Greek Myths

#TheCompleteSeries6lessons

Over the course of these six Greek Myths KS2 lessons, your class will become familiar with some of the most well-known tales from ancient Greece, including Pandora's Box, Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds, King Midas, Daedalus and Icarus, Perseus and Medusa, and Theseus and the Minotaur. Children will develop their reading comprehension skills through a range of engaging activities, including making predictions, writing summaries, comparing and contrasting two similar myths, exploring characters in role, and using the text to justify their answers and opinions.

Each of these Greek Myths KS2 lessons comes with a comprehensive plan, an engaging set of slides for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and printable resources - including story sheets for each myth in the scheme.

#Lesson1PandorasBox

In this first Greek Myths KS2 lesson, children will discuss what a myth is, and why they were so important to the people of ancient Greece. They will begin to read together the story of 'Pandora's Box'.

After pausing at the point in the story where the box appears, children are then asked to predict what is inside, and what might happen next, based on their knowledge and understanding of the story so far. After making their predictions, children read the rest of the myth, discussing both the outcome and their predictions.

Included in this first Greek Myths KS2 lesson pack is a detailed plan, a set of engaging slides for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and resources (including a printable version of the story, Pandora's Box).

#Lesson2PersephoneandthePomegranateSeeds

In this Greek Myths KS2 lesson, children will first recap on the purpose of myths, before reading together the story of 'Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds'.

After answering some general comprehension questions, your class will then use selected sections of the text to further explore the behaviour of each character. In their independent activities, children will take on the role of Demeter and/or Hades, and write a letter to the other, explaining their behaviour. In the FSD? activity, children are challenged to plan and perform a 'talk show' with the characters concerning the events in the story.

A detailed plan, a set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated resources are all included in this Greek Myths KS2 lesson pack, including a printable version of the story, Persephone and the Pomegranate Seeds.

#Lesson3KingMidas

In this Greek Myths KS2 lesson, children will briefly discuss what cautionary tales are, and why they were important to the ancient Greeks, before reading the story of King Midas together.

After answering some text-based questions about the story to assess general comprehension, this lesson focuses on what a summary is, and why they can be useful. Children will look at examples of how to use the SWBST (Somebody...Wanted...But...So...Then) method of writing a summary, and then use this approach to write their own summaries of the story of King Midas.

This Greek Myths KS2 Lesson Pack includes a King Midas Story Sheet, an easy-to-follow plan, a set of engaging slides for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and printable resources - everything you need for an enjoyable lesson based on this popular Greek myth.

#Lesson4DaedalusandIcarusHeliosandPhaeton

In this Greek myths KS2 lessons, children will first recap on what a cautionary tale is, and the purpose of this, before reading and discussing the tragic story of 'Daedalus and Icarus'.

In their independent activities, children will then read the tale of 'Helios and Phaeton'. They will use their knowledge and understanding of the characters and events in both stories to compare the myths, discussing the similarities and differences between them.

Including story sheets for both myths, this Greek Myths KS2 Lesson Pack has everything you need: a detailed plan, an engaging slide show, differentiated activity ideas and printable worksheets.

#Lesson5PerseusandMedusa

In this penultimate Greek Myths KS2 lesson, children will read 'Perseus and Medusa', identifying the hero, villain, god and mythical creature in the story.

After working together as a class to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words from the story using context clues, children will then independently answer a range of questions, and are challenged to justify their answers with evidence from the text.

A detailed plan, a set of slides for the teaching input, and differentiated resources are all included in this Greek Myths KS2 lesson pack, including a printable version of the story, Perseus and Medusa.

#Lesson6TheseusandtheMinotaur

In this final Greek Myths KS2 lesson, children will read and discuss the story of 'Theseus and the Minotaur', focusing on the four main characters' thoughts, feelings and motives.

As a class, children will first discuss the definitions of thoughts, feelings and motives. They will then use what they know from the text to infer the feelings and motives of the four main characters. In their independent activities, children are challenged to use a range of drama strategies to explore and convey the characters' thoughts, feelings and motives.

This Greek Myths KS2 Lesson Pack includes a Theseus and the Minotaur Story Sheet, a detailed plan, an engaging slideshow, differentiated activity ideas and printable resources - everything you need for an enjoyable lesson based on this popular Greek myth.

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Curriculum Objectives covered

• continuing to read and discuss an increasingly wide range of fiction, poetry, plays, non-fiction and reference books or textbooks
• reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes
• increasing their familiarity with a wide range of books, including myths, legends and traditional stories, modern fiction, fiction from our literary heritage, and books from other cultures and traditions
• identifying and discussing themes and conventions in and across a wide range of writing
• making comparisons within and across books
• checking that the book makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and exploring the meaning of words in context
• asking questions to improve their understanding
• drawing inferences such as inferring characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives from their actions, and justifying inferences with evidence
• predicting what might happen from details stated and implied
• summarising the main ideas drawn from more than one paragraph, identifying key details that support the main ideas
• participate in discussions about books that are read to them and those they can read for themselves, building on their own and others’ ideas and challenging views courteously
• explain and discuss their understanding of what they have read, including through formal presentations and debates, maintaining a focus on the topic and using notes where necessary
• provide reasoned justifications for their views.

• listen and respond appropriately to adults and their peers
• use relevant strategies to build their vocabulary
• articulate and justify answers, arguments and opinions
• maintain attention and participate actively in collaborative conversations, staying on topic and initiating and responding to comments
• use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
• participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play/improvisations and debates