Lesson 2: 22nd May 2019, 12.30-1.15 (Y5 x 14)
Lesson Objectives
Learn omicron, iota and rough/smooth breathings
Learn how the Greek ‘mega’ and ‘micro’ are used in English words
Welcome, settle
Keep the same groups as last week. Give out coloured markers.
1. LESSON STARTER TASK: What Can You Remember? quiz [10]
DETAILS: Table teams (purple, orange, green, blue/red) asked a series of questions and have to write answer on whiteboard. Points are tallied. Questions get harder as we go along.
- Write a mu (both upper and lower cases for double points)
- What is the name of the letter that makes a ‘u’ sound in Greek?
- For three points, write down all the types of sigma you know
- What is the Greek for mouse? (in both normal and greek letters for double points)
- Write in Greek letters the English word for what we sometimes do in maths lessons
- If an Ancient Greek mouse ran out of cheese, what might he or she exclaim?
OUTCOME: The pupils engaged well with this task and really enjoyed it. Recall was very high.
REFLECTION: This was a useful lesson starter and allowed for peer-to-peer corrections.
2. ACTIVITY: Story recap & Time Travel Words p.6 [10]
DETAILS: Volunteer to read through the panel. Then in teams confer for three minutes to choose three of the words in pink and define them.
OUTCOME: The students collectively covered megaphone, megabyte, microscope, microphone, microchip and microwave. Nobody chose megapixel, megalithic or microbiology. I got the pupils to consider if they knew what biology was, and if they knew the meaning of micro, then they could infer what microbiology was. I told them that ‘lithos’ in Greek means ‘stone’, and then got them to guess what a megalith was. A student spontaneously came up with the example of Stonehenge. One student then said that a megalodon was a big dinosaur. I then asked what particular feature was big in a megalodon. The pupil knew that it was the teeth, so I then asked the students what the thought ‘odon’ might mean in Greek. There were lots of correct guesses of ‘tooth/teeth’. I mentioned that dinosaurs tended to be named in Ancient Greek.
REFLECTION: This was a really useful segment and could have gone on for a whole lesson – the children were really keen to explore dinosaur names! They now have a very firm grasp of etymology.
3. ACTIVITY: Crack The Alphabet Code p.7 [10]
DETAILS: Ask what was the word we learned at the end of last week, who is saying it in the story and why. Write word on board. Go through each of the letters, getting students to recreate on their whiteboards. Then tackle breathings.
OUTCOME: The omicron and iota were very easy, but the breathings took a bit longer to master. I ended up getting students to transliterate words such as ‘I’ and ‘hi’, ‘is’ and ‘his’ on their whiteboards until they were secure in the concept.
REFLECTION: I had to spend a bit more time on this than expected – probably because breathings are a very novel concept.
4. ACTIVITY: Jason & the Golden Fleece read-through & illustration [rem]
DETAILS: Give out blank comic strip (5 panels). Read story through then set them to illustrate the story. Take back for homework.
OUTCOME: We ran out of time so I gave the each pupil a photocopy of the story and comic strip worksheet which they could complete at home if they wanted.
REFLECTION: Make sure I get pupil(s) to recap this story and show their comic strips at the beginning of next lesson
PLENARY: Exit tickets
DETAILS: As last week, students were asked to say one thing they’d learned and give their emoji response to the lesson.
OUTCOME: Some chose to recall omicron and iota, but the majority referenced breathings (with reasonable accuracy!)
REFLECTION: Breathings will need more work next session.
🙂10 😀8 😍3 😂1 😴0
🤨1 😔0 😳0 😱0
Basil Batrakhos and the Mystery Letter 