What are the four yugas of ancient Hindu mythology? What is the role of Brahma and Vishnu in this development myth of origins? What are creation myths? Some say we live in the fourth age of man — the Kali-yuga, a period of dire degeneration of morals and a turn away from truth. Go deep with this myth recorded in the Mahabarata and Laws of Manu, and retold and represented here for your middle and high school students!
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 developmental stages of humankind, where we come from and where we are going, be judges of human error and triumph, debate, and write down essential ideas. So I have loaded this resource with tons of provoking reading cards and literature connections and a set of TWENTY-FIVE questions that will get your students chatting, questioning, and wondering!
This Resource Includes the Following Features:
- Includes Both Print (PDF) and Digital Versions (Google Apps and Easel)
- Teacher's Three-day Lesson Calendar
- Follow the pacing calendar to stay organized. Start with background knowledge, pre-reading activities, and group activities, engage students in close reading, and quiz your class with trivia-style questions.
- Key Characters and Places Anchor Chart
- Orient your learners by identifying the key characters and the geographical location of the story.
- 5 Reading Cards on the Yuga Cycle and More!
- Have students read and decode a variety of different texts:
- Definitions of the Yuga Cycles
- Characteristics of the Four Yuga:
- The Satya-yuga
- The Treta-yuga
- The Dwapara-yuga
- The Kali-yuga
- The story "The Fate of the Thieves”
- The story "Meeting of the Ages"
- A Bank of 25 Trivia-style Questions.
- After your students engage with the myth, test their knowledge with a custom-made question set.
- 3-Box Notetaking Template — Embed accountability into the lesson by having students annotate the text cards with notes, questions, and a summary of what they've read and comprehended.
- 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 incredible to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids' vocabulary-in-text understanding.
- Fill out the cards to contain terms, Greek and Latin roots, and challenging words (as well as contextual entries fit to the story).
- Half-Sheet 3-2-1 Exit Ticket
- Exit tickets are a way to get data about your students' understanding of the lesson right before the class is finished. Collect these exit tickets and quickly see what ideas your students took away from reading and discussing the myth.
- Engaging Writing Activity
- What if you could identify and reinvent the fourth yuga of ancient Hindu mythology? Guide students in a fun, and engaging writing activity.
- 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 available research. Assign different sources to students and organize presentations where learning can go deeper into Ancient Greek mythology.
- Standards Alignment Chart for planning
- Answer Keys for all student-facing documents
- Teachers always ask for answer keys for my products, so I gave you plenty of guidance on what to expect from students in their written and oral responses.
I created this resource with secondary students in mind. It is designed for an English Language Arts Mythology unit —
- For any myth-related unit!
- On topics including — cosmology, creation myths (cosmogonic myths), myths of origins, and Ancient Greek history and society.
- Use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or pair it with a larger unit on Myth, The Mahabharata, The Law of Manu, or Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein.
© 2026 Stones of Erasmus