Lesson 4: How Do We Know About the Ancient Romans?
Essential Questions
What are the similarities and differences between the Ancient Romans and Ancient Greeks?
What does the architecture, art, government, and geography tell us about the lifestyle of the Ancient Romans? (using historical evidence to draw conclusions)
NCSS Themes
People, Place, and Environments
Time, Continuity, and Change
VA Standards of Learning
Social Studies 3.1
The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.
Visual Arts 3.16
The student will compare and contrast art and architecture from other cultures.
Objectives
Students will be able to compare and contrast the architecture of Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, and the U.S. today.
Students will be able to interpret historical data to draw conclusions about the lifestyles of the Ancient Romans.
Materials for Learning Activities
Students
· Post-it Notes
· Triple Venn Diagram Worksheet
Teacher
· So How Do We Know About the Ancient Romans?/Art and Architecture Comparison PowerPoint Presentation
· Classroom Stop Light
Procedures for Learning Activities
Introduction (5 minutes)
1) “I am so excited because today is the most important day in our unit on Ancient Rome. We are going to get to think about the contributions the Ancient Romans made to us and why they are so important. We are also going to get to be historians and figure out how we know about things that happened such a long time ago. Who can remind me of what contributions the Ancient Romans have given us?” (hook and link)
2) “I am teaching you this today because it is important to think about how and why we know things and to always ask questions. I want you all to be fantastic critical thinkers!” (purpose) Extensions and Connections: Students should be encouraged to find and think about other primary sources and what they can tell us about history. How does what we know about the Ancient Romans compare to what we know about the Ancient Greeks? Essentially, this whole lesson is about making connections to ourselves and other cultures. Students can be encouraged to go above and beyond by going more in-depth into their thoughts and observations about the topic or by bringing in connections on other cultures not discussed explicitly in this lesson.
Instructional Strategies (40 minutes)
1) Using the “So How Do We Know About the Ancient Romans?” PowerPoint slides, lead a discussion on the importance of Ancient Roman contributions to us (see questions in slide notes). Then, discuss the primary sources historians use to know things about people and places a long time ago as a whole group. (If your students have had previous experience with primary source interpretation, set up centers with different primary source documents at each one with an interpretation sheet for them to fill out instead of leading a whole group discussion).
2) Afterwards, allow students to work in pairs on the Art and Architecture Comparison Activity to draw in higher-level thinking about the fine arts. Each pair should be given a Triple Venn Diagram worksheet and the architecture they are to compare and contrast should be posted on the board (see slides). Include questions to help scaffold the process. (If students have little experience with Venn Diagrams, conduct this section in a whole group format to model thinking). After 15 minutes, lead a whole group discussion about the comparison to share what the students found. Fill out Venn Diagram on the Interactive White Board to compile answers.
Summary (5 minutes)
1) “Great job thinking like historians! Does anyone have any questions, connections, or light bulb moments to share? Remember to review for your test tomorrow, but as you all know the test isn’t the important part….it’s the learning!”
2) Take the next couple of minutes to fill out your post-its for the stop light. Students can place one post-it note on either the red, yellow, or green classroom stop light regarding their understanding of the unit. A post-it placed on red should contain a questions or comment about something they didn’t understand. A post-it placed on yellow should contain a question or comment on a topic they might have some lingering questions about or need a little further explanation. A post-it placed on green means they understand what was covered in the unit and they should comment on something they especially liked or any connections that they have made.
Assessment
Differentiation
What are the similarities and differences between the Ancient Romans and Ancient Greeks?
What does the architecture, art, government, and geography tell us about the lifestyle of the Ancient Romans? (using historical evidence to draw conclusions)
NCSS Themes
People, Place, and Environments
Time, Continuity, and Change
VA Standards of Learning
Social Studies 3.1
The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.
Visual Arts 3.16
The student will compare and contrast art and architecture from other cultures.
Objectives
Students will be able to compare and contrast the architecture of Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, and the U.S. today.
Students will be able to interpret historical data to draw conclusions about the lifestyles of the Ancient Romans.
Materials for Learning Activities
Students
· Post-it Notes
· Triple Venn Diagram Worksheet
Teacher
· So How Do We Know About the Ancient Romans?/Art and Architecture Comparison PowerPoint Presentation
· Classroom Stop Light
Procedures for Learning Activities
Introduction (5 minutes)
1) “I am so excited because today is the most important day in our unit on Ancient Rome. We are going to get to think about the contributions the Ancient Romans made to us and why they are so important. We are also going to get to be historians and figure out how we know about things that happened such a long time ago. Who can remind me of what contributions the Ancient Romans have given us?” (hook and link)
2) “I am teaching you this today because it is important to think about how and why we know things and to always ask questions. I want you all to be fantastic critical thinkers!” (purpose) Extensions and Connections: Students should be encouraged to find and think about other primary sources and what they can tell us about history. How does what we know about the Ancient Romans compare to what we know about the Ancient Greeks? Essentially, this whole lesson is about making connections to ourselves and other cultures. Students can be encouraged to go above and beyond by going more in-depth into their thoughts and observations about the topic or by bringing in connections on other cultures not discussed explicitly in this lesson.
Instructional Strategies (40 minutes)
1) Using the “So How Do We Know About the Ancient Romans?” PowerPoint slides, lead a discussion on the importance of Ancient Roman contributions to us (see questions in slide notes). Then, discuss the primary sources historians use to know things about people and places a long time ago as a whole group. (If your students have had previous experience with primary source interpretation, set up centers with different primary source documents at each one with an interpretation sheet for them to fill out instead of leading a whole group discussion).
2) Afterwards, allow students to work in pairs on the Art and Architecture Comparison Activity to draw in higher-level thinking about the fine arts. Each pair should be given a Triple Venn Diagram worksheet and the architecture they are to compare and contrast should be posted on the board (see slides). Include questions to help scaffold the process. (If students have little experience with Venn Diagrams, conduct this section in a whole group format to model thinking). After 15 minutes, lead a whole group discussion about the comparison to share what the students found. Fill out Venn Diagram on the Interactive White Board to compile answers.
Summary (5 minutes)
1) “Great job thinking like historians! Does anyone have any questions, connections, or light bulb moments to share? Remember to review for your test tomorrow, but as you all know the test isn’t the important part….it’s the learning!”
2) Take the next couple of minutes to fill out your post-its for the stop light. Students can place one post-it note on either the red, yellow, or green classroom stop light regarding their understanding of the unit. A post-it placed on red should contain a questions or comment about something they didn’t understand. A post-it placed on yellow should contain a question or comment on a topic they might have some lingering questions about or need a little further explanation. A post-it placed on green means they understand what was covered in the unit and they should comment on something they especially liked or any connections that they have made.
Assessment
- Students will be assessed through informal questioning, the Triple Venn Diagram worksheet, and the Classroom Stop Light exercise. The teacher should make note of student responses on contributions and historical knowledge and their ability to compare and contrast during the lesson. The Triple Venn Diagram worksheet will both assess their knowledge of Ancient Roman architecture and their ability to make connections to other people and places. The Classroom Stop Light exercise will assess their overall understanding of the unit and provide a good way to assess if there are any major gaps in student understanding before the summative assessment takes place.
Differentiation
- ELLs: Using the PowerPoint slides give these students a lot of visual memory to refer to. The partner Triple Venn Diagram activity will be beneficial because it reinforces the language of the material with peers. These students can be paired with others with a stronger command of language to provide more support during this activity.
- Visual/Spatial Learners: The PowerPoint slides allow these students to connect concepts with images.
- Verbal/Linguistic Learners: The Triple Venn Diagram worksheet will allow these students to organize their thoughts on paper.
- Logical/Mathematical Learners: These learners should be encouraged to notice the symmetry and logical organization of much of the art and architecture. They can be encouraged to think about how these things were made or constructed and add this analysis to their Triple Venn Diagram worksheet.
- Gifted: The extensions and connections to oneself and other ancient civilizations provides limitless opportunity for comparing and contrasting art and architecture.