BCMS WEEKLY LESSON PLAN
TEACHER: Delenia Alls
DATE:
2015
COURSE TITLE: Ancient World History
UNIT:
SPECIFIC TOPIC:
ESSENTIAL QUESTION(S):
1.
2.
3.
4.
Why is it important to study the history of Ancient Greece?
What role did geography play in the development of the Ancient Greek civilization?
How are cultural elements and social institutions reflected in Ancient Greek civilization?
What is the influence of government and economics on the rise and fall of Ancient Greece?
LEARNING TARGETS:
I can justify reasons that the Ancient Greeks are important to history.
I can determine the role of the geography in the development of the Ancient Greek civilization.
I can explain how cultural elements & social institutions are reflected in Ancient Greek civilization
I can evaluate the influence of government & economics on the rise & fall of Ancient Greece.
I can compare & contrast Sparta and Athens (lifestyle, government, education, culture, military, etc.).
I can connect Greek society & influence to today’s society.
I can connect Ancient Greek mythology to their lives and religious beliefs.
I can cite evidence of Ancient Greek architecture still used today,
I can compare & contrast Ancient Greek philosophies and literature to today’s philosophies and writings.
I can summarize the achievements and failures of Greek leadership.
Writing
Arts and Humanities
Practical Living
DAY ONE:
Do Now: Get the handout off the cart as well as a textbook.
Students will be either be taking the test and open response or finishing their open response.
Those that have completed both will work on reading the next chapter, filling in their notes, and
working on a vocabulary activity for the first part of the chapter. They will copy a chart that has
vocabulary words in one column, definitions in the second column, and the third column they are
to draw an icon to go with that word.
NEWS QUIZ
At the end of class, we will go over test results and discuss questions missed by a majority of
the students.
DAY TWO:
Do Now:
1. What is a myth?
2. A drama in which a person struggles to overcome difficulties but fails is called?
3. A drama in which the story ends happily is called?
We will discuss Greek mythology and fill in the notes. Then we will get into groups and read the
myth Icarus and Daedalus. Students have to complete the following activities as they read the
myth.
1. Read the first page of the myth and predict what will happened to Daedalus and Icarus.
(Context clues tell them that Daedalus is an ingenious inventor, so students may predict
that he will find a way to escape from the island.)
2. As Daedalus finishes then tests the wings, he finds that he can fly. However, his
emotions are not described. How does this part of the tale helps build suspense? (By
finishing the wings, Daedalus will soon be able to escape. The reader will soon discover
if he succeeds.)
3. What does this passage reveal about Daedalus’ relationship with his son? (He is a caring
father.)
4. Can you relate this passage to instances in your own life when you did not listen to the
advice of an older person?
5. How does the author use figurative language? (Flying gave Icarus a sense of happiness
he had not felt since his mother lifted him in her arms. He longed to be free of captivity.)
6. Students will answer questions at the end of the story.
Then we will discuss their group activity and finish with oracle and poetry.
DAY THREE:
Do Now:
1. What did the Greeks believe gods/goddesses controlled?
2. What was the moral/meaning of the myth Icarus and Daedlus?
3. Who was the king of the gods? Who was the god of war?
4. What is a fable?
We will review what was discussed yesterday and begin with new content today. We will focus
on poetry and fables today. Epics will be the first one to be discussed. I will give them
examples of epics such as Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey. We will discuss what these were
about as well as analyze a quote from one of them. Then we will turn our attention to fables and
the most famous fables (Aesop’s Fables). We will discuss what a fable is and then watch a
short clip about Aesop’s fables. Then we will discuss what they watched (morals, what they all
had in common, etc.). Finally, students will be put into groups and look at examples of fables.
They will have to answers questions to a fable in cloze format, put a fable in order in which it
occurred, and finally answer questions about the fable. The last thing that they will complete is
writing their own fable.
DAY FOUR:
Do Now:
We will quickly review the fables we saw on the video or discussed in class yesterday. We will
review what purpose a fable serves and how we should write them. Students will begin working
on writing their own fable. They will receive a “mapping a fable” sheet that guides them in
creating/writing their own fable. From this prewriting exercise, students will then turn the paper
on the back and write their fables. Near the end of class, we will share out fables and discuss
the activity.
DAY FIVE:
Do Now:
1. What shapes our entertainment today that has been handed down from ancient times?
2. What is drama?
3. What are two types of drama that the Greeks used?
Our focus today will be on the Greek drama, art, and architecture. We will discuss the different
dramas: tragedy and comedy as well as the men behind these various forms of dramas. We will
look at pictures of theaters. Then we will briefly talk about art and architecture. They will see
examples of what the architecture looked like during this period of time. There is a picture of the
Parthenon and shows the various parts of it. Next, we will look at the different types of columns.
Students will see examples of the different types of columns from various places. Some are
even pictures of buildings in Glasgow. At the end of our discussion about these columns,
students will have a short quiz over the types of columns. We will see how everyone did on the
quiz. Then students will answer the questions to the review at the end of this part of the chapter.
DAY SIX:
Do Now:
1.
What are some things actors do in a drama?
2.
Where were Greek dramas performed?
3.
Define a tragedy and give an example of what a Greek tragedy would be like?
4.
Define a comedy.
5.
Who were the 3 best known writers of Greek tragedies and who was the best
known writer of Greek comedies?
6.
What did Aeschylus and Sophocles add to their Greek tragedies?
7.
What were Sophocles two most famous plays?
NEWS QUIZ
We will briefly review the arts portion of this chapter. Students will then be given a web activity
that covers Greek Literature. Students will be instructed to create a concept web over the major
topics of Greek literature. They are to place the terms inside the web and connect words by
lines and writing connector phrase between the words. They will need to make as many
connections as they can. Most words connect to multiple other words. The connector phrases
are explanations of how the two terms relate to one another. This same activity will be adapted
to philosophy sometime later. After this activity, our focus will be on Greek philosophy and
history. We will discuss all the philosophers today. Pythagoras, Sophists, Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle.
DAY SEVEN:
Do Now:
1. Sophocles and Euripides are to _________________ as Aristophanes is to
___________________.
2. The “Tortoise and the Hare” is to a ______________ as “Icarus and Daedalus” is to a
_____________.
3. A priest or a priestess is to an ____________________ as an actor is to
_____________________.
4. Aesop is to a fable as Homer is to an ______________________.
5. Choose any one of the analogies above and explain why the analogy is true.
After the do now, students will work on their concept web. Once they have finished the
Literature side, they will flip the paper over and work on the concept web over philosophy. Then
students will recreate chart the chart below on their own paper. I will give them a half sheet of
paper with information to help them fill in the chart. We will discuss their answers before moving
on to the next section which discusses Alexander the Great.
Greek Philosophers
Thinker or
Group
Main
Idea
Important
Contributions
Sophists Socrates Plato Aristotle
Influence on
Today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmHAdgDkcCw&safe=active
(I didn’t use this in 2012 because it was sent too late. Look at it and maybe use it next time.)
DAY EIGHT:
Do Now:
Students will finish the above charts at the beginning of class. Then we will discuss the charts
and move on to the next section which is Alexander the Great. We will start off the discussion by
dividing the class into groups of 4 students. Each group will have a different colored marker and
a large sheet of paper. Half of the groups will be given this topic: What do you think it means to
be a great military leader? The rest of the groups will be given this topic: What do you think it
means to be an effective leader? They have to write down one thought on the paper and pass it
to the next student. Each student will need to have at least 2 items down. These lists will be
posted around the room.
This leads us to discuss Alexander the Great.
DAY NINE:
Do Now:
1. Why do you think myths are useful to historians?
2. What is the purpose of an epic poem?
3. List things that you remember or know about Alexander the Great.
We will review the previous discussed topics and move on to Phillip II of Macedonia. I will
discuss what a legend is and we will discuss Phillip II, Demosthenes, and Alexander the Great.
Before discussing Alexander’s conquest, I will divide the class up into 8 groups. They will be
given a History Alive handout that discusses events surrounding Alexander the Great. There
are four events but each event is either discussed from the perspective of the conqueror or the
conquered. Therefore, we will have 8 groups. Students are to take notes over the events,
decide whether or not he was a hero or villain, and come up with 5 or 6 reasons to support their
decision. They will be given time to read another article printed from the textbook that discusses
whether Alexander was a hero or a villain. They will present their event and decision tomorrow
during class.
DAY TEN:
Do Now: Decide whether or not you think that Alexander the Great is a hero or villain. Explain
your answer giving three to five reasons to support it.
Students will get back into their groups from yesterday. They are to review their event and be
able to explain/sum up their event to the rest of the class. While they are doing that, one
member of the group will write on the book under Hero or Villain what that groups thinks
Alexander the Great is. Each group will be given a turn. While one group is talking, the other
groups need to be taking notes on the handout provided. At the end, we will discuss about
perspective and how our lives (morals, culture, etc.) influence how we view things. They will
turn in the work and get back into rows. I will then pass out the copies made from the textbook
about whether or not he was a hero or villain. I will read it and discuss how to analyze and
understand primary sources. There are quotes from people of that time. We will discuss how
each event in history can be told from two sides and how good historians try to look at these
events from both sides. Then we will look at a transparency of Alexander the Great in Thebes. I
will ask the students questions that they will answer on a piece of paper. Students will later
share out their answers and discuss what they think is happening.
DAY ELEVEN:
Do Now:
1. Because the Greeks were polytheistic, their religion was based on mythology. What did
they believe the gods/goddesses controlled?
2. You enjoy several types of entertainment in our world today. Many of these are handed
down from ancient times. What still shapes entertainment today?
3. The Greeks love of _______ led to the study of history, politics, biology, and logic.
For numbers 4-6, read the statement and decide which philosopher said the statement.
4. All real knowledge is inside each person.
5. Men and women should have equal education and chance for jobs.
6. Mixed government is best.
We will review the entire chapter. Then we will proceed with the portion that covers Alexander
the Great. We will talk about his conquests and his legacy. Since Alexander slept with Homer’s,
the Iliad, under his pillow, I will ask what book might have inspired my students. Students will
share out including telling reasons why this book has inspired them. Then we will complete the
rest of the section over Alexander the Great. Students will answer the review questions as well
as the chart below. Then they will analyze a transparency over Alexander in Egypt.
Philip of
Macedonia
Alexander the
Great
Alexander’s
Empire after His
death
DAY TWELVE:
Do Now:
1. How might Alexander the Great have described his approach to unifying his
empire?
2. Alexander the Great built cities with these features: an agora, a temple, a
theatre, and a university. Why did he design cities this way?
3. What did Alexander the Great spread throughout Southwest Asia?
4. What are the names of Greek columns in architecture?
We will review content then proceed with the last section of the chapter. Students will answer
the questions at the end of the ppt. After going over these questions, students will take a quiz
that is 5 questions long. After the quiz, they will have time to begin to answer the vocabulary
handout.
DAY THIRTEEN:
Do Now:
1. What are the three major Greek contributions to Western Civilizations?
2. What Greek cities became centers of learning and culture?
3. Philip II wanted to unite Greek city-states with his own kingdom. Who tried to warn
the Athenians that Philip was a threat to Greek freedom?
4. The Greeks used myths to teach a lesson or explain scientific happenings. What
lesson does the myth, Icarus and Daedalus teach?
NEWS QUIZ
Students will work on the vocabulary handout as well as the constructed response handout.
If there is time, students will look at a play and discuss it.
Constructed Response
Choose one of the following areas relating to Greek culture and summarize the significant contributions
made in this area of Greek culture. (see pp. 183 – 186 in your textbook)
 Architecture and Sculpture
 Literature and Theater
 Philosophy

Science and Math
DAY FOURTEEN:
Do Now:
REVIEW
DAY FIFTEEN:
Do Now:
TEST and OPEN RESPONSE
DAY SIXEEN:
Do Now:
Students will finish open responses and/or take the test/OR. I will pass out notes over Rome.
Those that are finished with testing will read the chapter starting on page 258 and fill in notes.
At the end of class, we will go over test results.
EVALUATION PROCEDURES/FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT (how you will measure outcomes
to determine if the material has been learned)
Questioning
Quizzes
Open response
Test
Exit Slips
Timed Reading
Group work
Resources:
Power Points
Vocabulary Activity
Reading Articles
Myth Story Plot
Alexander the Great Hero/Villain article and History Alive Activities
Greek philosophers compare/contrast
Fable Writing and video
Icarus and Daedalus story and questions