Mythology Power Point Activity
Kathryne C. Delcarpio
Pearl River High
English/Gifted DepartmentsGrade Level: 9,10 (Can be used by all grades)
I. Objectives, with Louisiana State Benchmarks and Standards:
A. The student will read, comprehend and summarize a chosen or assigned selection from mythology (Classic Greek/Roman, Arthurian Legend, World Mythology). (ELA-6-H3, ELA-1-H3, ELA-7-H1, ELA-7-H4)
B. The student will create an outline of the information from the selection to be used as framework and notes for an oral presentation. (ELA-5-H3, ELA-7-Hl)
C. The student will use the outline to create a Power Point presentation. (ELA4-H3)
D. The student will learn the basics of using Power Point software (making slides, designing layout, creating transitions and effects). (ELA-5-H4)
E. The student will learn to use an Internet Search Engine to locate and collect additional information for the presentation and to collect images to integrate into the presentation. (ELA-5-H2)
F. Using his/her Power Point presentation, the student will give an oral report on his/her topic to the members of his/her class and be able to answer additional questions (ELA-4-H1,3,4)
G. The student will take notes from the oral reports given by his/her classmates and to ask clarifying questions (ELA-4-H5, ELA-5-H3)
H. The student will evaluate each presentation using a class-made rubric.
I. The student will demonstrate his/her comprehension of the information given during the presentation by passing a unit test on mythology.II. Materials and Methods
A. Materials
1. Books on mythology (examples):
Bentley, Peter, ed. Heroes of the Dawn (Time/Life Series). London: Duncan Baird Publishers. 1996.
Goodrich, Norma. Medieval Myths. New York: New American Library, Inc.1961.
Hamilton,Edith. Mythology. New York: WarnerBooks, Inc. 1942.
2. Computers with Microsoft Office installed and Internet access.
3. TV with interface and remote mouse (optional).
4. Scanner (optional).B. Methods
1. Teacher model (1 class period)--After reviewing outlining, and notetaking skills and oral presentation techniques, the teacher models an oral Power Point presentation on mythology for the students. The students will take notes.
2. Research and Outline (1 class period)--Students then will either choose or be assigned an area in mythology to research and prepare an oral report on. Students are given time to read selected works and to write an outline to be used as the framework for both their oral presentations and the Power Point presentations. Students turn in the outline to the teacher for evaluation, feedback and possible revision. The outline may he typed, handwritten, or typed on the computer and saved to disc.
3. Power Point in-service (1 class period)--The teacher will in-service the students in the use of the Power Point program using the computers in the classroom or writing lab.
4. Create Presentations (2 class periods)--With the teacher as a resource, students begin creatiug their Power Point presentations by typing their outlines or importing the outlines from disc. After
completing their outlines, students must choose backgrounds, transitions and sound effects for the presentation using options from the Power Point program (Kids really enjoy this part because they “play" with the program's “Gee whiz" functions).5. Internet search (1 class period)--The teacher reviews or teaches the students how to use a search engine to locate, download and save additional information to include in their presentations. This includes images they may want to "capture," save and import into the presentation. The teacher also suggests specific Web sites so that students can be successful in research quickly (*see below).
6. Remote Mouse--The teacher instructs the students in the use of remote mouse (optional).
7. Rehearsal and Revision (1 class period)--Working in pairs, students fine tune their presentations, integrating Power Point with oral presentation, giving and receiving positive feedback.
8. Evaluation Rubric--The class creates a rubric for evaluation, including criteria for both the oral report and the visual presentation.
III. Evaluation--Students and the teacher will use the rubric to critique each presentation. The grade is a result of the combined rubric scores. Students and teacher must also include written
comments. Students will finally use the information from all reports to successfully pass a unit test on Mythology.IV. Power Point Project Requirements--
1. Outline
2. At least 7 slides
3. Layout of slides, background
4. Effects (transitions, sound) from Power Point, may use background music on CD
5. Three pictures included, either scanned or imported from the Internet
6. Time? Cover the subject adequately. Usually about 15 minutes each.Final word---Many students have computers, scanners, Power Point and Internet at home. If they want to work on this project at home, that's fine with me. It shortens the time we spend in class; however, there are still many studcnts who don't have these advantages. We spend the time in class, and if they need more time to complete any section that involves a computer, they can make an appointment to use the ones in my room before school, after school, or during lunch; or those computers in the library or other classrooms. All my students have enjoyed doing this and felt that the project was beneficial.
*Partial list of Internet Web Sites for mythology (Places to start--each one leads to more):
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acropolis/1161/english.htm
A wonderful site for all things English teachers may find useful-including mythology of all types.
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/humanities/classics/Resources/Net.html Classic literature resources--great art for classic mythologyhttp://vos.ucsb.edu/
Voice of the Shuttle-Excellent classic literature resourccshttp://www.georgetown.edu/labyrinth/labyrinth-home.html
Labyrinth-medieval studieshttp://www.luminarium.org/lumina.htm
Luminarium--classic literatureCopyright 2000. Kathryne C. Delcarpio. All Rights Reserved. Contact me (kdelcarpio@yahoo.com) for permission to publish.
