Teach Students About Allusion in Literature - And The Colossus of Rhodes

Jacqueline Chinappi
Categories : Teaching middle school history
Tags : Teaching middle school grades 6 8

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Student Objective

This ancient wonder is a statue of Helios, the sun god, located on the island of Rhodes. This huge statue was constructed between 292 and

280 B.C. by Charles of Lindos. The statue was over 100 feet high and stood upon a 50 foot pedestal where it stood watching over the harbor. This bronze wonder fell to pieces after an earthquake in Rhodes.

For this lesson students will work on a timeline for the island of Rhodes, construct their own statue of Helios, learn the geography of Rhodes, and read a book on this wonder.

The Lesson Plan

1. To introduce students to The Colossus to Rhodes by reading Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Lynn Curlee.

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Lynn Curlee

This book actually contains information on all of the Wonders but for this lesson you can focus on The Colossus of Rhodes.

What was the statue made of?
Who was the statue of?
Where is Rhodes located?

2. Show students where Rhodes is located on the map. Explain that Rhodes is an island off of Greece. Click here for a map of Rhodes. With this map make copies for the students and have them mark down where the Colossus was located and if they notice anything about the map. (Lindos)

3. Visit Emma Lazarus’s pages on Scholastic.com where you can click on several interesting links. Students will learn about allusions in analytical reading and also can compare the Colussus of Rhodes to another popular statue that still stands.

4. Extra Homework assignment: Students will create their own statue of Helios as an art homework assignment. They can use whatever material they want such as paper mache, construction paper, jello, etc. Tell them to be creative and to use their imagination. Have students write a one-page paper speaking about the different materials they used, why they used those materials and if it was difficult.

After this lesson students will not only know more about the history of The Colossus of Rhodes and the story behind this great wonder, but will also learn about timelines, sculptors, geography of Rhodes, and different materials to use in art projects.

This post is part of the series: The Seven Wonders of the World

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World will be taught in these series of lessons. These are not just a “lecture” lesson plans but instead hands on activities for the children. The students will learn about the cultural aspects as well as the geography of each “Wonder”.