Labours of Heracles Review

At last I've had time to get together a review of the Labours of Heracles by Gareth Pritchard!

Last weekend I downloaded a copy of Primary Extra’s new pack – The Labours of Heracles.  I’ve used the story of Heracles (or Hercules if you’re Roman) a number of times in the past, often using the cartoon version from Greek Myths for Young Children by Marcia Williams.

Downloading Gareth’s version was easily done - payment made by PayPal and then instant download.  You can also order a copy on CD for an extra £2.50 if you wish.  On extracting the files (a simple matter of double clicking the downloaded file) you are presented with details of all the documents included.

The first is ‘The Labours of Heracles’ Presentation.  This is the full story in a presentation that’s suitable for use on large screens/interactive whiteboards using Microsoft PowerPoint.  A free PowerPoint viewer program has been included in case you do not have access to suitable software to view it.   There are 109 slides to the story, each with a bright and clearly drawn cartoon.  The language used is simple and precise making it more suitable for Year 2 – Year 5, linking particularly well with Year 3 and Year 5 Myths and Legends. It’s a pity that you are unable to edit the text in the PowerPoint file as this would allow you / the children to create their own versions.  Maybe the password can be removed to allow this?

The presentation is also available as a 32 page colour booklet for printing out.  The booklet contains 4 slides to a page as well as a title page and blurb.  It’s interesting to note that the title includes – Primary Extra Quick Myths – are there to be more?  There is also a monochrome version, for printing out.  It’s great that this is included – all too often coloured sheets photocopy poorly.  The children also love colouring these in when they have spare time or at home – I know this from the Greg Arious pack!

The teachers pack gives plenty of further details on the story as well as clearly pointing out how different versions of the story vary.  Each task is explained, linking it to a story plan – problem / solution.  A background is given to each of the characters in the story allowing the teacher to look extra knowledgeable! There are a number of activities linked to the story which are suggested including comprehensive details on how to write your own version of Heracles or a modern version. The story can obviously used in a cross-curricular topic and there are numerous other possible activities for RE, art, music and drama.

A number of support sheets are also included to support the children in their literacy work.  These include monster and hero description sheets, sequencing activities creating your own cartoon text etc.  As an added extra there are 12 Labours Of Heracles Award Sheets.  These will be great to give out to those children that work well during the course of the work.

For me I think that this is a real bargain at £12.50.  If all of these resources where in a book you’d easily pay £20 for it.  If you’re teaching Myths and Legends then you can’t go wrong with this pack.