Teacher Guide

The Percy Jackson phenomenon is an opportunity to further students' interest in Greek mythology.  The materials included in this blog are meant both to inspire and engage young people to learn more about Greek Mythology, as well as to function as a curriculum support tool.  Our selection process for the annotated list considered the following: age appropriateness (sixth grade), appropriateness for the prescribed social studies and English assignments, currency of materials, professional book and resource reviews, diversity in different types of formats and tones, and our hope to find works that would be both fun and engaging for students. The annotated list also includes a variety of different types of resources to accommodate different learning styles.  There is nonfiction (varied reading levels including picture books), fiction (varied reading levels including graphic novels), websites, and DVDs.

The blog format creates an interactive experience in which students can easily visit websites or watch videos, as well as make comments about their favorite books or resources and engage in discussion by including their own ideas about Greek mythology.  In addition, there is an annotation page which clearly lists all resources included.

In the 'Teacher Resources,' there are suggestions for introducing the subject of 'Greek Mythology,' suggestions for read-a-loud books,  map and reference resources, interdisciplinary opportunities, and resources for lesson plan ideas.


 Resources to help introduce the topic of 'Greek Mythology':

• "Heroes: Which Mythological Figure Are You?" Quiz from the Walters Art Museum. (Website)
• Jim Henson'sThe Storyteller: Greek Myths DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
• Gods and Goddesses DVD from the History Channel and A&E Home Video

Suggestions for read aloud books:

• The McElderry Book of Greek Myths by Eric A. Kimmel
• Persephone by Sally Pomme Clayton
• Mythological Monsters of Ancient Greece by Sara Fanelli

Special Features and Reference Resources:

• Genealogy:
• "Greek Mythology" section of Encyclopedia Mythica, edited by M.F. Lindemans (Website) 
• Zeus: King of the Gods by George O'Connor
• Maps:
• The Ancient Greeks: Their lives and Their World by Alexandra Villing
• “Hercules” from the Perseus Digital Library Project and Tufts University Digital Collection  (Website)
• Reference:
• D'Aularies' Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d'Aulaire and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
• The McElderry Book of Greek Myths by Eric A. Kimmel
• "Greek Mythology" section of Encyclopedia Mythica, edited by M.F. Lindemans (Website) 
• Timeline:
• The Ancient Greeks: Their lives and Their World by Alexandra Villing

Special Topics and Interdisciplinary Opportunities:

• Ancient Greek Olympics:
• "Ancient Greeks" by BBC Primary History (Website)
• The First Olympics: Blood, Honor, and Glory DVD from the History Channel and A&E Home Video
• Archeology:
• Treasures from Greece by David and Patricia Armentrout
• Art, Life and Culture:
• "Ancient Arcade" from the National Gallery of Art (Website)
• "Ancient Greeks" by BBC Primary History (Website)
• Crafts: 
• "Winged Sandals" from the University of Melbourne's Centre for Classics and Archaeology (Website)
• Role of girls/women:
• We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera by Doris Orgel 
• Perseus Digital Library Project (Website)

Resources for lesson plan ideas are included in subsequent posts.

Resources Used to Compile List of Annotations

Reading Rockets
Reading Rockets' "Themed Booklists" page includes recommended books on a wide variety of topics or concepts.  The "Ancient Gods and Goddesses" booklist was especially helpful for finding Greek mythology resources.


CCBC Choices
Published annually, CCBC Choices includes materials recommended by the expert staff of the Cooperative Children's Book Center.  Materials concerning Greek mythology can be found in the "Folklore, Mythology and Traditional Literature" section.


Novel List K-8 (Database available through BadgerLink):
Includes book reviews and recommendations for more than 200,000 materials.  This site helped us learn more and make final decisions about resources we learned about through other resources.  Users are able to limit to certain age groups or specific grade levels (in the advanced search option).


BookHive from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library: 
Includes resources broken down by age group and reviews from librarians and child readers.  Unfortunately, BookHive only allows users to search by author, title, illustrator, audience age, and select reading interest categories.  To find books about Greek mythology, I had to browse through pages of age-appropriate books to find my specific subject.


Book Collection Nonfiction: Middle School Edition (EBSCOhost database available through BadgerLink):
Contains abstracts for 3,100 nonfiction titles appropriate for the middle school crowd.  Through the advanced search option, users can search by subject or date.  The "MYTHOLOGY, Greek" controlled vocabulary term was especially useful for our purposes.


Children's Literature Comprehensive Database: 
Includes book reviews by standard review sources such as School Library Journal, VOYA, Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Library Media Connection.  The database also lists any awards or recognitions the book received.  The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database also indexes reviews from CCBC Choices.

Greek Mythology DVDs

Movies--both factual and story-based--can teach Greek mythology or peak students' interest in the subject.  The following three DVDs can support an English or social studies class.  These resources are not listed on the students' blog because the kids would be more likely to watch them in class than seek them out on their own.

The History Channel. Gods and Goddesses. A&E Home Video, 2006. 100 minutes. DVD.

Engage in a visual discussion of the history of the Greek gods and goddesses -- their lives and their frailties.  Considering archaeological evidence, is it possible that some Greek myths are actually based in truth?

The History Channel. The First Olympics: Blood, Honor, and Glory. A&E Home Video, 2004. 137 minutes. DVD.

Excitement and sports abound in this compelling DVD that covers the history of the Ancient Olympic Games and the influence that the Gods had upon their creation.  Explore details like - athletes competing in the nude and penalties for cheating.

Jim Henson’s  The Storyteller: Greek Myths.  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2004.  95 minutes.  DVD.

Are you looking for information about Daedalus and Icarus, Orpheus and Eurydice, Perseus and the Gorgon, or Theseus and the Minataur? Muppet style characters make Greek mythology fun!

Pro Teacher Directory and MythWeb

Are you looking for creative activities or lesson plan ideas to help you teach about Greek mythology?  Here are two resources to help you...

"Ancient Greece."  Pro Teacher Directory.  Website.  http://www.proteacher.com/090083.shtml.The Pro Teacher Directory "Ancient Greece" page contains links to other websites with games, activities, projects, and creative ideas about Ancient Greece. 

"Teaching Tips from MythWeb."  MythWeb.  Website.  http://www.mythweb.com/teachers/tips/tips.html.
MythWeb offers lesson plan ideas, including composition ideas, a project to create a Greek tabloid, and much more.

Pro Teacher Directory and MythWeb are both one-stop shops for finding lesson planning ideas to support your curriculum!

Myths Brainstorming Machine

Created by Scholastic, the Myths Brainstorming Machine is a website that helps students brainstorm and map out their own myth.  Do students want to face adventure in a cave or on a mountain by the sea? Would they prefer to battle a hydra or a four-eyed beast?  This interactive website allows students to enjoy creating their own myth, where they choose the location, god or goddess, and the terrifying beast.

Unfortunately, the Myths Brainstorming Machine is not specific to Greek mythology, so it includes locations, gods, and monsters from other cultures, too.  Nevertheless, the website is a fun way to help students start to envision their own myths.  A great beginning for an English class's "Create Your Own Myth" creative writing assignment!


"Myths Brainstorming Machine."  Scholastic.  Website.  http://teacher.scholastic.com/writewit/mff/mythmachine.htm.

Jane Yolen's Myth Writing Workshops

Jane Yolen is the co-author of Odysseus in the Serpent Maze, the first book in the 'Young Heroes' series (which is included in the annotated list of materials).
Scholastic offers a useful website called Myth Writing Workshops with Jane Yolen.  Let author Jane Yolen teach students how to write a myth--"a story that expains a natural phenomenon in a creative way."  Yolen offers four steps that teach students about myths and eventually help students create their own myth and publish it online.  Teachers can adapt Jane Yolen's information and steps for use in their own classrooms or walk students through the actual website.  Either way, students will be able to successfully write their own myths!


Yolen, Jane.  "Myths Writing Workshop with Jane Yolen: A Writing with Writers Activity."  Scholastic.  Website.  http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/activity/myths-writing-workshop-jane-yolen-writing-writers-activity.

Hercules lesson plans

"Hercules: Don't 'Myth' This Teaching Opportunity!" Education World. Website 
Uses Disney's movie "Hercules" to get students excited about Greek Mythology.  Features related activities and has some additional web sites.


Perseus Digital Library Project. "Herakles." Tufts University Collection. Website.
Find additional resources for teaching Hercules, including: bio, maps, women, labors, and other stories.

Creative writing inspired by Greek Mythology: The famous Hercules was given 12 impossibly dangerous assignments - like stealing the golden apples of Zeus that were guarded by a dragon with 100 heads.  These 12 tasks are known as the Labors of Hercules.  Hercules had the help of two deities - Hermes (the messenger) and Athena (goddess of war and wisdom) - who were there to help when the going got really tough.  Now, have your students create and write a 13th labor for Hercules, set in contemporary times.  Have them develop a short narrative adventure story that includes characters, setting, a sequence of events, and a resolution.  Have Hercules be able to call on any of the Greek gods to help him with his final task.