Mythology, Legends, Folklore, and Storytelling

Introduction

Thunderbolts fly from his fingertips! One look from her can turn you to stone! His superhuman strength will crush your bones! She will use her magic to control your mind! A talking coyote steals the moon! A cowboy lassoed a tornado and rode it like a horse! Giants roam the land, terrorizing the humans.

Sounds like a fantasy or even a horror movie, right?  Nope! Just your traditional legend, folklore, or myth! They've been around for thousands of years! Percy Jackson ain't got nuthin' on these wild tales! ;) 

During this unit you will...

  • read/hear about fantastic tales as old as time,
  • learn new vocabulary that will assist you both during this unit of study and throughout your entire life,
  • analyze the difference between Hercules the story and the Disney movie,
  • act out a readers' theatre play, and
  • write your own narrative featuring a hero or heroine.

 

During this unit you learn the following standards:

RL.8.2 Determine a theme of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot

RL.8.2 Provide an objective summary of the text.

RL.8.3 Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story propel action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision

RL.8.9 Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from mythology and traditional stories.

RL.8.10 Read and comprehend literature at grade level.

Task

Today, during this webquest, you will investigate various websites and learn about mythology, legends, and folklore. During this investigation, you will complete a guided notes page provided by your teacher. Click here to download and print.

Throughout the course of this unit, in class and in the computer lab, you will read narratives (myths, legends, folktales) from various cultures.

As your assessment, you will create your own narrative!

 

Process

Follow the directions by each number below.

1. Complete your guided notes page as you go through the following websites. Some of the information may be on more than one website, so don't worry if you see overlap! 

http://www.planetozkids.com/oban/what-are-myths.htm

http://www.americanfolklore.net/what-is-folklore.html

http://bestoflegends.org/

Go to page 1010 - 1011 on this link:

http://view.etext.home2.pearsoncmg.com/ebook/launcheText.do?values=bookID::1004640::platform::1059::fromloginpage::N::invokeType::lms::launchState::goToEBook::platform::1059::RUMBAUserID::ffffffff57b11b6ce4b0766e5f0ba944::globalBookID::CM14401443::userID::7255219::scenario::7::scenarioid::scenario7::courseid::3A09912187C2B28AE0536918C40A282A::pageid::::sessionID::3095820149063::smsUserID::39EB02A1325E496CE0537C34A00A9D77::hsid::63f677d31e31d27a5c8df91739048b5e

2. {use your headphones!} Watch this video to give you a general idea of Greek Gods! http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/greek-mythology/videos/greek-gods?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=1&free=false 

3. Read a story of your choice from the link below. The website is designed to be a sort of quiz for you, but you just need to find a story to read. Click the pictures to get to the stories. On the back of your guided notes page, write the following information about your story:

  1. Story Type (myth, legend, etc.)
  2. Story Title
  3. Main Character
  4. Theme of the story

Go to this link: http://home.freeuk.net/elloughton13/theatre.htm 

Conclusion

I hope you learned something new today! 

To get out of class today, answer this question on your sticky note:

Which type of story are you most interested in reading/learning about and why?