Mesopotamia
The Beginnings of Civilization
Unit Portfolio Presentation
Sandy Hecksel
Unit Summary
Students read an age-appropriate version of the Epic of
Gilgamesh: Gilgamesh the King, The Revenge of Ishtar,
and The Last Quest of Gilgamesh (all by Ludmilla Zeman)
and relate it to contemporary life. They identify a force of
nature that still causes problems for people today and
collaborate to write a story about a hero who defeats that
force of nature. They create a cartoon presentation of their
story and share it with an audience.
CFQs
Essential Question:
Why do humans live in communities?
Unit Question:
What types of solutions to conflict did people in the earliest
civilizations in Mesopotamia develop?
Content Questions:
How were forces of nature symbolized in early literature?
What were the desirable/undesirable characteristics
demonstrated by the literary character Gilgamesh?
Vision for Unit
By creating this unit, I want to
 Try out new methods to make mythology relevant to my
students’ lives
During this unit, I want my students to
 Learn ways to connect mythology to their daily lives
 Use technology to communicate with different audiences
Project Approaches
As my students work on this project, they
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Connect the play to the real world
Collaborate with peers and community members
Create a product that shows what they’ve learned
Share their learning with a real audience
21st Century Learning
Students will develop higher-order and 21st
century skills in this unit as they
● Use the Essential and Unit Questions to guide their
analysis of the myth to find themes that cross places and
times
● Communicate their ideas to a community audience
● Reflect on their reading, writing, research, and thinking
strategies, and modify and adapt them as necessary
● Use project assessments to self-assess their work and give
feedback to their peers
Gauging Student Needs
Assessments
Use CFQs to learn
• Students’ ideas about what purpose myths
serve.
• Background knowledge of forces of nature.
Assess 21st Century skills
• Ability to see common elements in mythology
and contemporary life.
Gauging Student Needs
Assessments
I can use the information from these
assessments to:
• Focus on symbolism in the myth.
• Plan activities in which they will help them see how
frightening natural events were portrayed as
“monsters”.
Students can use the information from these
assessments to:
• Look for symbolism in other literature.
• Create a story with a force of nature portrayed as a
“monster”.
Requests for Feedback
Need ways to challenge gifted students.
 Need help with techniques of forming
higher level thinking questions.
 Need help assessing students’ higherorder thinking skills
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