During my 18 years of teaching, I’ve gathered quite a navy of lesson plans and activities for The Odyssey. Some rival the intelligence of Polyphemus, so I threw them into Charybdis. Some would make even Athena proud, so I’ve cataloged them here.
Check out my Pinterest page for Teaching The Odyssey while you’re at it.
Hero’s Journey. This involves a video and some notes. Here’s a good hero’s journey lesson plan.
Captain’s Log. This is where The Odyssey meets Star Trek. After all, The Enterprise is on quite a voyage too, eh? After each adventure, instruct students to write about it in the Captain’s Log. You could also write about the adventure from another point of view–crew member, monster, god or goddess.
The Odyssey movie. There are two film versions of The Odyssey I use in class. The one starring Armando Assante that plays on the Lifetime Network 32 times each month is great. There’s also a cartoon version of the adventures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkJxISjWBUo
You’ll have more success sharing clips as you progress through the story. I’ve created a 7-week unit plan that outlines the starting point and stopping point for each adventure and when to show it.
You could seriously use a 7-week Odyssey unit with lesson plans, a calendar and pacing guide, graphic organizers, movie reviews and annotations, multiple quizzes, summaries, answer keys, projects, rubrics, and a bunch more. So avoid the odyssey of trying to figure out lesson plans for the next seven weeks and download The Odyssey teaching guide. We’re talking 15 years worth of trial and error teaching Homer’s epic and you’ll get what works. That means the only planning you need to do for the next seven weeks is making copies, allowing you to ply your expertise with less stress than ever.
Story Boards. By the time the end of the adventures arrive, students forget what’s already happened. Story Board reviews help. And they’re kind of fun.
Personal Odyssey Timeline. Hey, we’re all on a journey. Once students recognize this, the story becomes about them.
Quizzes. You’ll have more success giving intermittent quizzes than you will with one great, gigantic test at the end. The Ultimate Guide to Teaching The Odyssey contains plenty of quizzes.
I have full confidence you could simply use these teaching ideas and do a pretty good job of teaching The Odyssey. I also know that if you download the Ultimate Guide to Teaching The Odyssey, the only thing you’ll have to do in regards to lesson planning for the next seven weeks is making copies.
Last Updated on February 29, 2016 by Trenton Lorcher
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