Hi, there.

My name is Mr. Charlesworth, and in today's reading lesson we're exploring a text, "A Journey Through Greek Myths." We're going to be discovering all about the ancient Greeks and how they thought the world came to be.

I'm really looking forward to working with you today.

Let's get started.

The lesson outcome for today is I can retell the myth, "The Trojan Horse." The key words are, my turn, your turn, Poseidon, Odysseus, folklore, summarising, retelling.

Let's try those once more.

Poseidon.

Odysseus.

Folklore.

Summarising.

And retelling.

Well done.

Poseidon was the Greek God of the sea.

He wields a trident, which is a form of weapon.

It's like a three-tipped spear.

Odysseus was a Greek soldier fighting in the Trojan War.

We'll discover more about that later on.

Folklore is a genre in which oral stories are shared and passed down over time.

Summarising means to pull out the key information and ideas from the text.

And retelling is summarising a story in your own words, highlighting key events and details.

Don't worry if you're unsure about any of these keywords.

We'll be exploring them throughout the lesson.

During today's lesson, we're going to be engaging with the myth, "The Trojan Horse." Perhaps you've heard of parts of it already.

We're first going to begin by building our understanding and comprehension of the myth before we have a go at retelling it in our own words.

Let's begin by exploring the myth.

Here's a quick recap about what we know about the text so far.

"A Journey Through Greek Myths" includes reference to many supernatural beings, including Titans and the Olympian Gods.

Rhea and Cronus were the parents of the Olympian Gods.

Cronus was worried about a prophecy, which foretold of one of his children killing him.

Rhea's resourcefulness saved her son, Zeus.

Zeus grew up on an island called Crete.

He saved his brothers and sisters from their father.

Well remembered, Zeus was the person who ruled over the Olympian Gods on Mount Olympus.

In this lesson we're going to be exploring the myth, "The Trojan Horse." The myth concerns two cities called Thebes and Troy.

Let's say those together.

My turn, your turn.

Thebes and Troy.

Well done for recognising that Troy is where we get the adjective Trojan to describe the war or the army.

I wonder, can you find these two cities on the map on pages 10 and 11? Have a look through with your partner.

See if you can find both of them.

Pause the video now whilst you refer to the pages.

Well done.

Thebes is located here.

I wonder where Troy is though.

Troy's not labelled on the map.

It's described as being just across the sea from Thebes stood the city of Troy.

I can work out that with the title of the myth being "The Trojan Horse," that this symbol here might indicate where Troy is.

What do you think? The myth, "The Trojan Horse," explores what happens when King Laomedon of Troy disregards the God of the sea, Poseidon.

Well noticed, it's one of our keywords.

I'd like you to read with your partner the introduction.

It's on page 92.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Great reading, I wonder, what's just happened and who are we introduced to? Discuss with your partner and answer both of the questions.

Pause the video now whilst you answer.

Well done.

We're introduced to quite a few new characters as well as the reasons why the two cities are at war with one another.

Let's have a look at an example.

We learned that the Trojans have been at war with the Greeks for 10 years.

We're introduced to King Laomedon, Odysseus and Epeius.

Odysseus has a plan to get past the gates of Troy.

I wonder if you can remember what it was.

There's a huge clue on page 93.

Here's our first check for understanding.

Can you match each character's name to their role? You can refer to the text on page 92 for support.

On the left-hand side, we've got Odysseus, King Laomedon and Epeius.

I wonder which role they played in the myth.

Pause the video now whilst you match them up.

Great work, at the beginning of the myth, Odysseus is a soldier known for his cunning and intelligence.

King Laomedon ruled over the city of Troy and made a pact with Poseidon for building the walls, and Epeius is the leader of the Greek army.

He's the person that Odysseus goes to to ask for some help in building the horse.

We're now going to explore the character of Odysseus and his motivations in a little more detail.

Odysseus plans to hide the Greek soldiers inside the wooden horse to make their way into the city of Troy in secret.

Before hiding everyone inside, he inscribes a message onto the side of the horse.

To inscribe means to carve in.

The message, which is written in Greek and translated, says, "The Greeks dedicate this horse to Athena to ensure their safe journey home." I wonder why do you think Odysseus does this and what does he hope to accomplish? If you hope to accomplish something, it's your goal.

You set out to do something.

Why do you think Odysseus comes up with this idea? Discuss with your talk partner.

Pause video now whilst you answer the question.

Well done, there are many possible reasons why Odysseus might do this.

Let's have a look at a possible example.

Odysseus might be hoping to flatter the Trojans.

He wants them to think that the Greeks have retreated.

Do you think they'll fall for his plan? Let's read on and find out.

I'd like you to read page 94.

Pause the video now whilst you do so.

Well done.

We're introduced to two more characters here of Priest Laocoon and Helen.

We'll be focusing more about their intentions shortly.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Based on what we've just read, true or false? Everyone in the city of Troy was convinced that the Greeks had retreated.

Is that true or false? Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, it's false.

Now I'd like you to justify your answer.

Is it because A, Helen put on her best Greek accent to imitate the voices of the soldiers' wives? The Greeks were nearly fooled, or B, the Trojans ignored Laocoon's warning and laughed? Have a think back to the original statement, which justification shows that the Trojans weren't all convinced.

Pause the video now whilst you answer.

Great work, both justifications link here, but the most appropriate is the first.

Helen puts on her Greek accent to imitate the voices of the soldiers' wives.

The Greeks were nearly fooled.

This shows that Helen wasn't convinced that the Greeks had left.

In the second justification, the Trojans are shown ignoring Laocoon's warning and laughing it off.

Therefore, the majority of them are still thinking that the Greeks had retreated, possibly because they were so happy to have won the war after such a long time and also because they must have been exhausted and looking forward to some rest.

The Trojans took the wooden horse into the temple and planned a huge feast to celebrate the Greeks leaving.

When night fell, Odysseus and his men emerged.

And I'd like you to read page 95, which takes us up to the end of the myth.

Pause the video now whilst you read with your partner.

Great work, and I'd like you to discuss the following question, who do you think the hero in this myth is? And what heroic character traits do they demonstrate? Have a think back.

A hero is usually a person who has agency, who leads the story on.

They usually show bravery and demonstrate physical strength, but perhaps this hero shows intelligence and wit too.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done, from the Greek perspective, there's only really one hero in this myth, which is Odysseus.

Let's have a read of a possible example.

I think that Odysseus is the hero in this Greek myth.

He demonstrates intelligence in coming up with the plan.

He also is a good leader ensuring his men succeed in their plan to take the city.

I wonder if you picked out the same hero and the same traits too.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Can you sequence the following events that happen in the final part of "The Trojan Horse" into chronological order? The statements are A, the Greeks sweep through the city of Troy and capture it.

B, Helen is unsure the Greeks have left.

She puts on an accent to mimic the voices of the soldiers' wives, to mimic is to imitate.

And C, the Trojans take the wooden horse into the temple and plan a feast to celebrate.

Which of these events comes first, which comes the last and which must go in the middle of this final part of the myth? Pause the video now whilst you order them one, two, and three.

Fantastic work, let's check if you're correct.

The first event in the finale is that Helen is unsure that the Greeks have left.

She puts on an accent to mimic the voices of the soldiers' wives.

They're almost convinced too.

The next event is that the Trojans take the wooden horse into their temple and plan a feast to celebrate.

That means the final event is that the Greek soldiers sweep through the city of Troy and capture it.

Well done if you've got them all correct.

In this task, I'd like you to reflect on the myth as a whole.

Can you answer the following questions? Question one, which God had built the walls that protected Troy from intruders? I wonder if you can think back to which God it was.

The second question is what is the name of the Trojan priest who warned the citizens about the Greeks? I know that he wasn't listened to by the other Trojans.

I wonder if you can remember his name.

And the final question is why do you think Anticlus opened his mouth to answer Helen? Anticlus was one of the Greek soldiers, well remembered.

I wonder why he was about to open his mouth to answer Helen's calls.

You can of course refer back to the text if you need to.

Pause the video now whilst you write down your answers.

Great work, did you get them all? The God that built the walls that protected Troy from intruders was Poseidon.

Well done.

The name of the Trojan priest was Laocoon.

Like Helen, he wasn't convinced the Greeks had actually left, but no one listened to him.

Finally, you might have said that Anticlus opened his mouth because he might have been fooled by Helen's imitation.

Odysseus had to clamp his hand over Anticlus' mouth so as not to give away their position.

One false move would've meant that they would've been discovered and they wouldn't have been able to win.

Having explored and engaged with the myth in lots of detail, we're now going to have a go at retelling it using our own words.

The genre of folklore, which includes Greek myths, is closely linked to the reading skill of retelling while noticed on both of the keywords.

We're going to retell the myth in our own words.

To do this, we're going to be summarising the main events and the details in the story.

When thinking about the main events and details, it can be helpful to split the myth structure into sections.

This includes the opening, introducing the key characters to the myth, the buildup, how does the plot develop, the climax, the most important part of the myth.

How is the challenge overcome or how does the hero succeed? And finally, the resolution, what happens at the end of the myth? How is the plot resolved? To be successful at retelling a Greek myth, it's important to consider the following.

You need to have a really good understanding of the key characters.

You need to know the settings so you can describe them, and you need to know the main events, especially the order that they're in.

The goal of retelling is not telling the myth exactly as it is in the text.

You should use your own words.

This helps you understand the story better.

Here's our next check for understanding.

Which of the following should be considered when retelling a myth? Is it A, the setting? B, the key characters, C, the main events, or D, the name of every character in the text? There might be more than one.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, it's A, B, and C.

To retell the story successfully, you need to remember the setting, the key characters and the main events in chronological order.

It's important to remember that when retelling a myth, you don't need to remember every single detail, but be able to summarise the key parts.

We're going to have a look at exploring the summary now.

Let's begin by summarising the characters and the setting.

I wonder who are the most important characters in "The Trojan Horse" myth? Who do we need to include in our retelling? Have a discussion with your partner.

Which characters are crucial to the story progressing? Pause the video now whilst you discuss.

Well done, you're definitely going to need to reference the hero in this story.

That's Odysseus, the Greek soldier.

You're also going to need an antagonist, King Laomedon, the ruler of Troy.

He's the person that Odysseus and his soldiers are going up against as well as the Trojan army.

Finally, we need a Trojan citizen who did not believe that the Greeks had retreated.

In your retelling, that could be Helen or Priest Laocoon.

If you're able to remember all of the events, you could maybe reference both.

Let's now focus on the setting.

I wonder, can you remember where the main events take place? There were two cities mentioned at the very beginning in the opening.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done.

The two cities were Thebes, which is located in Greece, northwest of Athens, and Troy, which we now know is across the sea from Greece.

You might like to add in details here about the walls of Troy and who they were built by.

Let's now focus on summarising the structure of the myth.

I wonder, can you have a talk with your partner? What happens in the opening, during the buildup, at the climax and resolution of the myth? Try to say just a sentence for each of these stages for the time being.

We'll be exploring and expanding these later on.

Pause the video now whilst you discuss the question with your partner.

Well done, you might have said in the opening, the Greeks are at war with the Trojans.

Troy is protected by impenetrable walls, built by Poseidon.

Impenetrable means no one could get past.

King Laomedon feels very powerful and secure.

He must be feeling quite smug at being in a city that's so well protected.

Don't you think? In the buildup, a Greek soldier, that's Odysseus, has a plan.

He asks his men to build a wooden horse which they are to hide in.

The horse is brought into Troy as a peace offering.

Not all the Trojans are convinced.

A priest, Laocoon, and a young woman, Helen, do not believe that the Greeks have actually retreated.

In the climax, the Trojans leave the horse in the temple and head off for a feast to celebrate.

And the resolution, the Greek soldiers escape the horse and take control of the city for Greece.

Well done if your summary took into account all these events.

We're now ready to practise retelling the myth.

Here's our next check for understanding, which is exploring aspects of character.

Can you match the character to their thoughts and feelings in the myth? On the left-hand side, we've got Helen or Priest Laocoon, Odysseus and King Laomedon.

Which thoughts and feelings match to which character? Pause the video now whilst you match them up.

Well done, Helen or Priest Laocoon must match to the fact that they're unsure that the Greeks have actually retreated.

They're two of the only Trojan citizens who believe this.

Odysseus is the person who has the idea for using the wooden horse to get into the city of Troy.

That means that King Laomedon feels so powerful and secure, he sees no need to pray to the gods.

This is the event that kickstarted the myth in the first place.

If you defy the gods in Greek myth, you're usually in for some trouble.

When retelling a Greek myth, it's important to make sure you make the experience as engaging as possible.

Some top tips include to practise and rehearse thoroughly, to ensure you're comfortable with the names of the characters, the actions and the settings.

You need to introduce yourself and the myth that you'll be retelling.

You need to perform in a loud, clear voice so that the audience can hear you.

Sometimes when you're performing in front of other people, you might naturally go a bit quieter, so you've got to be a bit louder than normal.

It's good to make eye contact with the audience as much as possible, and to vary your voice's pitch, volume and speed to match the myth's content, you can use pauses perhaps to draw the reader in.

I'm now going to retell the myth, "The Trojan Horse." You can see I've got the key characters in the top right-hand side, which are Odysseus, King Laomedon, Helen or Priest Laocoon, and the settings in the bottom left of Thebes and Troy.

"The Trojan Horse," as retold by me, Mr. Charlesworth.

Many years ago in ancient Greece, the Greeks were at war with the Trojans.

This battle had been going on for 10 whole years, and lots of the soldiers in the armies were growing really tired and wearisome.

Troy had become quite the impenetrable city.

King Laomedon had asked the gods for assistance in building a wall.

Poseidon had answered the call.

However, King Laomedon showed no respect.

We know what happens when someone doesn't respect the gods in ancient Greek myths.

Odysseus, who was a soldier fighting in the war, had a cunning plan.

He spoke to the leader of the army and suggested that they build a wooden horse.

This would act as a peace offering to the Trojans.

He would inscribe onto the horse that this was a gift from the Greeks to hope for safe passage on their way back to Athens.

He hoped that the Trojans would be fooled by this while him and his soldiers hid inside, not wanting to be detected.

Lots of the Trojans believed this to be a gift.

However, Priest Laocoon said they shouldn't be trusting their enemies so easily.

He warned them to be aware of the Greeks even when they bring gifts.

Another young woman called Helen wasn't convinced either.

She used her voice to imitate a Greek accent pretending that she was the wives of some of the soldiers.

Her accent was so convincing, it almost fooled one of the soldiers who was about to open his mouth and let out a call.

However, Odysseus at the last moment clamped his hand over his mouth and kept them quiet and hidden.

Happy that they'd finally won the war, the Trojans wheeled the horse into a temple whilst they went off to celebrate and feast.

In the dead of night, the Greek soldiers escaped the horse and they sieged the city.

By morning it was theirs and King Laomedon had lost.

Odysseus was held a hero for his intelligence and bravery.

The Greeks had finally won the war and captured the city of Troy.

Here's our final check for understanding.

Successful retelling includes which of the following? Is it A, looking at your notes, not engaging with the audience? B, performing in a loud, clear voice so the audience can hear you? C, vary your voice's pitch, volume and speed to match the myth's content? Or D, not rehearsing what you're going to say? There might be more than one.

Pause the video now whilst you decide.

Well done, the answers are B and C.

You want to be performing in a loud, clear voice so that the audience can hear you, and you want to try and vary your voice's pitch, volume and speed to match the myth's content.

You definitely want to rehearse as much as you can to get as much of the key content in as possible, and you want to avoid looking down at your notes all the time.

You want to engage with your audience and use eye contact if possible.

Now it's over to you.

In this final task, I'd like you to retell the myth of "The Trojan Horse" to your partner.

Remember to refer to the top tips when performing.

You can use both the images here as well as the key characters and settings to support you.

I really hope you enjoy retelling the myth.

Pause the video now once you complete the task.

Great work.

Once you perform to your partner, a small group or even your class, I'd like you to reflect on the following questions.

What was the audience's response? Hopefully, it was really positive.

What went well with your retelling? What did you capture best? Did you get all the events perhaps or maybe you really described the characters in detail? Finally, what could go better next time? Was there anything that you missed or forgot? Was there anything that you found particularly challenging too? I hope you've had a really positive experience retelling the myth.

As they say, practise makes perfect, so retelling a myth to an audience can be a really positive experience to build on.

In today's lesson, we've been engaging with the myth, "The Trojan Horse." "The Trojan Horse" myth contains themes of deception and strategy.

We know that Odysseus, the hero, succeeds by using his intelligence.

We've learned that retelling is a reading skill closely linked to the genre of folklore, which is how stories and myths were passed down over generations.

To be successful at retelling a Greek myth, it's important to consider the key characters, the settings and the main events.

Finally, retellings are summaries of the story.

They do not have to include every single detail that's in the original source material.

I've really enjoyed working with you today.

Well done for all your hard work.

I'm looking forward to working with you again soon.