movie, both in its own right and in connection to the book.

 Homework: None

Resources for Lessons 4-11 (appended below):

 Transliteration exercises
 Alphabet quiz
 Typing Greek in “Word”
 E-mailed exercise
 Photos of inscriptions
 Alphabet test