Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue--Our Revised 3rd Grade Myths & Legends Unit

Such great times in 3rd grade recently! Each spring in library classes we work with our 3rd grade teachers to address the reading standards regarding myths and legends. (That's our "something borrowed," as these aren't mentioned specifically in AASL library standards.) We began our work with Greek mythology, gaining background knowledge from Britannica Online articles related to different gods and goddesses.

Students used this handout in Google Classroom to record their work. We were looking for how the humans interacted with the gods and/or how the gods treated one another.

You can access the handout HERE.

We then read and shared different star stories using the TrueFLIX book Constellations, including the story about the constellation Scorpius.

A favorite assignment among third graders, designing their own constellation and creating the story behind it was next--our "something old." In this two-day activity, students plan their stories and stage a picture for their final projects. Students brainstorm possible constellations and stories using the handout below.

You can access the handout HERE.

Check out some of the students' work on their constellations and stories:

And now for our "something new"--a visit to Scholastic's website called Myths from Around the World. Again using Google Classroom, students accessed the site and read myths and legends of their choosing from a wide variety of cultures.

After reading myths and legends of their choice, students then accessed a world map on Google Maps--the "something new." Their work came full circle as we returned to our original conversation about the purpose of myths--to explain something in nature, to teach a lesson, or to celebrate a hero's story. On the map, students were to place a pin on the country from their reading and identify the purpose of the myth. You can see their work below:

Taking a Look at Greek Mythology

Third graders at Dallas Center Elementary have been working with their reading partners to learn more about different gods, goddesses, creatures, and other characters from Greek mythology. Reading articles from Britannica Online, students' first task was to learn about their topic and take notes, including information related to their new learning, inferences, and questions.

You can access the handout HERE.

Students also watched three stories from Greek mythology using Learn360: Daedalus & Icarus, Pandora's Box, and Jason & the Golden Fleece. Conversations related to the videos related to the way humans and gods/goddesses interact and why or how one group becomes upset or pleased with the others' actions.

Students' final project combined their learning of gods and goddesses along with their recent work with constellations. Working in groups, students brainstormed characters and items to include in an original myth that tells the story of a constellation they created.

You can access the handout HERE.

Here are some examples of students' constellation stories:

Constellation Star Stories

To piggyback the 3rd grade teachers' work with the stars and planets, we work on a constellation unit that focuses on the stories behind them. We began with a great Vimeo that introduces students to some of the more popular constellations and their stories.

 
Greek Mythology: Constellation Myths from Brenda Wooding on Vimeo.

Students had a predicting activity that accompanied this video:

With a few stories under their belts, students then brainstormed their own constellation stories and the constellations themselves. Using the iPads, students took pictures of their "constellations," and they will  outline their constellation shapes with stars and write their stories soon!

Stay tuned. . . students' constellations and star stories will be featured in a "night sky" that includes the work from our Iowa Goldfinch book Blackout. 

Constellation Myths: 3rd Grade Research

Third grade students have been researching and learning about stars and constellations. Our favorite part has been learning about constellation myths.

First we learned about the stars and constellations from this book at TrueFlix. Students practiced note taking skills.

Next we viewed a video that gave a great overview of several Greek myths. Before watching, we did a prediction activity guessing what the stories behind constellations were; each group had a different constellation to make a prediction about. We were fascinated by the mythology and stories behind the stars. Many students knew characters from these constellation myths just by reading the Percy Jackson books!

Finally, we dug in and did some more research about  myths behind the stars. Tables worked together to take notes on different star constellations. Then, they used these noted stars to make a NEW constellation! See some examples below:

New Constellation: Brain Freeze, an ice cream cone

New Constellation: a shield

New Constellation: a heart