How to keep an ancient text interesting to students? Make it a summer blockbuster
High school English teachers are using the recent film adaptation of Homer's 'The Odyssey' to increase student engagement with the ancient text. Educators report that visual media helps students connect with complex literature and improves vocabulary acquisition.
Why it matters
Integrating modern pop culture into traditional curricula is a growing pedagogical strategy to maintain student interest in classical literature.
Casey Crowhurst has taught high school English for the past 16 years. One text has never gotten much easier to teach.
" The Odyssey was always one we kind of struggled with," he says. Getting his students at Monticello High School in eastern Illinois to pay attention was a tall order.
"You tell them, 'Hey, this was written 2,000 plus years ago.' And right away, they're gonna be like, 'well, why do I have to learn this?'"
Learning in the age of AI To keep AI out of her classroom, this high school English teacher went analog Crowhurst, like many teachers, uses clips from the 1997 Hallmark miniseries and other adaptations of The Odyssey to help keep students engaged. The students are not afraid to tell him that they find the dated special effects silly.
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