What's Happening in Challenge...

 

Dates to Remember:

• February 17 & 20– No school
• Week of February 20—National Mythology Exam Grades 3-5
• Week of March 6—UIL Chess Invitational Meet grades 2-5
• April 14th - District Challenge Greek Live Museum

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Greek Mythology

This month finds us beginning our study of the Greek hero, Theseus, before moving on to our last hero, Achilles. The Achilles lesson will continue into the first week of March and end right before Spring Break. We will also be working on our Greek Festival Live Museum character research and masks.

Students in grades 3-5 will also be taking the National Greek Mythology Exam the week of February 20.

Side Note - Greek Costumes - At the end of our Greek unit, we will have a Greek festival complete with food, activities and costumes. The following link contains some ideas for creating a Greek costume. https://www.kidslovegreece.com/en/3289-greek-goddess-for-halloween/

Reviewing Videos of Greek Mythology

Challenge students will have the opportunity to view many videos about our Greek heroes in Challenge. Please note these videos are district approved, child appropriate, and G rated. Many movies have been made about Greek mythology, however, a great deal of them are for adults and should be previewed before young children view them.

Algebra 3rd-5th / Code Crackers K-2nd

Third and fourth, and 5th graders love their lessons on algebra through the Hands On Equations method. It is an exciting program teaching students the concepts behind algebraic thinking. It is an amazing program!

 K- second graders continue with Codecrackers and mental math. They are doing a great job!

Challenge Chess

Challenge students will continue to learn about chess and chess puzzles. We will have our chess puzzle UIL event during the Spring semester. The Invitational Meet will be the week of March 6th, during your child's Challenge Class.  More information will be coming home soon.

To supplement their chess instruction, students are encouraged to work on ChessKid.com.  Each student will be given log on information from the campus Challenge teacher.

P.A.C.E.S.

Thank you to all the parents who attended the PACES meeting in January.  We had a great turn out.  The PACES board will be electing new officers in the near future. The main topics included helping the Challenge program put on an awesome Greek Live Museum event on April 14. Thank you for supporting our students! We could not do it without your help. Parents are also interested in advocating for our GT students. More info to come! Check out the PACES Facebook page under PACES Sherman.

Why Teach Greek Mythology?

The teaching of mythology provides many varied benefits to students of all ages.  Students come in contact with a variety of world cultures while comparing those cultures to their own.  Mythology also teaches history by examining ancient times and their effect on the modern world.  The study of Greco-Roman and Norse mythology also strengthens students' understanding of language since many English words are derived from characters and events found within.  It can also increase students' appreciation for Literature and art by understanding the many mythological allusions. By studying ancient mythologies, students also start thinking analytically about modern culture, analyzing the traces of ancient mythology has left behind and the legends that have been created in their own day.  
 
Mythology combines all these different facets of learning into one object of study.  And the best part is:  Mythological stories are often fun!  If taught correctly, a mythology course can be simultaneously educational and entertaining.
 
Because of its multifaceted nature, mythology is hard to categorize into one single subject area.  Some schools teach mythology as a history or sociology course.  Others emphasize the literary importance and teach mythology as an English or Communication Arts course.  Teachers of Latin often teach mythological stories to supplement the study of language.
 
No matter which way mythology is taught or to which age group, it is still an important and interesting topic of study.  

Source: Mythologyteacher.com