$5
Greek & Roman Myth Pan and the Wild Gods | ELA + Humanities for Middle and HS
Do you need a bit of wildness in your lessons? Do you teach Greek and Roman mythology? Bring along Pan (Faunus) to your next English Language Arts and Humanities classroom (and tie in Dionysus, Apollo, Hermes, Zagreus, and a whole retinue of satyrs, sileni, and maenads).Pan is the god of wild nature, and since the ancients had a healthy fear of venturing too far from their walled cities, the concept of nature was terrifying and curiosity-provoking. The half-man, half-goat figure of Pan became an anthropomorphic personification of this fascination and repulsion of what “lies outside of human concern.” Pan is also related to Dionysus (Bacchus), Hermes, and Apollo. In later Roman traditions, Silenus, a goat god, portrays him as inebriated, or at the least, drinking from a cup of wine.
This Resource Includes the Following Features:
PDF, Google Workspace
- Three-day Lesson Calendar (with extensions activities)
- With a teacher-tested stamp of approval, follow my suggestions on how to teach Pan and other Bacchic Deities in a three-day block with room for extension activities.
- 1 Key Characters and Places Anchor Chart
- Orient your learners by identifying the story's key characters and concepts with an illustrated anchor chart. Includes a map activity.
- 8 Illustrated Reading Cards
- Entry on “Pan (Faunus)” (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography)
- Pan and Syrinx
- Satyric Drama
- The Panpipe of Myth: Nature, Music, and the Poetry in Ancient Greece
- Silenus and Sylvanus
- Satyrs
- Comparative Myth: The Gods of Panic
- Zagreus (Or, Iacchus)
- Includes Tips for Reading Protocols
- The card set includes fourteen illustrations from art, history, and other public domain sources.
- 40-Count Question Bank
- Either use these questions as a quiz after reading or check for students' understanding at the beginning of class.
- Frayer Model Vocabulary Template
- 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.
- 2 Writing Prompts (with academic choice)
- 2 Literary Analysis Essay Prompts
- Prepare students for academic writing—choose from either Pan or Zagreus.
- 2 Note-taking Sheets
- 3-Box Cornell Notetaking Template
- Note-taking Sheet (Illustrated)
- 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 available research. Assign different sources to students and organize presentations where learning can go deeper into the syncretic connections between Pan and other Bacchic deities.
- 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. Also includes a 2-point grading rubric.
Students will:
✓ Read multiple versions of Pan in myth, building critical thinking through comparison.
✓ Learn key vocabulary in context, enhancing language skills aligned with Common Core Standards.
✓ Collaborate with classmates to discuss how myths shape language, culture, and personal identity.
✓ Write reflectively and analytically about the syncretic development of Pan and Silenus and Bacchus and Zagreus.
✓ Connect mythology to real-world examples, such as understanding why the word "panic" relates back to the nature and deeds of Pan.
Classroom-tested and ready-to-use, this resource invites adolescents into lively discussions about mythology's lasting impact on modern language, culture, and human experience. All materials are thoughtfully designed to ignite curiosity, foster deeper connections, and make ancient stories relevant to young learners today.
Digital Download: Ready-to-implement three-day lesson plan—everything you need to transform your humanities classroom into a space of inquiry and discovery.
Note: This resource includes original materials and is free from copyrighted content.
Educational Standards: This resource aligns well with the reading literature standard: "Analyze how a set of texts draw on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories" and from other works of World Literature. I created this resource with middle and high school students in mind. It is designed for an English Language Arts or Humanities-based classroom.