The Greek Legacies Workshop lasts all day, and takes place in your classroom and the school hall.
Fee: £179 per class. Discounts available for small classes. Max. 36 children.
Feedback from children & teachers
'The class had a fantastic time. They learnt a lot during the day and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.'
- Emma Furness, Y5 Teacher, Norris Bank Primary School
Photos of workshops
National Curriculum Topics covered: arts and architecture; plays and the theatre; gods and goddesses, myths, legends, beliefs and customs; the building of the Parthenon.
Main activities:
1. Learn about 12 gods using pictures and games
2. Learn about Greek architecture using pictures and games
3. Make a model of the Parthenon (as new)
4. Learn about Greek theatre using photos
5. Rehearse and perform a myth play, costumes and props provided
Links to Plays: Gods of Olympus Theseus and the Minotaur
Morning Session
INTRODUCTION
Focus of the workshop is on three contributions: architecture, plays & theatre, and gods & myths. (follow links to see web pages for children).
Gods: the 12 Olympian gods, their roles and symbols
Time: 30 minutes
Pictures of Greek monsters in modern stories (e.g. film versions of Narnia and Harry Potter)
How many of the 12 Olympian gods can the children name, based on their roles? (e.g. Athena was goddess of wisdom and war)
Game - name the god from pictures and statues. See the game board
ARCHITECTURE
Features of a Doric temple: column, capital, entablature, metope, triglyph, pediment, cella. Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns.
Time: 25 minutes
Pictures of Parthenon and other temples. Pictures of 3 types of columns.
Magnetic board diagram showing parts of a temple. See the board
Game: name the architectural features shown in pictures
Game: name Ionic, Doric or Corinthian columns from ancient buildings and modern
The Parthenon
MAKE A TEMPLE
In larger classes some children will make a display about the Parthenon.
Time: 60-80 minutes, depending on age and time available
Materials used:
Columns - wooden rods, plasticine, foam board and white paint
Entablature, roof and pediment, and cella - thick white card, glue and sellotape, paper photocopies of the sculptures which will be coloured in with felt-tips
Statue of Athena - painted gold and white
Architects will use a glue gun (if this is acceptable to you)
Afternoon Session
The afternoon session is based around the performance of a play based on Greek myths. Most classes will perform a play about the 12 Gods of Olympus, with one child acting as each god and another child reading a story about that god. (Click to see the script of the play)
Year 5, 6, and above average year 4 classes may choose one of three plays based on a single story -Theseus and the Minotaur, Odysseus and the Cyclops, or Perseus and Medusa. The rest of the class will make scenery while the actors and readers rehearse. Another class (or several) will be invited to watch the final performance.
The actors and narrators will put on costumes (which I will provide).
Time: 30 minutes
Pictures of ancient theatres, play script, costumes, props.
REHEARSAL & SCENERY MAKING
We will go into the school hall to rehearse. Props such as shield, sword, and the symbols of the 12 gods will be provided. Chairs/benches will be arranged in a semicircle as in a Greek theatre.
Non-acting children will make scenery (painting a backdrop of a cave, temple, etc).
Time: 60-80 minutes
The first theatre in history - the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens
the theatre at Delphi
PERFORMANCE
The picture left shows costume and props. My nephew, Jack, is wearing a chiton and holding a helmet and shield of the 5th century BC.
Pictures of children in a play at Cams Lane Primary, Radcliffe
Time: 15 minutes
Odysseus blinds the Cyclops
