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Internet-Enriched Lesson: Your Odyssey Essay

Introduction

Dictionary.com (2010) defines the word odyssey as a noun describing “a long series of wanderings or adventures, especially when filled with notable experiences, hardships, etc.”

In this lesson, students will follow the footsteps of Paul Salopek, a National Geographic journalist, on a 21,000-mile odyssey in which he walked the migration routes of the earliest humans from Africa to other parts of the Earth, writing about and documenting in photos, audio, and video the stories about the people, geographies, climates, and social issues he encountered along the way.

Students will locate a 360-degree image or video from one of the locations Paul visited, and share the image and discuss his travels with their group of classmates.

Students will then compose a 2-page (750-1000 word) essay describing an odyssey that affected their life, including a timeline with milestones and events of the journey. Students will upload completed essays, including their timelines, as Google Docs to their Google Drive folders for review and grading.

Learning Objectives

  • Write a 2-page narrative essay.
  • Apply conventions of accurate English language sentence, paragraph, and essay structure.
  • Apply appropriate writing methods for clarity in written text.
  • Create a timeline showing milestones and events.
  • Use Google Drive to submit a Google Doc for review and grading.

Materials

Learning Activities

  1. Using the Google Chrome browser, visit the Google Earth Voyager project: A Storytelling Odyssey, and trace the writer’s journey on the globe, clicking through and reading the ten sections and the links on each.

  2. Visit the writer's accompanying interactive website, Out of Eden Walk, and read each section including Chapters 1-5.

  3. Create a free ThingLink account, and search for a 360-degree photo or video that shows one of the places the writer visited; for example, this image taken in Jerusalem.

  4. Participate in the Discussion Board for this lesson, posting the link to the image you found on ThingLink, and a description of the phase in the writer's journey when he arrived at that destination and what you learned from his writing about the people, climate, and social issues he encountered there.

  5. Think of an odyssey or challenging journey that affected your life. This could be a physical journey that you undertook, a challenging phase in your life that took place over a period of time, or even the journey your parents or grandparents undertook to travel to the place where you lived as a child.

  6. Compose a 2-page (750-1000 word) essay describing the odyssey, where/when it began and where/when it ended, and important milestones and events along the way.

  7. Use ReadWriteThink’s Timeline Creator to create a timeline of important milestones and events during the odyssey you are writing about. Feel free to include images in your timeline. Include the timeline as a third page in your essay.

  8. Upload your completed essay as a Google Doc to your Google Drive folder for review. Send your instructor a message through your Google doc that your essay is ready to be reviewed.

  9. Once you've received feedback on your work, make any revisions indicated and notify your instructor that your essay is complete and ready for grading.

Resources