What is a creation myth? What are examples of creation myths from the ancient Hebrews? Every culture has a creation myth. It's a collective story of how the universe began — but, on the eastern Mediterranean Sea, near where Israel and Palestine exist today, many traditions, stories, and myths grew. Use this digital download to explore myths that came from the priests and tribes of ancient Israel.
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 primordial questions of existence, where we come from and where we are going, matriarchal versus patriarchal societies, and more! So I have loaded this resource with FOUR reading cards and a set of THIRTY-TWO questions that will get your students talking, writing, and wondering!
Common Core Standards: This resource aligns well with the reading literature standard: "Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new."
What's Included:
- 1 Teacher's Three-day Lesson Calendar
- Follow the pacing calendar to stay organized. Start with background knowledge, places, and geography, engage students in group reading with custom-made reading cards, and quiz your class with trivia-style questions.
- 1 Art & Literature Connection
- "Creation" by James Tissot
- 5 Reading Cards on Creation Myths from the Ancient Hebrews
- Included in this resource are five reading cards that have:
- Creation Myth (Definition)
- The Names of the Hebrew God
- The Elohist Creation Myth (P source)
- The Yahwist Creation Myth (J source)
- The Talmudic Creation Myth
- 1 Key Characters and Places Worksheet
- Orient your learners by identifying key figures and geography.
- A Bank of 26 Trivia-style Questions
- After your students engage in the reading cards, test their knowledge with a custom-made question set.
- Bonus: Bar-Style Student Response Card
- 6 Critical Thinking Questions
- 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 amazing to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids' vocabulary-in-text understanding.
- Could you fill out the cards to include terms, Greek and Latin roots, and challenging words (as well as contextual entries that fit the story)? Yes, you can!
- 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. Could you collect these exit tickets and quickly see what ideas your students took away from reading and discussing the myths? Yes, you can!
- 1 Further Reading List
- Consider 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 cosmogonic myths.
- 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 for secondary students. 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, Hebrew Literature, Judaica, and the Bible.
- World Religions!
- You can use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or pair it with a larger unit on Myth, World Mythology, the Ancient Hebrews, World Literature, or Parallel Myths by J.F. Bierlein.
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