Mythology: Gods, Monsters, and Lost Treasures 6-7

Summer Language Arts

An ancient island has been found and a protected secret is buried under its sand!

In this unique and energetic course designed for students entering grades 6 or 7, students will have a rare opportunity to develop their writing and problem-solving skills through the worlds of ancient mythologies. Much like real-life scholars and professionals today, students will be tasked to reconstruct a myth based only on material and literary archaeological evidence. Each day in class, students will study myths from around the world and investigate “ancient” artifacts recovered from a long-lost civilization. From shattered mosaics to fragments of ancient poems, students will embark on an adventure of a lifetime to effectively reconstruct the mythic narrative hidden within the artifacts.

By taking this course, students will accelerate their core language arts skills, such as the following:

• Reading challenging literature. Students will become skilled readers of significant ancient works, which will prepare them to masterfully grapple with advanced texts in secondary school and beyond.
• Analyzing literary and material evidence. Each day, students will hone their critical thinking skills by forming hypotheses, crafting interpretations, and drawing elaborate conclusions about puzzling ancient artifacts.
• Creatively writing a cohesive narrative. Strengthened by two rounds of rigorous revision, students will produce an original myth rooted in material and textual evidence. Students will learn how to effectively implement literary devices typical of the myth-genre (e.g. hero’s journey plot, metaphor, anaphora, epithets, and more).

The final day of class is the AoPS Academic Conference, an enthusiastic meeting-of-minds where students will present their reconstructed myths to a body of their peers. Through this conference, students will work together to find the hidden meaning behind their myths, and, perhaps, unlock a secret they didn’t expect!

Note: To ensure students have the best experience, it is recommended that they do not read the course texts before class starts.

This two-week course meets Monday through Friday for three hours each day.

Space is very limited for our summer programs. Please do not wait until the last minute to enroll. If there are more than two weeks before the course starts, a $200 deposit will be due when enrolling, with the balance due two weeks before the course begins.

Schedule in 2023

All times Pacific.