Engaging Students with Ancient Texts: Using Modern Adaptations

Challenges in Teaching Ancient Texts

Casey Crowhurst, an experienced high school English teacher, acknowledges the difficulty of teaching The Odyssey, a text written over 2,000 years ago. At Monticello High School in Illinois, students often question the relevance of learning such ancient works.

Utilizing Modern Adaptations

To capture students’ interest, Crowhurst incorporates modern adaptations into his lessons. Clips from the 1997 Hallmark miniseries and other adaptations help maintain engagement, despite students finding older special effects outdated.

A New Film Adaptation

Recently, Crowhurst shared his appreciation for Christopher Nolan’s new film adaptation of The Odyssey on TikTok. This adaptation, starring Matt Damon as Odysseus, promises to be a helpful tool for educators.

Broadening Teaching Strategies

Erin Hall, another English teacher, plans to integrate this new adaptation into her classroom. She advocates for using multimedia to excite students about learning.

Supporting Language Learning

Sarah Noll, who teaches English to multilingual students, leverages visual adaptations to aid language acquisition. Her students create vocabularies for terms like “ship,” “sea,” “king,” and “suitor.”

“Visuals create a dictionary for essential vocabulary,” Noll explains.

For more insights on how these educators engage students with the new movie, listen to the audio link provided.

Edited by Nirvi Shah.
Visual design by LA Johnson.