1999 Curriculum Abstracts

"Myths And Their Transformations,"

The Greek Story Versus the Disney Hercules Story - Everlena Oliver, Santa Ana High School

Children love super heroes. Hercules was one of the greatest Greek Super heroes. Why was he so great? The circumstances surrounding his birth forced him to make some choices during his life that made him great. He became a super hero because of the many challenges he conquered.

This unit will focus on his family genealogy, circumstances that led him to the twelve labors, and his death. The material will be presented to 9th grade general education students and students with mild to moderate learning handicaps. Through the research, the students will be guided into developing critical thinking skills, artistic expression, and understanding how this subject can cross over into other subjects (world geography, history, and art classes). They will be able to see how the Greek culture has influenced many of the words in our English language. I also hope to show the students how the ancient Greek writers created stories to explain how the constellations came to be named and how they created their version of how the world began.

In order to teach the students, it will be very important for them to see how the history surrounding that time period often influenced the stories that the Greek writers wrote about. This will help the students to see how world events happening today often influence the type of heroes they choose.

I also hope to study the symbolism that is represented in the story of Hercules. In addition to this, I want to bring out the different themes such as good versus evil, strong versus weak, and virtue versus vice. Another plan is to discuss what attributes a super hero must possess. I want to answer the question of whether Hercules was a deranged and troubled mortal man or a super hero?

Some of the objectives that will be included in my lesson plans are as follows: students will know the major events that contributed to the Greek Hercules Mythology. They will be able to reconstruct the labors using descriptive language and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the Greek Hercules with the Disney version of Hercules. Students will read and comprehend pertinent information about Greek culture, give oral presentations, and working in groups, conduct research. And finally, students will have a clear understanding of how Greek Mythology has contributed to our American society.

"Myths And Their Transformations,"

	The Greek Story Versus the Disney Hercules Story - Everlena Oliver, Santa Ana High School

	Children love super heroes. Hercules was one of the greatest Greek Super heroes. Why was he so great? The circumstances surrounding his birth forced him to make some choices during his life that made him great. He became a super hero because of the many challenges he conquered. This unit will focus on his family genealogy, circumstances that led him to the twelve labors, and his death. The material will be presented to 9th grade general education students and students with mild to moderate learning handicaps. Through the research, the students will be guided into developing critical thinking skills, artistic expression, and understanding how this subject can cross over into other subjects (world geography, history, and art classes). They will be able to see how the Greek culture has influenced many of the words in our English language. I also hope to show the students how the ancient Greek writers created stories to explain how the constellations came to be named and how they created their version of how the world began. In order to teach the students, it will be very important for them to see how the history surrounding that time period often influenced the stories that the Greek writers wrote about. This will help the students to see how world events happening today often influence the type of heroes they choose. I also hope to study the symbolism that is represented in the story of Hercules. In addition to this, I want to bring out the different themes such as good versus evil, strong versus weak, and virtue versus vice. Another plan is to discuss what attributes a super hero must possess. I want to answer the question of whether Hercules was a deranged and troubled mortal man or a super hero? Some of the objectives that will be included in my lesson plans are as follows: students will know the major events that contributed to the Greek Hercules Mythology. They will be able to reconstruct the labors using descriptive language and use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the Greek Hercules with the Disney version of Hercules. Students will read and comprehend pertinent information about Greek culture, give oral presentations, and working in groups, conduct research. And finally, students will have a clear understanding of how Greek Mythology has contributed to our American society.