Sixth grade students at Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy of Connecticut enjoyed a great experience of educational creativity this week, as they learned about the value of storytelling and the lessons to be learned from both ancient and modern myths.

Mr. Darren Bahar, middle school teacher at BCHA, challenged the students to write their own myths. Students in the sixth grade have spent the last few months learning about Greece and Greek Mythology. Students read and studied multiple myths, and practiced writing short myths in class, which led to the culminating project of writing an entire myth, with all the elements that are required. Each student myth was required to be three to five pages long, and was to be based upon their recent studies of myths and their moral lessons and outcomes.

The rules for mythmaking, per Mr. Bahar, were to create both a hero and a protagonist, as well as other minor characters. Students had to develop the setting, and time of when the story would take place. All stories had to have a conflict in them, based upon five different types of conflict, and each student had to pick one to emphasize in their stories. The final rule was that all myths have to either teach a moral, such as don’t fight, don’t steal, don’t be jealous of others, or answer why some natural events occur.

Students were given time in class to conference with Mr. Bahar, but most of the work happened at home. Finally, in the final class period of the lesson, some of the students got to share their myths with each other by using their storytelling skills.

Mr. Bahar commented on the process. “I enjoy how students, given the same assignment, can write such different myths,” he remarked. “Giving students the freedom to write creatively, within the guidelines of writing a good myth, really stretches the students, and their ability to write an entertaining story.”