Catching lightning in the classroom

By Amy Wallot
amy.wallot@education.ky.gov

Wearing a crown and carrying a staff, both made of black construction paper, 4^th-grade student James Smith brought Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, to life for his classmates.

The skit was part of a presentation in Lauren Coomes’ 4^th-grade class at Estes Elementary School (Owensboro Independent). Her students were reading The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the popular Percy Jackson & the Olympians series, out loud in class together.

Coomes said the students were struggling with some of the terms mentioned in the book, like Achilles heel. And they didn’t have a lot of knowledge about the gods and goddesses mentioned in the book.

To fill in the knowledge gap, Coomes had her students work in groups of 2-3 and research a Greek god or goddess. They then had to give a short presentation to the class and were encouraged to include illustrations, costumes and skits.

“It’s been a fun thing, but it has also helped them out in understanding the references in The Lightning Thief,” she said.