Class Procedures and Reminders
Storytelling Style. Some of you might be doing your Storytelling post today or tomorrow, so on Wednesday and Thursday each week I will feature a storytelling style that might give you some ideas. ANY IDEA you want to use is fine, but if you are stuck for an idea, maybe you will find something on the Storytelling Ideas list that you would enjoy using, like... Epic Rap Battle: Zeus v. Thor (click the link to hear the actual rap battle).
The following items are for fun and exploration:
VanGoYourself. Have you heard about the VanGoYourself project? People get together and recreate famous works of art. Find out more at VanGoYourself website. This is Oedipus and the Sphinx!
Mythology Words in English: Today's mythology word in English is Odyssey, from the name of the Greek hero Odysseus who had a long journey home. Some of you are reading about Odysseus in Myth-Folklore this week! For details, see this blog post.
Featured Storybook: Demigod Daycare. It is a special occasion at Demigod Daycare: the Muses themselves have come to tell stories to little Heracles and Perseus and the other children of the gods and goddesses.
Free Book Online: Vergil's Aeneid translated by John Dryden. This blog post provides additional information about the contents of the book. The Aeneid is the ancient epic that tells the story of the fall of Troy, including the story of the Trojan Horse. The hero, Aeneas, is a Trojan refugee who flees to Italy and founds what will become the Roman Empire.
India Featured Book: Tulsidas: The Poet Who Wrote Ram-Charit-Manas. This blog post provides additional information about this reading option for Indian Epics. One of the most revered versions of the Ramayana is the Ram-Charit-Manas written by this Hindu saint; this comic book tells the story of his life and how he composed his version of the Ramayana.
Words of Wisdom: Today's proverb poster is A lion may be beholden to a mouse (an English proverb). Details at the Proverb Lab. This proverb alludes to the Aesop's fable of the lion who showed mercy on a mouse, and so that mouse later freed the lion from a snare, thus returning the favor.
Today's Video: Aeneidos Liber IV. I know some of you have studied Latin, so I thought you might enjoy this dramatic performance by Wilfrid Stroh of Vergil's Aeneid (see note above about the Aeneid).
Growth Mindset: Today's growth mindset cat is going to keep on climbing: And if I try harder, I can climb higher. Details at the blog.
Event on Campus: From Ashlie in Myth-Folklore, here is an announcement: "To any STEM major out there, ASK (Alpha Sigma Kappa, Women in Technical Studies) is doing a spring rush this semester. We are a great group of girls all trying to help each other out and succeed: Burts and Blotts in Devon Energy Hall from 7PM-9PM" (details). Find out more about this and other events at the Campus Calendar online.
January 27: Holocaust Remembrance Day. January 27, the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, has been designated by the United Nations and many other countries as a day in remembrance of those who died in the Nazi Holocaust of World War II. The person I hold in my special remembrance for this day is Janusz Korczak (Wikipedia), a visionary educator who organized the Jewish orphanage in the Warsaw Ghetto. In 1942, the Nazis raided Korczak's orphanage and sent the children to the death camp at Treblinka. Although Korczak's Polish friends begged him to escape and hide with them for the rest of the war (Korczak had been a famous teacher and radio celebrity in Poland before the war), he would not leave the children, and so he died together with them at Treblinka. This image below shows the Yad Vashem Memorial for Korczak and his children:
Note: You can page back through the older blog posts to see any announcements you might have missed, and you can check out the Twitter stream for information and fun stuff during the day.
