Third Grade Creation Myths

In looking forward to what third grade had in store for us the idea of hearing a variety of creation myths from cultures around the world really resonated with me. So I sat down and did some research on some of the different varieties of creation myths and thought a bit about things such as the Big Bang theory etc....

Working at the local museum, I found a wonderful book called "Born With a Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story". I bought it and the two other titles that follow in the story of how life on earth came to be from a scientific perspective. I love these books, although at times they stray into more science than I see necessary, they are beautifully written with a true storytelling feel. They really connect to the child because they come from the perspective that this story is everyone's story and that we are all a part of the universe. This is a perspective that I like because I feel it brings in a foundation of brotherhood, empathy and responsiblity for our planet and the other people, animals and plants that live here.

So using this as a background for our unit, I then decided to bring in the creation myths from the various cultures. Below is a breakdown of what we are doing and some examples of GM's work.

We have a Geological Main Lesson Book (images above). It is a huge book measuring 16X20 and spiral bound. We use this for our "scientific perspective" book. So in here we are entering pictures and writings which come from the Universe book and other ideas that we come across here and there. Eventually this will grow into multi volumes as we begin studying the continents and their biomes... then getting more into the people who live there and their cultures... from here we move into history.

Some of the Creation Myths we have done, or will do include:

Raven : A creation story from the Pacific Northwest about how the Raven brought the sun to the people.

How the Tewas Found their True Home: Local Southwestern Creation Myth

The First Day of Creation: A Jewish creation story

Coyote and the Sky: How the Sun, Moon and Stars Began. Another local Native American Creation story

Japanese Creation Story

Pangu and the Creation of the World: A Chinese Tao story of the creation

the Dreamtime: An aboriginal Creation Myth from Australia

The Story of Olorun: A Yoruba story of the creation (West Africa)