Greece

When we returned from spring break I was presented with the dilemma that many Waldorf teachers find themselves in. After counting that we had just nine weeks of school left after spring break I was filled, quite strongly, with two very different feelings. On one hand I was relieved to know that very soon fifth grade would be over. On the other hand I realized that I still had quite a bit of material that I still wanted to cover!

My first task was to sort out how I was going to take up Greek mythology and history. Though my original intention was to have a full three week block of Greek mythology and another three week block of Greek history, the timing of our play prevented that from happening. As a result, I had quite a bit of material to cover in the short four weeks I had left to dedicate to the subject.

Fortunately I had already covered the stories of Heracles, so I could check those off my list. What I was left with were stories about the Greek gods, stories about the Greek heroes (including the Iliad, the Odyssey, Jason, Perseus and Theseus) and all of Greek history (Athens, Sparta, the city states, democracy, the Olympic Games, Socrates, Plato and Pythagoras.)

It took a lot of figuring, but I am so pleased with what I finally decided.

• The Greek Gods — I assigned a “report.” Each student chose a story about a god, wrote an outline about the god and then the story, in his or her own words, based on the outline. This meant that the Greek gods were studied entirely outside of class. Given the influence of Percy Jackson, it seemed wise to avoid spending a lot of class time on the Greek gods.
• The Greek Heroes — With Heracles already covered, I was able to spend this past week telling the stories of Jason and Theseus. Hopefully Perseus will come at the beginning of next week.
• Greek History — Over the next two weeks we will delve into Greek history, including the city states, methods of government, and biographies about key figures including Socrates, Plato and Pythagoras.
• The Iliad — At the end of the block, when I’ve collected their Greek god reports, I plan to assign them to read Black Ships Before Troy, a story of the Iliad by Rosemary Sutcliffe. I think they’ll enjoy it and it will keep them in a Greek frame of mind while we’re away on the Olympiad.
• The Odyssey — I’m hoping that while we’re away on our trip I’ll be able to tell them the stories about Odysseus.

After these three weeks are over we will have one more week before we leave for the Olympiad. My plan is to shift to North American Geography at that point. Fortunately, because they’ll be reading Black Ships Before Troy during that time they’ll remain in a Greek frame of mind.

As a recap, the topics and stories I’m covering in our block on Greece are:

• The Greek Gods and Titans (through individual student reports.)
• The 12 labors of Heracles
• Jason and the Argonauts
• Theseus and the Minotaur
• Greek History — City-States, especially Athens and Sparta
• Greek History — governance
• Greek History — Biographies — Socrates
• Greek History — Biographies — Plato
• Greek History — Biographies — Pythagoras

I remember reading that some Waldorf teachers advocate for two fifth grade history blocks — one about India, Persia, Mesopotamia and Egypt and another about Greece. When I read this I remember thinking it would be impossible to cover all of this material in two blocks. What I’m finding now, though, is that it is possible, primarily because my emphasis is on cultivating skills within my students, using the content as a backdrop. We are grateful for the meaningful, age-appropriate content, but our true focus is on how to make the most of the weekly dictation, writing assignment and guided drawing each week.