Modern Myths

Sixth-grade students create a modern myth using Wixie to help them better understand ancient Greek themes.

“Making connections” is a major theme in the sixth grade at St. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis, our sixth-grade students participate in a cross-curricular project on ancient Greece that blends art, technology, library, and literature.

Students study the ancient Greeks in Ancient History class and design Greek theater masks in art. They research a famous ancient Greek with subject-specific graphic organizers during time in the Library and create RAFT (Role, Audience, Format, and Topic) assignments to share with VoiceThread.

Students study the following literature:

• Jason and the Golden Fleece, with themes of betrayal, overcoming obstacles, courage, heroism, and fate.
• The Trojan Horse, which warns against completely dropping one's guard.
• Pandora's Box, which explains how evil was introduced into the world and suggests that hope always exists.

To help them better understand ancient Greek themes, pairs of students create a modern myth using Wixie.

Over the course of two weeks, teams develop four to six scenes that reflect the themes in their myth. For example, in Jason and the Golden Fleece, scenes reflect themes of an unfit person in a position of power, a rightful individual attempting to take it back, and a challenge occurring. As they write modern versions, they learn that even when the rightful person assumes power, the result is not complete happiness because some things are lost in the seeking.

Students share their finished modern myths with their Literature Sections and discuss the themes they explore in their myths.

At the end of the unit, students participate in a final project celebration with the class, parents, and grandparents. Students act out scenes from Greeks plays wearing the masks they created, view slideshows of their modern myths, and enjoy a celebratory feast consisting of Greek foods.

With drawing tools, image import, sounds, and voice recording, Wixie supports varied learning styles. Our students agree, “Learning with Wixie is fun!”

by Penny Bower

Penny Bower is the Middle School Librarian at St. Mary's Schools in Memphis, Tennessee. You can find more information about this project at: pennybower.pbworks.com.