Entry Event

 Watch a clip

Students watch a 2.19′ clip from the movie “My big fat Greek Wedding”. A 2002 independent romantic comedy film directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos describing the life of a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with an Anglo-Saxon guy. The movie earned good reviews from the critics and was nominated for the Academy Award of Best Original Screenplay at the 75th Academy Awards. Like a true Greek immigrant, Nia’s father, Gus, loves and admires Greece and strives to instill this love in his children, but frequently he goes too far, as in this particular clip (on the left).

The clip’s goal is to expose students to the driving question in a humorous way and make them wonder if Gus is justified in feeling this way about his Greek ancestry.

A class discussion

After watching the small clip, teacher leads students to a guided discussion to detect what pops into students’ minds when they hear the word Greece. Possible answers here would probably be relevant to food (gyro, tzatziki, spanakopita, souvlaki etc.) and the teacher will try to lead the discussion in places more relevant to the clip and ancient Greek culture. The teacher will use AnsweGarden to poll students on the following question:

What comes to mind when you hear the word “Greece”?

A Google Earth Visit to Greece!

Following this brief discussion, the teacher instructs students to use the google Earth project (to the right) to virtually visit some of the most notable ancient Greek settlements, such as Akrotiri in Santorini (Cycladic civilization), Minoan Palaces of Knossos and Phaistos in Crete (Minoan civilization), Archaeological site and Museum of Mycenae in Peloponnese (Mycenean Civilization), Acropolis of Athens and Acropolis Museum (Classical age).

[ INSTRUCTIONS: Once the Google Earth Project is loaded, click on the “Present” button to start the presentation. If you want to see photos and learn more about each settlement, click on the “Knowledge card” at the upper right corner of your screen. To move on to the next settlement, click the right arrow in the “Table of contents” at the bottom left of your screen. ]

Google Earth Project

 A Video about Ancient Greece

The virtual visit to Greece follows a 4min video about some of the contributions of Ancient Greece to modern societies. The video introduces students to some of the ideas, innovations and achievements of the ancient Greek civilization that they will research and explore in the following weeks. The purpose of the video is to make their mind wonder and wander, to prepare them for a mind trip to Ancient Greece!

Brainstorm Sub-Questions

After watching the video, teacher introduces the PBL project to the students, tries to elicit a/the driving question (How has ancient Greek changed our world?) and leads students to a discussion with the goal to brainstorm sub-questions that will help them answer the initial one. The teacher uses Tricider (to the right) to gather students’ responses and give them the ability to vote on the responses of their peers. The tool gives students voice and helps the class decide on the questions they will research.

Exit Ticket / Pre-Assessment

The lesson concludes with the teacher asking the students to fill in the form below
in order to assess students’ knowledge on the subject and adjust the research accordingly.

Ancient Greek Legacy