This blog will discuss why we should teach epics in the classroom. Kids groan when they have to read Beowulf or The Odyssey and always ask, "Why are we doing this?" This is the essential question; why read these texts in our globalized world? I will tackle these questions while blogging about 9 different epics over the course of 9 weeks, ending in the first week of August.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Technology and Teaching the Odyssey
I've been talking about visualization and the Odyssey. This reading comprehension strategy is especially useful because of the technology we have today. That's one of the big ideas I've been rambling about for three weeks now. Technology can help our students dive into a world where they might not be completely familiar with it, but there are teachable moments, even for our modern students. Today, I won't explicitly be talking about visualization, but you can see how it works in the video that is below. Please watch it. This video is about differentiation and visualization, two major components in students mastering knowledge.
You can see how this can be applicable to any text. You might notice that the students look like they're actually having fun (gasp!) while learning. I fully endorse this type of teaching. It's engaging, interactive, and takes advantage of the technology provided to us today to help students learn about one of the oldest pieces of literature that we have.
Let me know what you think! I'll post again on Sunday about why we should teach the Odyssey to our students today.
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