ADVANTAGE ASSIGNMENT: (NOTE: You must complete regular work in order to get credit for ADVANTAGE POINTS!)
Advantage Assignments are HW that YOU CHOOSE to do; it’s optional. If you want to do the activity on your own time, go right ahead.
Credit earned for Advantage Assignments will be reflected in your end of the quarter grade as well in your ability to do well in class. This assignment is worth 15 points. Everything will be due by May 16th.
The Greeks & Romans are known for their exciting myths, legends & plays. Gods, goddesses, monsters, heros & heroines. Some are so wild its not hard to understand how the people of these cultures were so entralled by them. Reading them today they are noloess wonderous & exciting.
These 2 cultures are also the inspiration for a CURRENT DAY TREND, which you may already be part of.
Many current authors of books for middle schoolers have taken the themes of the Greeks & Romans & used a modern day setting for these stories. Authors like Rick Riordan, Kate O'Hearn, Mary Pope Osborne & others have been very successful using this technique.
Below are a list of authors & books you might want to check out. This list is only a suggestion. Go to the library & speak with the librarian (both in Mrs. Bronschilde, school & at the public libraries librarians). I am sure they will have some suggestions, too. Do a search at the MMS Library & Mahopac Library web sites &/or Book Wizard to help you locate a great book. You can also see check out some of thse suggestions:
THE ASSIGNMENT:
Advantage Assignments are HW that YOU CHOOSE to do; it’s optional. If you want to do the activity on your own time, go right ahead.
Credit earned for Advantage Assignments will be reflected in your end of the quarter grade as well in your ability to do well in class. This assignment is worth 15 points. Everything will be due by May 16th.
The Greeks & Romans are known for their exciting myths, legends & plays. Gods, goddesses, monsters, heros & heroines. Some are so wild its not hard to understand how the people of these cultures were so entralled by them. Reading them today they are noloess wonderous & exciting.
These 2 cultures are also the inspiration for a CURRENT DAY TREND, which you may already be part of.
Many current authors of books for middle schoolers have taken the themes of the Greeks & Romans & used a modern day setting for these stories. Authors like Rick Riordan, Kate O'Hearn, Mary Pope Osborne & others have been very successful using this technique.
Below are a list of authors & books you might want to check out. This list is only a suggestion. Go to the library & speak with the librarian (both in Mrs. Bronschilde, school & at the public libraries librarians). I am sure they will have some suggestions, too. Do a search at the MMS Library & Mahopac Library web sites &/or Book Wizard to help you locate a great book. You can also see check out some of thse suggestions:
THE ASSIGNMENT:
- FIRST: Choose at least one legendary Greek or Roman story or a current day Greek/Roman inspired book. Make sure that it is one that you have NOT already read (honor system here!). Read it.
- SECOND: Write a review of the book. You can use this template as a guideline & to help you ensure you don't leave anything out. It gives a good idea of what goes into a review.
- THIRD: Post your review on line. In order to do this you need to shoot me an email so I can send you a password for your own blog. Once you have posted your review, everyone will be able to read & comment on the book reviews posted. Check out the Team 6B BOOK REVIEW BLOG.
Mythology Suggestions:
- A Child's Introduction to Greek Mythology: The Stories of the Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Monsters, and Other Mythical Creatures by Heather Alexander
- D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths by Edgar D'Aulaire
- Mythology by Edith Hamilton
- Greek Myths Book Search List
- Roman Books Search List
- Mary Pope Osborne - wrote a great retelling of Homer's Odessey. These are not set in the 21st century but are a great read. To get the full understanding of this amazingly gruesome journey they are best read in order.
- The One-Eyed Giant - When Odysseus must leave his home to fight in the Trojan War, he never imagines that he’ll be away from his family for so many years. Now, at long last, he is leading his men across the seas. But many dangers await them – and none is more terrifying than Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant
- The Land of the Dead - Odysseus and his men have defeated the one-eyed giant, but its curse plagues them at every turn. Cast out to the open seas by the wind god, Odysseus and his men face giant cannibals and outwit a beautiful witch, who reveals Odysseus’s next challenge – a journey to the mysterious and feared land of the dead
- Sirens and Sea Monster - Odysseus and his men have done what no other mortals have done: returned alive from the terrifying Land of the Dead. Armed with warnings and advice from the ghosts of the prophet Tiresias, Odysseus is determined to finally sail home to Ithaca. But the enchantress Circe tells him that the Greeks will face even more horrors on their journey, including an encounter with Scylla, the six-headed monster, and Charybdis, the deadly whirlpool. Who will survive these terrors-and how? In this third of six books based on episodes from Homer’s Odyssey, Mary Pope Osborne continues the exciting adventures of one of the greatest heroes of all time.
- The Gray-Eyed Goddess - For nearly twenty years, Odysseus has fought terrifying giants and monsters, weathered the loss of his men, and angered gods and goddesses. Now he is trapped on the island of the alluring sea goddess, Calypso. Back in Ithaca, his wife, Penelope, and their son, Telemachus, are desperately warding off the suitors who want to marry Penelope in order to take control of Odysseus’s island. Then a visit from a mysterious stranger gives Telemachus the courage to confront the suitors, and to head off in search of his long-lost father. Could the stranger be the gray-eyed warrior goddess, Athena?
- Return to Ithaca - After years of captivity on Calypso’s island, Odysseus finds himself on the shores of yet another strange land. Meanwhile, his wife, Penelope, fears for their son Telemachus. His enemies – Penelope’s unwanted suitors – plan to ambush and kill him upon his return to find his father. But the family’s years of suffering come to an end, as father and son are reunited in a series of startling, strange, and magical events. Odysseus is finally home. And now his revenge beings
- The Final Battle - After struggling against the gods and his fate for more than 20 years, Odysseus has returned to Ithaca at last. But things have changed: his island has been overrun by suitors who clamor for his wife’s hand in marriage and plague his son Telemachus. With the help of the grey-eyed goddess Athena, Odysseus and Telemachus must set out to regain control of Ithaca
- Goddess of Yesterday - by Caroline B. Cooney - a great retelling of the Helen of Troy story. Helen is more of a side character in this one, which was a nice change. The real prize of Goddess of Yesterday was the super clever main character. She was brave, smart, and tough as nails.
- Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. - This tale of two princesses - one beautiful and one unattractive - and of the struggle between sacred and profane love is Lewis’s reworking of the myth of Cupid and Psyche and one of his most enduring works.
- Pegasus Series - by Kate O'Hearn - Pegasus soars wild and free among the clouds with Emily and Joel on his back and Paelen and Cupid close behind. Join them as they struggle to save both Olympus and our world from the Nirads and enemies of the Olympians.
- Cronus Chronicles - by Anne Ursu - No one knows that inside an ordinary middle school in an ordinary city, Charlotte and Zee are heroes. It's not like they can simply announce that Greek myths are real or proclaim they have returned from the Underworld. Instead, they are forced to keep this terrible knowledge to themselves, and are stuck in a state of extraordinary ordinariness.
- Percy Jackson & the Olympians Series - by Rick Riordan - The gods of Olympus are alive and well in the 21st Century! They still fall in love with mortals and have children who are half-god, half-human, like the heroes of the old Greek myths. Could you be one of those children?
- Heros of Olympus - by Rick Riordan - A new Great Prophecy, a new generation of demigods – the adventures have just begun! In this new five-book series, expect to see your old friends from the Percy Jackson books along with a great new cast of main characters, as the heroes of Camp Half-Blood embark on their most dangerous challenge yet.
- TALK to the LIBRARIANS at MMS Library & Mahopac Library
- BOOK SEARCHES - at MMS Library & Mahopac Library web sites &/or Book Wizard
- ETC!
Also... The book Wizard not only helps you find books but it helps you determine reading levels. | |