Myth’arts: myths in art and literature

Niveau de difficulté : moyen

Niveau : De 14 à 16
Compétences clés : Langues / Lecture et écriture / Numérique / Personnelles / sociales et apprentissage

Domaines : Arts plastiques / Histoire / Histoire de la culture / Langues classiques Latin-grec / Langues étrangères / Musique

This project works around the study of classical mythology from an artistic point of view, combining literature, painting, history and music. The purpose of the project is to raise awareness of classical culture and arouse interest in the classical world, while developing the awareness of belonging to Europe. The students will study different myths in international teams and create collaborative products like podcasts, e-magazines etc. to share what they have discovered all together.

Photo credits: Good Studio -stock.adobe.com

Présentation des partenaires

For real collaboration, this project works best if the work is done in international teams. The first step is for the teachers in each class to explain the concept to their class.
Each student chooses three students from other schools and writes a greeting in their profile or by private mail, preferably using the agreed language of communication.
Then the students upload a photo/avatar of themselves on the TwinSpace. They also write a short document describing themselves. A game is played where each student chooses the photo of at least one student from the other partner schools. They then try to match the description with the photos. Once they have gathered the correct people, they form a team. The number in these mixed teams will depend of course on the number of partner schools but ideally should be between 5 and 6. Each team can then choose a suitable name for their team. The first step here is for the teams to get to know each other. The teams choose their objects of study, e.g. a god/goddess, a myth and a painting representing both. This can be done by using discussion forums and/ or video conferencing, which allows everyone to take their place and collaborate within their team, and also get to know one another. The work is made easier by designating both teacher and student coordinators, which facilitates the management, distribution and regulation of the different tasks within each team.

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Orientation

The idea of this project is to integrate it into the ordinary programmes. The project works, contents and activities may be made compatible with the daily teaching, allowing the teacher to promote the development of the key competences and cross-cutting content that are in the curriculum.

The project focuses on the study of Greek and Latin civilisation, in its historical, social, political, religious and artistic aspects. The study of mythology is especially important, as it has had a decisive influence on the creation of the Western literary and artistic imagination. This can be approached in different ways. The first task for each team is to choose a name based on a classical myth or deity and design a logo to reflect the name.

Other suggested activities are as follows

● Choose a classical deity and write a Europass CV for them
● Choose, research and analyse a work of art with a classical theme. They can write their findings on Padlet for example
● Create a Kahoot challenge with questions based on a classical theme
● Students in international groups vote on an event starring the chosen deity. Then they organise themselves and carry out research in order to complete a presentation/podcast about their chosen myth and the artistic manifestations in which it appears
● Develop an e-magazine complete with the results of all research

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Communication

Collaboration

Good communication between the international teams is central to the success of the project. Here the use of the TwinSpace with its different possibilities (Forums, Twinbord, voting) provides great support to smooth communication. An example of an activity here is the recreation of a work of art on a mythological theme based on a challenge of the Getty museum. The students choose an artwork that represents a story or a character from Greco-Latin mythology. They recreate the stage and costumes of the original play and take a photo. Then they vote for their favourite representation.

Collaboration between the international teams may be facilitated by some of the following: the creation of a shared document to work on common productions such as a podcast of a day in the life of their chosen deity, a joint presentation about their myth or the final layout and production of their e-magazine.

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Évaluation

There are two aspects to be considered in this or any project. One is the assessment of the knowledge and skill acquisition by the students involved, and the other is the evaluation of the project itself in order to learn what went well, and what needs to be improved in the future. The different challenges put in place throughout the project can make it possible to verify the acquisition of knowledge and keep up the students’ motivation and involvement. The use of digital tools and the TwinSpace platform are invaluable in the pursuit and completion of the project, but human contact in the form of active video conferencing between students and teachers remains essential, especially for maintaining motivation and supporting the use of digital tools in a relevant and thoughtful way. One of the main ways to assess knowledge and skill acquisition is requiring each student to make some kind of presentation of the material produced during the project.

The project evaluation may be done using an online form which is sent to students and teachers and, if appropriate, also to parents. The results are then collected and analysed so that they may be taken into account during the review and analysis of the project.

Dissemination of the project and its results - Websites of each establishment - Social networks: YouTube, Facebook, blogs ... (cf. dissemination page in the Twinspace) - The Getty Museum Challenge made it possible to disseminate the project and involve all the students and educational teams from the different establishments - The participation of other students in the contest, not directly involved in the project, made the project and eTwinning very well known in the different schools.

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Suivi

The documentation of a project is central to its success and this project has an excellent example of how a project may be documented with the production of a summary document available to all partners.

Dissemination of the project and its results may be done on the websites of each school involved as well as on social networks of choice. One of the best ways is to choose which pages of work in the TwinSpace should be made public, such as the outcomes of student research in this project . Involvement in activities such as the Getty Museum Challenge makes it possible to disseminate the project and involve all the students and educational teams from the partner schools.

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