A Complete Ancient Greek History Walk-through that will ......chronological order that is easy to...
Transcript of A Complete Ancient Greek History Walk-through that will ......chronological order that is easy to...
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Navigating Homeschooling Ancient Greece/1
A Complete Ancient Greek History Walk-through that will Excite Your Kids!
This is a compilation of Ancient Greek history resources and activities. I’ve laid it out in a (mostly)
chronological order that is easy to follow and will jumpstart your dive into Ancient Greek history. You
will need two main sources as a base curriculum: The Story of the World Vol. 1: Ancient Times and its
Student Pages, and History Pockets: Ancient Greece. If you’re trying to save cost, it’s possible to choose
one or the other as they overlap. In addition to these resources, I’ve noted activities, games, and videos
that will enhance each lesson. Please pick and choose activities based on your child’s age, attention
span, and abilities. I did these with my children ages 7, 10, and 12. Sometimes my 4-year-old would join
in.
Additional materials:
3-ring binder for pages
Construction paper
Library books on Ancient Greece (optional)
Note: We do history three times a week—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Week 1- Life in Early Crete
Greek history really starts before its founding on the island of Crete as the Minoan Civilization was the
predecessor of the Greeks and influenced Greek culture and mythology.
Day 1:
Read: “Bull-jumpers and Sailors” from The Story of the World.
Take a closer look at the bull-leaping fresco in “Bull-leaping fresco from the palace of Knossos”
at Khan Academy. There is also an 8 page illustrated book on bull-leaping you can download at
the bottom of this link.
Watch: Ancient Crete The Minoans. This is an informative video older children will enjoy.
Watch: The Minoan Palace ~ Ancient Crete Music. This is a beautiful still-photo video with
ancient Crete music.
Watch: Crete, The Magnificent Minoan Palace Of Knossos Europe's Oldest City. I love this video.
It is a beautifully done, computer generated model of what the ancient palace might have
looked like back in its glory days.
Map work: We located and colored
the island of Crete. This page is
from The Story of the World
(SOTW) Student Pages.
Coloring Page: “Bull Jumpers” from
SOTW Student Pages.
https://navigatinghomeschooling.home.blog/blog/https://welltrainedmind.com/p/the-story-of-the-world-volume-1-ancient-times-from-the-earliest-nomads-to-the-last-roman-emperor/?v=7516fd43adaahttps://welltrainedmind.com/p/student-pages-vol-1-revised-edition/?v=7516fd43adaahttps://www.evan-moor.com/history-pockets-ancient-greece-grades-4-6-teacher-reproducibles-e-bookhttps://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/aegean-art1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgUBXJqQW3shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm3dsk67REhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAm3dsk67REhttps://welltrainedmind.com/p/student-pages-vol-1-revised-edition/?v=7516fd43adaa
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Day 2:
Read: “King Minos and the Minotaur” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Theseus And The Minotaur | Exploring Greek
Mythology. This video has activities at the end.
Activity: Blindfold one child. Have a second child guide
the first using the directions learned in the above video
until they reach the desired destination. For added
difficulty, rearranged chairs as obstacles.
Watch: Theseus & The Minotaur | Daedalus and Icarus |
Greek Mythology. This is a cartoon that even my 4-year-
old enjoyed. It has two Greek myths. Skip to 5:00 for
Theseus & the Minotaur.
Complete: “Theseus and the Minotaur” maze from
SOTW Student Pages. For the older children, I had them
write a short summary of the story. We cut out the
maze and story summary and glued it onto construction
paper before placing it in our binder.
Day 3:
Read: “The Mysterious End of the Minoans” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Frescoes from Akrotiri, Thera by Khan Academy. This video gives more details about
Thera and the volcanic eruption on the island.
Timeline: This is a good time to begin History Pockets: Ancient Greece, starting with the
“Introduction to Ancient Greece.” Put together the timeline and have students color the first
block: “The Minoan Civilization settles on the Island of Crete.” Don’t worry about the rest of the
timeline. We will fill it out as we go along. For further instruction on how to assemble the
timeline to fit in the 3-ring binder, see my video.
Coloring Page: Ancient Greece cover page from
History Pockets: Ancient Greece. You can either
place this in the front of your binder as a cover
page, or after the Minoans and in front of the
Mycenaeans, who were the first early Greeks. Cut
it out and glue onto construction paper for more
durability.
Week 2- The Early Greeks
Day 1:
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Read: “The Mycenaeans” from The Story of the World.
Watch: You have some choices here. There are 4 videos on Mycenaean civilization you can
watch on Khan Academy. Older children may enjoy these. My 10 and 12-year-olds liked trying
to answer the quiz questions after the videos. You can space these out over the week. Younger
children will not have the attention span for these videos.
Map work: You have two choices. Either use “The Early Greeks” map from the SOTW Student
Pages or the map from History Pockets. Color Crete and Greece a different color. Find the
location of Troy, and note any other important cities.
Timeline: Draw a picture for “The Mycenaeans conquered the Minoans” and record the date:
1450 B.C.
Day 2:
Read: “The Greek Dark Ages” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Truth of Troy by BBC. This is a series of six 3-4 minute long videos. These fascinating
videos explore whether Homer’s accounts of Troy have any support in archeology. They also
give a cartoon account of the story of the Trojan horse.
Write: Have the child retell the story of Trojan horse. Younger children can do this orally.
Draw: Children gifted as artist may enjoy drawing the Trojan horse following these step-by-step
instructions.
Timeline: Write in, “The Dark Ages of Greece” for the date 1100 B.C. Draw a picture.
Day 3:
Read: “The Stories of Homer” from The Story of the World. You’ll notice this is slightly out of
order. That is because Homer’s stories were written much later than the period during which
they supposedly happened—that is the Greek Dark Ages. Since we already discussed Troy, we
will move onto the story of Odysseus as he sailed back to Greece from Troy.
Watch: Odysseus and the Cyclops. This is a two part account of the story of Odysseus and the
Cyclops. Warning: There is some gore that may frighten younger or more sensitive children.
Please preview these videos to determine whether they are suitable for your children.
Watch: Odysseus And The Cyclops | Exploring Greek
Mythology. This is a less intense retelling of the story. It also
includes a little science at the end of the video on the
importance of two eyes.
Activity: Go outside and play catch. Have the child catch the
ball normally. Then cover one eye. We did this by using black
construction paper to block one side of a pair of sunglasses.
Have the child try to catch the ball with only one good eye. Do
they notice a difference? Repeat these steps with other
activities like trying to drop a small ball down a paper towel
tube. They cannot touch or hold the tube with their hand. Is
this more difficult with one eye covered?
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Coloring Page: Children can color the Cyclops from SOTW Student Pages. Some children may
prefer to draw their own picture.
Week 3- Greece Gets Civilized Again
Note: Depending on the number of activities chosen, this section may take more than one week. Some
children may want to do all of the activities, in which case, it may take up to three weeks.
Day 1:
Watch: Classical Greece by Khan Academy.
Read: “Daily Life” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Coloring Page: “A Greek Home” in History Pockets. Children into
Minecraft who dislike coloring might prefer building a Greek
home in the game. They can use the coloring page as a
blueprint.
Activities: You have 3 choices from the History Pockets: Mosaic
Art, A Wedding Invitation, or the Game of Knucklebones. Allow
children to pick activities based on their interest and skills.
Day 2:
Read: “Greece Gets an Alphabet” from The Story of the World.
Read: “Language & Literature” in History Pockets: Ancient
Greece.
Language Study: Both SOTW Student Pages and History Pockets has an activity for writing the
child’s name in Greek. In addition, History Pockets has a “Greek to English” word study ideal for
older children.
Activity: Children may be interested in making the Theater Masks. Instructions are in the History
Pockets, but basically, all you need is a paper plate and to google search “ancient Greece theater
masks.” The masks are two sided (faces on each side). Some children may enjoy performing a
play.
Poetry: Children interested in poetry may enjoy doing the Lyric Poetry activity in the History
Pockets.
Day 3:
Read: “The First Olympic Games” from The Story of the World.
Read: “Sports & Entertainment” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Timeline: Write in, “The First Olympics” and the date 776 B.C. Color the torch.
Coloring Page: “The Ancient Olympic Games” in History Pockets.
Painting: “The Olympic Torch” in History Pockets. It calls for yellow and orange tempera paint,
but we used red and glitter gold tempera paint.
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Activity: “Olympic Sports Newspaper” in History Pockets. In this activity, the child is to create a
newspaper article for the upcoming Olympic Games. We modified this activity, creating a
newspaper for the “Christian Race.” We read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.
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Week 4- The Medes and Persians (optional)
There is a brief break in Greece history to cover the Medes and Persians. You have the choice to skip this,
but if the child isn’t already familiar with these civilizations, I recommend covering this section as the
Persians play an important role in Greek history.
Day 1:
Read: “A New Empire” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Ancient Persia by Khan Academy.
Map work: “The Medes and the Persians” map from SOTW Student Pages. Have the child trace
the border of the Persian Empire in color.
Day 2:
Read: “Cyrus the Great” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Cyrus the Great and the Achaemenid Empire by Khan Academy.
Coloring Page: “Cyrus the Great” SOTW Student Pages.
Day 3:
Watch: Zoroastrianism by Khan Academy. (optional) This is a fascinating ancient religion that still
exists today. Discuss the similarities and differences of Zoroastrianism to Christianity.
Week 5- Sparta and Athens
Day 1:
Read: “Life in Sparta” from The Story of the World.
Coloring Page: Color the Greek soldier in the SOTW Student
Pages.
Day 2:
Read: “Life in Athens” from The Story of the World.
Do “Athens and Sparta: Brains v. Brawn” in History Pockets.
Venn Diagram: Make a Venn diagram or use the one
provided in History Pockets to show the ways that Sparta and
Athens were similar and different. Children that can’t yet
write well may draw pictures.
Day 3:
Activity: Make Greek paper dolls from the SOTW Student Pages.
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Week 6- Work, School, & Government
Day 1:
Read: “Work & School” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Coloring Page: “The Agora.” Color the Greek marketplace in the
History Pockets.
Activity: Child may set up a stand and pretend to sell a craft or
food item. Further details for this activity are in the History
Pockets.
Timeline: Draw coins for the date 690 B.C.
Craft: Child will design a coin for Sparta, keeping in mind what sort
of symbols would best represent it. Cover a circular piece of
cardboard with aluminum foil and then glue the child’s design
(from paper slightly smaller than the coin) onto the foil. Our coin
was approximately 3 inches in diameter. Templates for the coin
are in the History Pockets.
Day 2:
Watch: Classical Greek Society and Culture by Khan Academy.
Write: Read about the “schools of thought” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece found under
“Work and School.” Have the child pick which great thinker they would have liked to study
under and write their reasons for choosing him. Older children may want to look up more
information online about each teacher before choosing.
Day 3:
Read: “Government in Athens” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Watch: Philosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle by Khan Academy.
Speech: “The Art of Persuasion” in the History Pockets will guide the child on how to write a
speech. Allow the child to give their speech to the family.
Craft: Read about Socrates and his trial in the History Pockets. Make Greek juror ballots by
cutting out two 2” cardboard circles and punching a hole in the middle. Glue a wooden dowel in
one and a straw in the other. The “hollow” ballot is the guilty ballot.
Timeline: Draw a picture of the Greek ballots for “The city-state of Athens develops the world’s
first democracy.” Write in the date 508 B.C.
Week 7- The Greek Gods
Day 1:
Read: “The Greek Gods” from The Story of the World.
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Read: “Religion and Mythology” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece. History Pockets provides a
list of several of the most common gods and goddesses. For a list of both the Greek and Roman
names, see the SOTW Student Pages.
Watch: Choose any number of the Greek Stories from this channel to watch throughout the
week.
Video & Activity: Explanation Writing - Fiction & Non-Fiction. This is an already familiar story,
but at the end of the video, you will be given details on how to plan your own cryptid.
Coloring: Child will want to begin drawing and coloring the pictures for the Book of Olympian
Gods in the History Pockets. This will be assembled at the end of the week.
Day 2:
Note: Most of this week will be spent coloring, drawing, and planning for
their writing project. The child may either watch more Greek stories, or if
you prefer, check out books on Greek mythology from your library.
Draw: Child will draw a picture of their cryptid using the chart they
created. As they do this, they should be imagining what sort of
myths their creature might play a part in.
Day 3:
Write: The child will write a short story about their cryptid. If the
child does not yet write well, don’t limit their creativity. Allow
them to dictate the story to you as you write it. The story could be
an origin story, or it can be a tale of some deed (good or bad).
Write: Rather than create their own mythological creature, the child instead could write a
mixed-up myth of the existing Greek gods as instructed in the History Pockets. We chose to skip
this activity in favor of creating our own mythic being.
Assemble: A Book of Olympian Gods according to the directions in the History Pockets to make
an accordion book. We punched holes in it, so we could place it in our binder. For a glimpse of
what it should look like, watch my video.
Week 8- Art and Architecture
Day 1:
Read: “Art and Architecture” in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Coloring pages: Greek Architecture column styles found in History Pockets.
Draw: Use the column coloring page as a guide to design a library. Decide which type of column
you want to use. (If you don’t have History Pockets, look up Greek column styles online for this
activity.)
Craft: Construct the pop-up Parthenon in History Pockets. Write down a few facts about the
Parthenon in the space provided.
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Timeline: Under the picture of the Parthenon write, “They began building the Parthenon” and
the date 447 B.C.
Day 2:
Craft: Make an amphora. Child can look up Greek amphora designs on the internet. Child can
draw their own amphora or finish drawing the vase provided in History Pockets. Next they will
make their own designs on it after the Greek style. Color, and then cut out and mount on
construction paper.
Day 3:
Craft: Child will recreate the fresco from Knosses found at the: 30 mark in The Minoan Palace ~
Ancient Crete Music. Have the child lightly sketch the dolphins and fish with a pencil and paint
their fresco to create a beautiful underwater scene.
Week 9- The Wars of the Greeks
Day 1:
Read: “Greece’s Wars with Persia” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Greco Persian Wars by Khan Academy.
Timeline: Write, “Battle of Marathon Greeks defeat Persians”
and draw a picture under the date 490 B.C.
Coloring page: Color and label the Greek military equipment
page in History Pockets. (My 4-year-old wanted to color this day,
so I printed up one for her. Always involve the younger children
when they show an interest in what the older children are doing.
This is a great way to nourish curiosity.)
Day 2:
Read: “About Military Power” in History Pockets: Ancient
Greece.
Watch: Second Persian Invasion by Khan Academy
Coloring Page: Color and read about the Triremes and the important part they played in the
Greco Persian Wars. This information can be found in History Pockets: Ancient Greece.
Day 3:
Read: “The Greeks Fight Each Other” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Prelude to the Peloponnesian War and The Peloponnesian War by Khan Academy.
Timeline: Draw a picture for the date 431 B.C. “Athens and Sparta fight each other.”
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Craft: Look up the hoplite soldiers and
hoplite shields online. Using a paper plate,
have the child design a hoplite shield.
Information about the hoplite shield from
History Pockets can be glued onto the
back of the shield.
Game: Play Win the Peloponnesian War
game found in SOTW Student Pages.
Week 10- Alexander the Great
Day 1:
Read: “Philip and His Son” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Philip of Macedon unifies Greece by Khan Academy.
Coloring Page: Alexander and Bucephalus found in SOTW Student Pages.
Day2:
Read: “Alexander’s Invasions” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Alexander the Great takes power and Alexander the Great conquers Persia by Khan
Academy.
Map work: Color Alexander’s empire. Map found in SOTW Student Pages.
Day 3:
Read: “The Death of Alexander” from The Story of the World.
Watch: Diadochi and the Hellenistic Period by Khan Academy.
Timeline: Write, “Alexander the Great Dies” and draw a picture for the date 323 B.C.
Map work: Using a 2nd copy of the Alexander the Great map in SOTW Student Pages, divide and
color the fragments of Alexander’s empire as shown in the above video.
Watch: A Climb Up the Pharos Lighthouse found in the article: “The Great Lighthouse at
Alexandria.” This incredible lighthouse was built in Alexandria, Egypt. Alexandria, Egypt was one
of the many cities with that name founded by Alexander the Great.
Craft: Make the Pharos Lighthouse. Craft found in SOTW Student Pages.
Game: Play the Alexander the Great game found in SOTW Student Pages.
Timeline: Write the date 146 B.C. for “Greece is conquered by Romans.”
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