Teach21 Social Studies Electronic Resources Package

Teach21 Social Studies Electronic Resources Package
Module 02 - Ancient Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization
Social Studies Ninth Grade
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Title

Module 02 - Ancient Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization

Subject:

Social Studies

Grade Level:

Ninth Grade

Author(s):

Rachel DeHainaut rdehaina@access.k12.wv.us

Big Idea:

River Valley Civilizatoins

Next Generation Content Standards and Objectives

NxG ID	NxG Objectives
SS.9.C.1	describe the roles of citizens and their responsibilities (e.g., prehistoric societies; river civilizations, classical civilizations, feudal systems, developing nation states and neo-feudal systems).
SS.9.H.CL3.1	compare and contrast the causes and effects of the rise and decline of classical civilizations.
SS.9-10.L.13	produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose and audience.

21st Century Learning Skills & Technology Tools:

Information and Communication	21C.O.9-12.1.TT.7 Student uses advanced features and utilities of presentation software (e.g., slide transitions, master slides, narrations and timings, creating web-enabled presentations, creating a non-linear presentation) to communicate ideas to multiple audiences.
Thinking and Reasoning Skills	21C.O.9-12.2.LS.1 Student engages in a critical thinking process that supports synthesis and conducts evaluation using complex criteria.
Personal and Workplace Skills	21C.O.9-12.3.TT.6 Student evaluates and applies technology tools for research, information analysis, problem solving, content learning, decision making, and lifelong learning.

Focus (or Guiding) Questions:

Focus (or Guiding) Questions:

What ways did the citizens of ancient Mesopotamia demonstrate civic responsibility?

What ideas about government and the purposes for government did the ancient Mesopotamians have?

What is the relationship between environment, migration, and settlement in this region?

Know:

Civic responsibility of citizens in ancient Mesopotamia

Ideas about how to govern and purpose and role of government

Connection between cultural settlement patterns and the languages that developed in ancient Mesopotamia

Role of physical geography

Do:

Work collaboratively with a team

Write a comparison and contrast essay on groups within ancient Mesopotamia

Create a product demonstrating their knowledge of the identified learning targets

Introduction:

Guide students with a brainstorming activity on the purposes of government. Questions to guide this activity include: 1) What is the purpose of government? 2) What responsibilities does the government have? 3) What responsibilities do the people have? This can be used as a whole class activity where the responses are documented on the board. The teacher should use this opportunity to question students to access prior knowledge. This would also be a great opportunity to use a current event to help students make a real world connection with the past.

Academic Vocabulary:

Research has shown that the least effective strategy for teaching vocabulary is having students look up words and write the definitions. For quality, research-based strategies for teaching content vocabulary, see the Teach 21 Strategy Bank at http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/vocabulary.html.

civic responsibility

Sumerians

Akkadians

Amorites

Hittites

Assyrians

Chaldeans

Babylonians

Persians

Hebrews

King Hammurabi

King Sargon I

Judaism

Abraham

Code of Hammurabi

city-state

cuneiform

ziggurat

Manage the Process:

The purpose of this module is for students to explore the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia. Students will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with a team while reporting their findings to the whole class. Students will use web based resources to research and analyze information on the Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, and Hebrews. Students will be working on vocabulary development and interpretation of information.

Students will be using web based resources in their discovery. Through discovery, students will be completing 4 Squared for each civilization, a Mesopotamia Comparison and Contrast Essay, and an Our Way Project. Basic guidelines have been developed for the essay, but should be modified to meet the needs of all learners. Differentiation strategies include: modifying the length, number of references, amount of time allowed for completing assignment, writing guide for students with writing disability, and oral presentation of essay topic. Organizers, guidelines, and rubrics have been provided to aid the teacher in development of the unit. In using these strategies, students will be able to develop an enduring understanding of the identified concepts.

Phase 1

Phase one of this module will begin with a brainstorming activity to activate prior knowledge and get students thinking about the purpose of government and the role of citizens. This will be a common thread through the study of each civilization that made up ancient Mesopotamia. This activity can be done as a whole class activity with a student volunteer recording the ideas on the board or chart paper. If you have access, this is also a great way to have students working with technology; the teacher can set up an online discussion board for students to post answers. A great website to use for this is http://www.twiddla.com/

Phase 2Phase two of this module is for the presentation of the vocabulary and student research on the civilizations (Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Hittites, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Babylonians, and Hebrews. Some of these can easily be combined and discussed together. The teacher should present the academic vocabulary to the whole class and then allow for students to work in collaborative teams or pairs to complete the research activity. A suggestion for presenting the academic vocabulary would be for the teacher to use a map of ancient Mesopotamia and show students the location of each group and the dates lived there. The Frayer Model is a good choice for the major concept ideas. This can be found in the vocabulary strategy bank on Teach21. http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/FrayerModel.html Students should complete 4 Squared for each civilization to aid in noting the information. The teacher could also have students cite the source of information for each square. This would allow for good practice in citation of sources for research. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/677/01/ is a great source for help with citations.

Phase 3Phase three of this module is for review and tying all the parts together. A suggestion for this would be to let each group contribute to a class 4 Squared for each civilization. Once those are completed and visible to all students, the students could lead a comparison activity drawing attention to key information on the purpose of government, civic responsibility, settlement, physical geography, and cultural achievements. This would be another great place to set up a Twiddla meeting. This would allow teachers to use the smart boards and pens. The organizer can be uploaded to the site making it the base for the interactive whole class organizer. http://www.twiddla.com/

Phase 4

Phase four of this module is for assessment. Students will complete a Mesopotamia Comparison and Contrast Essay and participate in a team Our Way Project. These culminating activities will allow for assessment of student learning. Teachers will need to differentiate the essay and project to meet the individual needs of students. Basic guidelines have been developed for the essay, but should be modified to meet the needs of all learners. Differentiation strategies include: modifying the length, number of references, amount of time allowed completing assignment, writing guide for students with writing disabilities, and oral presentation of essay topic. Differentiation strategies for the project include: use of flexible grouping, teacher creation of groups to ensure mixed ability levels, guided prompts for research and writing, and the ability to present information in a small group setting.

This module is expected to have 10 to 11 contact hours.

Electronic Resources:

Acquisition of Background Knowledge

Suggestion for Utilization of Resource Cited

The British Museum

http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/