In Brief Literacy Lesson Ideas

TM Storytime Myths and Legends: The Trojan Horse 1 Teaching Resources

The Trojan Horse is a myth from Ancient Greece about IN BRIEF a ten-year war that only ends after soldiers build a giant wooden horse, which they hide inside. 1 LITERACY LESSON IDEAS

See The Trojan Horse Word Wise Sheet for a story glossary, a mini comprehension quiz, some fun literacy tasks and a Greek name pronunciation gude.

Put the story in the right order in our Story Sequencing challenge.

Retell this famous Greek myth in your own words using our Storytime Simple Storyboards Sheets.

Test your Trojan horse knowledge with our Story Expert Quiz.

Discover more about the characters in The Trojan Horse myth on our Gods and Mortals Sheet.

Imagine you are a soldier in King Menelaus’s army and you’ve been at war for 10 years. Write a diary page describing how you feel about fighting for so long and about being away from your family and home. Use emotional language and all the senses to get your feelings across on our Storytime Diary Sheet. Alternatively, write a diary entry from Odysseus describing what it was like to wait inside the wooden horse.

Who is the real baddie in this story? Was it Eris who caused the argument in the first place? The goddesses who argued about their beauty? Zeus for not settling the argument? Paris for stealing someone else’s wife? Or King Priam for letting his son cause such a terrible war and for not making peace with King Menelaus? Use our Who’s the Baddie? Sheet to score each of these possible baddies from 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst.

Read Odysseus and the Cyclops – an adventure that happened on Odysseus’s way home from the Trojan War – in Storytime Issue 18 (http://www.storytimemagazine.com/shop).

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Use our Storytime Writing Sheet to write Odysseus’s crazy plan in five or six easy-to- follow steps. Discuss how to break down this part of the story and write key elements on the board for reference. Include his idea of building a wooden horse to hide inside, the soldiers sailing away and hiding at sea, the Trojans thinking they have won and taking the horse inside the city gates, the army sailing back to Troy at night, Odysseus escaping from the wooden horse and opening the city gates, and the army defeating the Trojans.

2 HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY LESSON IDEAS

Though The Trojan Horse is a myth, historians believe that Troy was a real city, which was once located in Turkey. Archaeologists have found remains of the wall that surrounded Troy. They believe it is over 5,000 years old and was over 5 metres tall. Discuss why walls were built around cities at this time.

Troy is a UNESCO world heritage site. You can find out more about it here and see photographs and a map of where it is in Turkey: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/849

What was life like for a soldier in Ancient Greece? What did they wear? What weapons did they use? Find out about some real Greek battles and why Spartan soldiers were widely feared at BBC Bitesize’s The Ancient Greeks at War: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/ zckr4wx and find out more about Ancient Greece and its gods and goddesses here: https://www.bbc.com/education/topics/z87tn39

3 DESIGN TECHNOLOGY LESSON IDEAS

Junk model your own Trojan horse using old cardboard boxes or plastic containers. You could even turn this into a moving toy project by giving the horse wheels. How will you make it move? What will you use? There’s a handy template for a Troajn horse here: http://www.dltk-kids.com/world/greece/m-trojan.htm

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Colour in and decorate the Trojan horse on our Colouring Sheet.

Draw your favourite god, goddess or mortal from myth of The Trojan Horse in our Storytime Picture Frame.

The shield was a very important form of protection in Ancient Greece. Design your own Greek shield on our Shield Design Sheet for a soldier to carry into battle. Get some inspiration here: http://www.timetrips.co.uk/gw%20armour.htm and here: https://www. victrixlimited.com/collections/greek-ancients Can you use scrap cardboard to turn it into a real shield? Decorate it with paint and scrap paper too.

WORD Do you know what all the words mean in Storytime WATCH Issue 49’s The Trojan Horse story? Find out here. Trojan – of or from the city of Troy Mortal – human, someone who doesn’t Discord – argument, disagreement live forever Inscribed – carved, engraved Bribed – offered favours to persuade Squabble – argue or win someone over Bickering – arguing Pledged – promised, vowed Scorching – hot, burning Summoning – sending for Smirked – smiled in a sneering way Impenetrable – impossible to pass Decree – declare, command Coward – someone who isn’t brave Lowly – poor, of low status Reunite – bring together again Insisted – demanded Hollow – empty inside Persuade – convince Awkwardly – uncomfortably Advantage – something in someone’s Lay siege to – attack favour, something to put you in the lead Retreating – moving away, giving up Vast – enormous Conquered – won, beaten DESCRIBE IT!

Find three adjectives that describe the wooden horse in our story, and think up at least one adjective of your own. Write them in this box.

Here’s how to pronounce the names of the PRONOUNCE IT! Greek gods and other characters in our story:

Eris – E-ris Paris – Pa-ris Hera – He-ra Eros – Ee-ros Athena – A-thee-na Menelaus – Me-ne-low-us Aphrodite – A-fro-die-tee Odysseus – Oh-dis-ee-us Zeus – Z-you-s Priam – Pree-am

1. Why wasn’t Eris invited to the wedding?

2. Why did the goddesses start to squabble?

3. Who did Prince Paris decide was most beautiful and why?

4. What did the soldiers think of Odysseus’s plan at first?

5. Why did the people of Troy open the city gates?

Imagine you are Hera, Athena or Aphrodite. Without using WRITE bribery, write a letter to Paris convincing him that you are the most beautiful. Use persuasive language and give IT! evidence to support your argument. © storytimemagazine.com 2018 TM Storytime Myths and Legends: The trojan horse Teaching Resources STORY NAME SEQUENCING CLASS To put this myth in the right order, number the sentences from 1 to 14.

King Menelaus was reunited with his wife, Helen.

Eros shot an enchanted arrow at Helen. She fell in love with Paris and they went to Troy. While the Trojans celebrated, the soldiers jumped out and overthrew the city. Helen’s husband, King Menelaus, was furious with Paris.

The Trojans thought the horse was a gift and wheeled it inside the city. King Menelaus took an army and one thousand ships to Troy.

Zeus ordered Hera, Athena and Aphrodite to visit Paris, Prince of Troy, so he could decide who was most beautiful.

The army built the wooden horse and pretended to sail away.

The Greek hero Odysseus came up with a plan to build a wooden horse so they could sneak into the city. King Menelaus’s army battled the Trojan army for nine years.

Paris said Aphrodite was most beautiful, as she promised to make the king of Sparta’s wife, Helen, fall in love with him Eris gave a golden apple to the goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite. It had the words ‘To the most beautiful’ on it. The goddess Eris was angry because she wasn’t invited to a wedding. The soldiers hid inside the wooden horse.

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3 4

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What can you remember STORY from the story? Circle the EXPERT QUIZ correct answers.

2 Which fruit was thrown at the three goddesses? 1 Which goddess wasn’t invited to the wedding? A. Cherry A. Eris B. Peach B. Helen C. Apple C. Athena 4 Where was King Menelaus when Paris visited Helen? 3 Paris was the Prince of… A. Sparta A. At a wedding B. Troy B. At a party C. Greece C. At a funeral

How long did the war last? 5 How many ships were in 6 King Menelaus’s army? A. 10 years A. 10,000 B. 9 years B. 1,000 C. 10 months C. 100 8 How long did it take to build the Trojan Horse? 7 Who came up with the plan for the Trojan Horse? A. 3 hours A. Priam B. 1 year B. Odysseus C. 3 days

C. Menelaus

1. A, 2. C, 3. B, 4. C, 5. B, 6. A, 7. B, 8. C. 8. B, 7. A, 6. B, 5. C, 4. B, 3. C, 2. A, 1. Answer: Answer: © storytimemagazine.com 2018 TM Storytime The trojan horse: Gods and Mortals Teaching Resources GODS The goddess of discord. She liked to cause arguments Eris and chaos. She mothered 14 trouble-making children. The goddess of women and queen of the gods. She was hera the wife of Zeus and rode a chariot pulled by peacocks. The goddess of wisdom and war, and protector of Athens. Athena She created the first olive tree. The goddess of love and beauty. She was a daughter of aphrodite Zeus and married the blacksmith god, Hephaestus. The sky and thunder god and king of the gods. He carried zeus a thunderbolt and fathered over 100 children. The god of love. He shot arrows that made people fall eros in love. He was the son of Aphrodite. mortals A prince of Troy and the son of King Priam. During the paris Trojan War, he shot the Greek hero Achilles in the heel. She was born from a swan’s egg and was said to be the helen most beautiful woman in the world. The king of Ithaca. He had many adventures on his way Odysseus home from the Trojan War, including meeting a Cyclops. The king of Sparta and husband of Helen of Troy. Menelaus Menelaus challenged Paris to a duel in the Trojan War. The king of Troy and the father of 50 children. He was Priam killed during the Trojan War.

What would you rather THINK be – a god or a mortal? ABOUT IT! Explain your reasons.

Who is the biggest baddie in WHO’S The Trojan Horse? Discuss and rate each character from 1 to 10. THE BADDIE? Give a reason for each score.

Character score reason eris Aphrodite athena hera zeus paris priam

WRITING NAME SHEET CLASS

COLOURING NAME SHEET CLASS

PICTURE NAME FRAME CLASS Draw your favourite Greek god or mortal here.