Three Fates Study Middle and High School Greek & Roman Mythology Lesson ELA

Engage English Language Arts middle and high schoolers with the three anthropomorphic personifications from Greek and Roman mythology called The Fates (The Moirai). The Fates are depicted as three conjoined figures: one, a woman who threads the spindle of thread to create life; two, a woman to measure the thread; and three, the most terrible of them all, one to cut it. Trace the symbolism and import of The Fates, not only in ancient myth, but how the notion of fate, or destiny, plays out in literature.

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

Using my tested-in-the-classroom resources, activities, assessments, and more — your kids will want to discuss the role of the gods in the life of humanity, the concept of fixed destiny, literary terms such as allusion, and anthropomorphic personification! So, I have loaded this resource with discussion questions that will get your students talking and writing! N.B. — Links to various source material versions are included in this digital download.

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:

• Available as a PDF and Google Workspace
• 1 Teacher's Three-day Lesson Calendar
  • With a teacher-tested stamp of approval, follow my suggestions on how to teach the Fates. Start with artwork, conduct think-aloud, break into expert and teaching groups with a compelling Jigsaw reading protocol, and more!
• 3 Art + Literature Connections (with Visual Aids)
  • Dictionary Entry on the Fates (Anchor Chart)
  • Compare the text with eye-popping artwork from the New York Public Library and the Vatican Museums. Note — all images are in the public domain.
• 1 Identify Key Characters Worksheet
  • The Fates have taken on different names throughout history. Orient your learners by identifying the story's key characters.
• 34 Reading Comprehension Questions
  • Use these questions as quizzes after reading, independent work, or in a discussion or small group setting.
• Frayer Model Vocabulary Cards (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 impressive to see the work they produce. A great way to decorate your classroom to showcase your kids' vocabulary-in-text understanding. The cards can contain terms, geography, challenging words (as well as contextual entries that fit 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 picked up about the Fates.
• 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 this popular myth of origin.
• 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.
  • Includes a standards alignment chart for planning!

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

• For any myth-related unit!
• On characteristics of myths of origins and creation myths.
• Use this resource as a stand-alone lesson or pair it with a larger unit on Myth, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, Robert Graves's Greek Myths, Edith Hamilton's Mythology, or Parallel Myths.

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