Europa Pursued by Zeus as a White Bull | Mythology Series for Grades 8-10 ELA

Engage English Language Arts middle and high schoolers with the foundational myth of Europa and the Bull — There’s something about frolicking on the beach that transcends generational differences. Young Europa is with her friends on the beach when she is caught off guard by a playful, endearing bull. Little does she know that it’s really Zeus — who has disguised himself as a docile creature so he can steal Europa away to Crete. Drama unfolds.

• This resource is optimized for distance learning. The educational download includes PDF & Google Workspace. Access and modify this resource for student-use on Google Classroom and other classroom management sites.

Use this Digital Download for a Three-day English Language Arts Lesson

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, your kids will want to discuss the story of Europa and the Bull. So I have loaded this resource with discussion questions that will get your students talking and writing!

Common Core Standards: This resource aligns well with the reading literature standard: “Analyze the representation of a subject or a key scene in two different artistic mediums, including what is emphasized or absent in each treatment (e.g., Auden’s “Musée des Beaux-Arts” and Breughel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus).”

This Resource Includes the Following Features:

The Background Story for Europa’s Story

• 1 Teacher’s Three-day Lesson Calendar
  • With a teacher-tested-stamp of approval, follow my suggestions on how to teach the myth in a three-day block. Start with artwork, read multiple versions of the myth, engage in questions, quick writing, and sharing, and cap off the lesson with a writing activity (and more!).
• 5 Illustrated Reading Cards
  • The Background Story for Europa’s Story
  • Dictionary Entry: Europa and the Bull
  • Agenor and Cadmus (and the Search for Europa)
  • Children and Descendants of Cadmus and Harmonia
  • Other Related Figures to the Europa and Cadmus Myths
• 2 Art + Literature Cards (with Visual Aids)
  • Compare the text with eye-popping engravings and prints from the New York Public Library Digital Collection and Wikimedia Commons.
• 1 Key Characters and Places Worksheet
  • Orient your learners by identifying the key characters and the geographical location of the story.
• 12 Reading Comprehension Questions
  • Either use these questions as a quiz for after reading, independent work, or in a discussion or small group setting.
• 6 Critical Thinking Questions
  • Use these questions for whole-class discussion but I also like to spice things up and get my students moving by having a carousel-style discussion.
• Frayer Model Vocabulary Template (with student sample)
  • Frayer models are a way to get kids to think about vocabulary visually in a four-section square —- A square for meaning, one for examples, another for non-examples, and a sketch. It is amazing to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids’ vocabulary-in-text understanding.
• 2 Exit Tickets
  • Exit tickets are a way to get data about your students’ understanding of the lesson right before the class is finished. Two different tickets in half-sheet format to offer academic choice for students.
• 1 Essay Writing Activity (with visual starter and prompt)
  • Cap this three-day lesson with an genre analysis essay.
• 1 Further Reading List
  • Don’t disregard this further reading list if you think it is merely a bibliography. Share the list with your students or have them do projects based on the research that is available. Assign different sources to students and organize presentations where learning can go deeper into this popular love myth.
• Standards Alignment Chart (Common Core, VA SOL, TEKS)
• Answer Keys for all student-facing documents
  • Teachers always ask for answer keys for my products so I made sure I gave you plenty of guidance on what to expect from students in their written and oral responses.

I created this resource with middle and high school students in mind. It is designed for an English Language Arts Mythology unit —

• On characteristics of the foundational myth.
• On Myths from Ancient Greece
• Use it also in a course on European History or World Literature
• Use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or, pair it with a larger unit on the novel Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Ovid’s Metamorphosis, Moschus of Alexandria, Apollodorus of Rhodes, Thomas Bullfinch’s Mythology, Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, or J.F. Bierlein’s Parallel Myths.

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