Classics & Mythology Meet Popular Culture

Impact to My Classroom

# of Students Impacted: 87

The impact my fulfilled grant request has had on my students is immeasurable.

First, what this grant enabled me to do was to purchase class sets of 6 different books for a total of 201 books for my students to read! Included in this purchase were 3 different graphic novels and 3 different novels. 

My theme for these books is "Classics and Mythology Meet Popular Culture," and I used the formula of the monomyth, or hero's journey created by author/mythology expert, Joseph Campbell, to tie all these stories together and bridge ancient literature to popular culture to make classic literature relevant to 21^st century readers.

My students accompanied Odysseus, King Arthur and his knights of the round table, as well as heroes from Star Wars on their respective journeys in which they searched for and fought for something greater than themselves. 

My students also read Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo & Juliet presented in a graphic novel format so they could see this classic story presented in a nontraditional way. 

The theme of Shakespeare then crossed over into reading a play version of Star Wars: A New Hope written in Shakespearean verse, or iambic pentameter. As students worked in small groups and read through this play, they created props, found backgrounds to use for settings, wore clothing that functioned as costumes, and acted out scenes while reciting the script for A New Hope in Shakespearean English. 

I must also report that due to the unforeseen school closures, my students and I missed the opportunity to read two of the books we received. If we do get to return to the classroom this year, we may still get to delve into The Last Jedi novel and graphic novel, but for now, those books remain in their boxes awaiting our return.

I can say with great conviction, in my 20+ years of teaching, I have never had students more engaged and enthusiastic about reading literature, learning about the classics, and making connections from these stories to their cultural experiences and their individual lives as has been the case this year. 

Reading and interacting with these books have enriched us in ways we probably don’t even yet know; we are so grateful for Champions for Learning and Suncoast Credit Union for helping to make this year so memorable and meaningful. Much of what we did this year would not have been possible without the generous funding of this grant request. Thank you for your generosity and support.   

I hope the pictures I included help to convey the joy these books brought to me and my English 1 Honors’ students at Lely High School, and I look forward to passing on this joy to future classes of freshmen who enter my room in the coming years.

In appreciation,

Annette Hall                                                                                                                                                    English 1 Honors Teacher

Lely High School