The ancient Olympics: introduce your students to the fascinating world of Ancient Greece by studying the Olympic Games, then and now - Activities

Instructor, May-June, 2004 by Hannah Trierweiler

Building Background With the Summer Olympics in Athens around the corner, what a terrific time to study Ancient Greece, where the first Olympics were held more than 2,500 years ago! To get started, first gather materials for your classroom library (see "Additional Resources" on page 47 for suggestions). Then kick off the unit by sharing the Olympic Fun Facts below. Set a challenge for your students: They should look for any related news articles, which they can bring in to share with the class and add to an "Olympic Headlines" bulletin board.

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Olympic Fun Facts

* HOW SHORT The first Olympics had only one event: the stade, or short sprint.

* NO GIRLS ALLOWED While there were trained women athletes in Ancient Greece, only men could participate in the Olympics.

* BEFORE TRACK SUITS Young men from all over Greece took part in the games, but they had one thing in common: they competed naked!

* ROUGH STUFF One ancient event, a combination of boxing and wrestling called the pankration, allowed kicking, strangleholds, and slapping--only gouging and biting were against the rules!

* NO MEDALS Winners of the ancient Olympics received wreaths woven from the branches of an olive tree.

Classroom Olympics Ancient Greek city-states competed against one other at the first Olympics. Your students will enjoy learning more about these colorful societies with this activity! First, invite five groups--Sparta, Athens, Corinth, Argos, and Megara--to explore their city-state's culture by visiting http://members.aol.com/donnclass/greeklife.html. Then have the members of each group agree upon a behavior that will distinguish it as a city-state during your classroom Olympics. Let the competition begin! Host tic-tac-toe, trivia, or jacks events. Once the victorious city-state has been declared, discuss why the different groups acted the ways they did.

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Olympic News Invite your students to imagine that it is 500 BC and they are citizens of Olympia. It is their responsibility to create a newspaper for those coming to the games! To begin, discuss the important sections of a newspaper, such as news, weather, and sports. Then challenge teams of students to cover one of these sections for your Olympic newspaper. News writers can report on special preparations, sports writers can interview star athletes, and style writers can cover what's hot at the celebration banquets. Encourage your newspaper staff to do research so that their stories are as accurate as possible. When finished, kids can compile the stories and print enough issues for all to read.

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Pentathlon Research With this activity, your students will research the exciting pentathlon and learn about one way the Olympics have changed throughout history. First, invite one half of your class to research the ancient pentathlon and the other half to study the modern version. Then encourage the groups to use the Internet to find out more about the participants and judging of each of the five events (try the excellent www.modern-pentathlon.com). Ask both groups to make a book about their version of the pentathlon, with one page explaining each event. Finally, have the groups present their books to the class so that all can become pentathlon experts.

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Olympic Mythology Many different Greek gods and goddesses were worshiped during the ancient Olympics. A fun way to introduce this fundamental part of Greek life is to begin by discussing what present-day athletes do for luck. A runner may eat a certain meal before a big race, for example, or a basketball player may always look for mom in the stands. Write your students' examples on the board. Then share Run with Me, Nike: The Olympics in Four Hundred Twenty, by Cassandra Case (Bt. Bound, 2002), or another title that explains the important role of mythology in the ancient Olympics. As a class, compare ancient and modern athletic rituals. Where do Olympians past and present find courage and strength?

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Chariot Race Writing Challenge your students to use their knowledge of the ancient Olympics to respond to a learning-rich writing prompt in their journals. First, share this quote from Sophocles, a Greek playwright, describing the beginning of a chariot race: "At the sound of the bronze trumpet off they started, all shouting to their horses and urging them on. The clatter of the rattling chariots filled the whole arena, and the dust flew up as they sped along in a dense mass. Each driver goaded his team to draw clear of the rival panting steeds, whose steaming breath and sweat drenched every flying wheel and bending back together." After discussing any unfamiliar words, invite students to imagine that they are a chariot driver in this race and write a first-person account of what happens next. Who wins the race?

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A Mapping Challenge Invite kids to practice their geography skills and learn more about where the Olympics have traveled--between the first games in Olympia and this summer's competition in Athens--with this fun mapping mystery. First, using pushpins, mark all of the Olympic cities (found at www.harveyabramsbooks.com/hostcities.html) on a world map. Then, throughout your unit, ask teams of two students to figure out the year two of the cities hosted the games. Have the teams write the years, the names of the cities, and pictures of the countries' flags on blank cards. Attach the cards to the map with the pushpins to create an impressive Olympic display!