Students will apply research, critical thinking, and writing skills to undertake an imaginative approach to belief, persuasion, and opinion. Pupils will draw from international and local mythology to appreciate how literacies can help people share stories, manipulate facts, and distort the truth. First students will consider the world myths that seem impossible but are rooted in local culture and folklore such as The Loch Ness Monster, Yeti/Bigfoot, dragons, and fairies. The students will look at different forms of evidence that either foster a sense of belief or cast doubt on the story. They then investigate their local mythology to examine the evidence that allows people to believe. The inquiry will culminate with a finished piece of writing that asks the student to imagine their own myth and create a body of evidence to foster belief in it. 

• Distinguish fact from opinion and appreciate how information can be used to manipulate

• Analytical skills using different literacy sources

• Create persuasive text to suit the needs of the audience

This unit has a critical thinking and creativity focus:

• Challenge assumptions, pose questions, check accuracy

• Review alternative theories and explain the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence

• Acknowledge uncertainty and reflect on your own position

• Generate and play with unusual ideas to produce meaningful and novel outputs

Web and Print

• Not essential but access to Google Images would be beneficial to carry out pupil-led searches in lesson one  Youtube clip of mythology/folklore that presents both fact and opinion. Suggested clips include:

  •  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZnAo_2cpYY Yeti 

  •  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU-yq_IJhtU 

  • Tree Octopus  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wa319OXRNs

  •  Loch Ness Monster  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FpqIxZet3A Fairies

        Other Resources

• Paper and pens for research and writing tasks 

      Opportunities to adapt, extend, and enrich

• Further links could be made with local history and geography, for example, by asking students to create an exhibition or resource on a local myth.

• The activity could be extended by asking students to create a second myth story that is extraordinary and completely imaginary and that they do not have to justify with reference to evidence and facts. Students could then be asked to compare and contrast their two myths.

English Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yHF9B4XWwXnpVh909z3oMpaaoAWZ2ug-jup3eIrTmMw/edit?usp=sharing

Hindi Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XllcQYw_goY3FEr3arfcpSmvr6ld9Xxh7Fi1WMAGB1Y/edit?usp=sharing

Gujarati Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/15w520KkOSSLKyV8QGzQl9frjzXonNcVNPnRrLvki9tg/edit?usp=sharing 

Kannada Version

• https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W2JTZjMtPJi8wDp2g3AAaljm5ElWJkuPoZEt2fKlxQ4/edit?usp=drive_link