My Growth as a Historian…
Overview of “My Growth as a Historian”
Throughout the year for homework assignments, the students will be asked to read a
section of their social science book, Journey Across Time: the Early Ages (Spielvogel, 2005),
and then they will take reading quizzes. To improve their scores on these quizzes, the students
will be taught note-taking and reading strategies from Project CRISS (Santa, Havens, & Valdes,
2004). These strategies will help students to grow as metacognitive learners (Santa, Havens, &
Valdes, 2004) and to approach learning history with a growth mindset (Dweck, 2006). Early in
the year, the students will review their social science reading quizzes and teacher feedback thus
far and self-assess to identify an area in which they would like to grow as a historian. They will
also describe a plan for growing in this area.
The teacher will review the students’ self-assessments, goals, and action plans. Most of
the students will need to grow in the reasons they can cite for why civilizations survive, thrive,
decline, and fail and the examples from different civilizations they can give for each reason. To
help students grow in this area, the teacher will teach the students note-taking strategies and
study methods. Additionally, the students will answer the essay questions, “Why do civilizations
survive and thrive?” and “Why do civilizations decline and fail?” at least three times. After their
first attempt, the students will compare their essays to teacher-provided models of high-quality
essays to clarify the criteria they need to meet to write a high-quality essay (Berger, Rugen, &
Woodfin, 2014). At the end of the year, the students will answer the same essay questions again,
and their response will likely show improvement. Also at the end of the year, the students will
look at their essays and other social science artifacts, such as their reading quizzes, to write a
reflection on how they know they have grown as a historian.
Name: Esme Castellano
Period: 1
Date: October 3, 2014
Self-Reflection on Self as a Historian
Review your social science reading quizzes. Look at your self-assessments and teacher
feedback on these quizzes.
1) Describe an area in which you would like to grow as a historian.
I need to draw more connections between civilizations.
Teacher Feedback: To understand history, it’s important to see parallels between
civilizations, so improving in this area will help you grow as a historian. To better focus this
area, compare the different civilizations in terms of how they survived and thrived or declined
and failed.
2) What will you need to do to grow in this area?
I need to learn about more ancient civilizations, such as Egypt
and Greece. I also need to learn and use more note-taking
strategies to keep track of all of the connections.
Teacher Feedback: Learning about more civilizations and learning more note-taking
strategies will definitely help you grow in this area! You also need to learn specific reasons
why civilizations survived, thrived, declined, and failed.
COMPLETE AFTER YOU RECEIVE TEACHER FEEDBACK: What is your goal to grow as a
historian?
I will be able to list more reasons why civilizations survive,
thrive, decline and fail. For each reason, I will be able to explain
examples from different civilizations.
Teacher Feedback: This is a well thought-out and appropriate goal!
Name: Esme Castellano
Period: 1
Date: October 7, 2014
1st Attempt: Why Civilizations Survive, Thrive, Decline, and Fail
In full sentences, answer the following questions. Write a response that is rich with details
and in paragraph form.
The historical content to answer these questions is from Spielvogel (2005).
1) Why do civilizations survive or thrive?
Civilizations thrive because they have good leaders. In
Babylon, King Hammurabi wrote down a code of laws. This was the
first time a leader had written down a code of laws, and by having
them written down, they were easier for everyone to follow, and this
meant less crime. In Egypt, Hatshepsut increased trade with other
civilizations, which made Egypt wealthier.
2) Why do civilizations decline or fail?
Civilizations decline because they have bad leaders. In Egypt,
the pharaohs after Ramses II could not keep invaders out. This
caused Egypt to lose territory, such as the kingdom of Kush.
Student Analysis of High-Quality Models
Students should analyze models of high-quality work to acquire a clear idea of where
they are heading (Berger, Rugen, & Woodfin, 2014). Students should also compare exemplars to
their own work in order to set goals for improvement.
Name: Esme Castellano
Period: 1
Date: October 7, 2014
1st Attempt Self-Assessment Compared to Teacher-Provided Models
1) What qualities do your essays share with the models?
I include specific details.
2) What areas do you need to grow in to have your next essays with this prompt be more like the
models?
I need to include more reasons why civilizations survive,
thrive, decline, or fail. I also need to include more examples from
different civilizations for each reason.
Teacher Feedback: For your goal in social science this year, be able to list three different
reasons why civilizations survive or thrive and three different reasons why civilizations
decline or fail. Also for each reason, describe examples from two different civilizations.
Name: Esme Castellano
Period: 1
Date: May 5, 2015
3rd Attempt: Why Civilizations Survive, Thrive, Decline, and Fail
In full sentences, answer the following questions. Write a response that is rich with details
and in paragraph form.
The historical content to answer these questions is from Spielvogel (2005).
1) Why do civilizations survive or thrive?
Civilizations will survive or thrive for a variety of reasons, but
three main reasons are when civilizations have an organized
government, when they maintain safe roads, and when they engage
in trade and commerce amongst themselves and with other
civilizations.
The ancient Assyrians grew into a mighty empire because they
were ferocious warriors and because they had an organized
government. The Assyrians divided their empire into provinces,
which were similar to our states. The official in charge of each
province made sure that the king’s orders were followed. The
ancient Persians also had an organized government for their
massive empire. Darius divided the empire into satrapies, which
were similar to the Assyrian provinces. A satrap ruled each satrapy.
The satraps collected taxes, ran the police, and reported to the
Persian king. Though the Persian Empire eventually fell because of
corrupt rulers, for a while the Persians were strong enough to attack
the Greeks.
A strong government does not do the empire any good if its
roads are not maintained. The ancient Persians set up rest stops at
different spots on their roads. These rest stops provided water,
temporary shelter, and new horses to travelers. Ancient India
thrived under Emperor Asoka he also put shelters along the roads
along with trees to shade travelers from the sun.
Good roads also make it easier for a civilization’s people to
trade goods amongst themselves, which boosts the civilization’s
economy. The ancient Indians did a lot of trading under Emperor
Asoka, which was another reason why India thrived under Asoka.
In Egypt, the villages were able to trade with one another by having
sailors go up and down the Nile. Under Hatshepsut, the Egyptians
traded with the people in East Africa, so they were able to get gold,
which helped their economy and made them really powerful on the
world stage. Ancient China was also really wealthy because they
traded silk, tea, and spices with Arabs using the Silk Road.
In conclusion, civilizations survive and thrive for multiple
reasons, but three main reasons are having an organized
government, maintaining roads, trading a lot. One reason often
helps another, such as good roads helping trade. Also, an
organized government maintains law and order, so there is less
theft on the roads.
2) Why do civilizations decline or fail?
Civilizations will decline or fail for an assortment of reasons;
however, three major reasons are corrupt leaders, foreign takeovers,
and loss of a precious resource. Ancient Persia, Rome, Egypt, Assyria,
and Ghana fell because of these reasons.
Ancient Persia fell because of corrupt leaders. The leaders after
Darius increased taxes, but they did not spend the additional tax
money on services for their people. Instead, they spent the money on
luxuries for their friends in the royal court. The Persian people grew
resentful and no longer felt loyalty to Persia or their leaders. This
made Persia vulnerable to conquest by Alexander the Great. Rome
also declined because of corrupt leaders. The later emperors of Rome
accepted bribes and no longer made interests in the best interests of
the people. This made the Roman citizens lose respect for their
government, and many people just refused to pay taxes. The loss of
tax money led to inflation because less gold was put in each coin,
but the artisans still wanted the same amount of gold for each
good. Prices went up, and people began to barter. However,
bartering is bad because if someone has something like a bunch of
eggs that no one wants, the egg owner will starve or not get medical
care! Corrupt leaders always have a ripple effect of suffering.
Bad leaders also make it easy for foreigners to take over a
civilization. In Egypt, the Pharaohs after Ramses II were weak, and
this made it very easy for the Libyans and Assyrians to chip away at
Egyptian territory. The Assyrians took over Egypt, but later because
of infighting over who would be the next king, the Assyrians were
taken over by the Chaldeans.
Civilizations also decline when they lose a precious resource.
As Egypt lost territory, the Nubians in the southern part of Egypt
seized their chance to break away and form the kingdom of Kush.
This was devastating for Egypt, because when loss of Nubia meant no
more gold for Egypt! With no gold, Egypt could not trade as much
with other civilizations or pay workers, so people starved. In
another part of Africa, the kingdom of Ghana also declined when it
no longer had a monopoly over a collection of gold mines. People
who had been paying taxes to Ghana to buy Ghana’s gold discovered
other gold mines elsewhere. Gold is a precious resource that
civilizations must have if they want to survive!
In conclusion, civilizations will decline or fail for a variety of
reasons, but three main reasons are corrupt leaders, foreign
takeovers, and the loss of a precious resource that everyone wants.
One reason typically worsens another. For example, a corrupt leader
makes the people less loyal to the state, which makes the military
have less loyalty, which makes it easier for foreigners to take over a
civilization. Also, if a civilization is taken over, the invaders now
own all of the civilizations resources such as gold.
Name: Esme Castellano
Period: 1
Date: May 11, 2015
Self-Reflect: How do you know that you have grown as a historian this year?
I know that I have grown as a historian this year because at
the beginning of the year, I knew nothing about various ancient
civilizations. I had heard of the Egyptians and their pyramids and
the Romans and their savage games, but that was pretty much it.
This year, I learned about the existence of ancient peoples such as
the Sumerians, Chaldeans, and Assyrians. I also learned more
details about ancient Greece, such as the fact that the idea of direct
democracy was born there and that the Greeks had a long series of
wars with the Persians that the Greeks eventually one because they
united and fought together. I also used to wonder why the
Egyptians put so much time into building pyramids for their dead
pharaohs, but this year, I learned that they believed that they
needed to preserve the pharaoh’s body and give him a good place to
spend eternity so that he could watch over Egypt. I also never knew
that our government had so many connections to the Roman
government, such as the balance of powers between the praetors and
Senate and the idea that a person is innocent until proven guilty.
Before this year, I thought the Founding Fathers invented these
things!
I also know that I have grown as a historian because I am able
to list specific reasons why civilizations survive, thrive, decline, and
fail and also give examples from lots of different civilizations for
each reason. This year, we did a huge note-taking project where we
recorded a reason why a civilization would survive, thrive, decline,
or fail on a folded sheet of paper that formed a “pocket.” We took a
stack of blank notecards and on each notecard, we recorded an
example of a civilization thriving or failing for a certain reason.
We put these notecards in their correct pockets. To write better essays
about why civilizations thrive or fail, I studied these notecards for a
little bit each week.
References
Berger, R., Rugen, L., & Woodfin, L. (2014). Leaders of their own learning: Transforming
schools through student-engaged assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success [Kindle edition]. Retrieved from
http://www.amazon.com/Mindset-The-New-Psychology-Success/dp/0345472322
Santa, C.M., Havens, L.T., & Valdes, B.J. (2004). Project CRISS: Creating independence
through student-owned strategies (3rd ed.). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing
Company.
Spielvogel, J. J. (2005). Journey across time: The early ages. New York, NY: The McGraw-Hill
Companies, Inc.