Teacher:
Unit Title:
Esteban Lara
Ancient Greece, 6th Grade
Unit Objectives: The students will be able to analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious,
and social structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Greece.
Standards Addressed:
Social Studies
6.4 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the early civilizations of Ancient Greece.
1. Discuss the connections between geography and the development of city-states in the region of
the Aegean Sea, including patterns of trade and commerce among Greek city-states and within
the wider Mediterranean region.
2. Trace the transition from tyranny and oligarchy to early democratic forms of government and
back to dictatorship in ancient Greece, including the significance of the invention of the idea of
citizenship (e.g., from Pericles' Funeral Oration).
3. Explain the significance of Greek mythology to the everyday life of people in the region and
how Greek literature continues to permeate our literature and language today, drawing from
Greek mythology and epics, such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and from Aesop's Fables.
4. Outline the founding, expansion, and political organization of the Persian Empire.
5. Compare and contrast life in Athens and Sparta, with emphasis on their roles in the Persian and
Peloponnesian Wars.
6. Trace the rise of Alexander the Great and the spread of Greek culture eastward and into Egypt.
Mathematics Content Standards
Number Sense
1.0 Students compare and order positive and negative fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers.
Students solve problems involving fractions, ratios, proportions, and percentages:
1.1 Compare and order positive and negative fractions, decimals, and mixed numbers and
place them on a number line.
1.2 Interpret and use ratios in different contexts (e.g., batting averages, miles per hour) to
show the relative sizes of two quantities, using appropriate notations ( a/b, a to b, a:b ).
1.3 Use proportions to solve problems (e.g., determine the value of N if 4/7 = N/ 21, find
the length of a side of a polygon similar to a known polygon). Use cross-multiplication as
a method for solving such problems, understanding it as the multiplication of both sides of
an equation by a multiplicative inverse.
1.4 Calculate given percentages of quantities and solve problems involving discounts at
sales, interest earned, and tips.
2.0 Students calculate and solve problems involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division:
2.3 Solve addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division problems, including those arising in
concrete situations, that use positive and negative integers and combinations of these operations.
English Language Arts
READING1.0 Word Analysis, Fluency, and Systematic Vocabulary Development
Word Recognition
1.1 Read aloud narrative and expository text fluently and accurately and with appropriate pacing, intonation,
and expression.
Vocabulary and Concept Development
1.2 Recognize the origins and meanings of frequently used foreign words in English and use these words accurately in
speaking and writing.
1.0 Writing Strategies
Organization and Focus
1.1 Choose the form of writing (e.g., personal letter, letter to the editor, review, poem, report, narrative) that
best suits the intended purpose.
1.2 Use a variety of effective and coherent organizational patterns, including comparison and contrast; organization by
categories; and arrangement by spatial order, order of importance, or climactic order.
Research and Technology
1.4 Use organizational features of electronic text (e.g., bulletin boards, databases, keyword searches, e-mail
addresses) to locate information. 1.5 Compose documents with appropriate formatting by using wordprocessing skills and principles of design (e.g., margins, tabs, spacing, columns, page orientation). Evaluation
and Revision 1.6 Revise writing to improve the organization and consistency of ideas within and between
paragraphs.
Verbal/
Linguistic
Knowledge
Comprehension Application
Analysis
Synthesis
Evaluation
Students use
Greek
vocabulary
to assume
roles of
Greek
generals at
battle of
Thermopylae
vs Persia
then give
verbal and
written
Students make
maps of ancient
Greek trade
routes with
cities, lands as
well as goods
to be traded
with each city
labeled.
Write
about
what
would
happen if
Greeks
lose war
with
Persia.
How will
lives of
Greeks
change.
Create a play
to act out
battle of
Thermopylae
as well as
Greek life
before and
after the
battle.
Use Power
Point and verbal
presentation to
convince class
to vote yes or no
on war with
Persia and why.
Students vote
on whether to
go to war with
Persia and
write
explanation of
why they
voted as they
did.
Interpersonal
BodilyKinesthetic
Intrapersonal
reports on
the progress
of the battle
each day for
several days.
Work in
groups to
build Sparta
or Athens
out of 3D
paper
buildings,
ships etc
with
different
groups
making
different
parts of the
city.
In a play, act
out the visit
of the
Persian
envoy
requesting
Greek
surrender as
in the movie
300.
Pretend to be
a citizen of
Ancient
Athens or
Sparta
during peace
and during
war and list
possible
occupations.
Each class
group working
together makes
a different part
of the city
economy, such
as ships, maps,
temples,
farmhouse,
market etc.
Act out the
battle of
Thermopylae
including the
vote on
whether to go
to war.
Write to
describe what
occupation you
would like and
another you
would not like.
Each group
makes a
verbal group
presentation to
a meeting of
citizens to
convince us
why their
group’s
activity or
building is
important to
the city
economy and
to the citizens.
Students act
out a
democratic
meeting of
Ancient Greek
citizens and
listen to
presentations
to convince us
to vote yea or
nay on war
with Persia.
With a
partner,
classify
city
buildings
or
activities
as
religious,
economic,
or
political.
Each group
makes a
group
presentation
defending
and
describing
their activity
to the rest of
the citizens
(the class).
With a partner
compare Athens
to Sparta in a
voice thread for
the class to see
on a computer.
Like a
Greek
general,
use
pointer to
show on a
map
where
Persia is
attacking
and ask
class of
Greek
citizens
what we
can do
about it.
Organize a Write in a
journal
list of
what
ancient
occupations occupation
you would
into those
choose in
you would
Ancient
like and
Greece.
those
youwould
not like.
Have class
make and eat
Greek food
especially
that eaten in
ancient
times.
Compare and
contrast the
physical
activities of
Ancient Greece
to our own
today. Compare
slavery and
manual labor
jobs such as
mining for gold
etc. back then to
life today.
Participate in a
class Olympics.
Create a
model of an
Ancient
Greek object
you would
like to sell or
trade back
then.
Explain in
writing why
student chose
the ancient
Greek
occupation they
dod.
Naturalist
VisualSpatial
Make a list
of animals
that ancient
Greeks had.
Make a list of
raw materials
the Ancient
Greeks used.
Make a list of
the bad things
about slavery
in Ancient
Greece and
who benefited
from slavery.
Identify
tools used in
each ancient
occupations.
Draw a map
Students
create 3D
paper models
of ancient
Greek ships,
trade goods,
shields and
buildings to
make a city
they will
defend at a
recreation of
battle of
Thermopylae.
Sing a song
about why
Sparta is
better than
Athens.
Make a list
Musical
of
Rhythmic
occupations
Ancient
Greeks
would sing
about.
Write down
Logical
how many
Mathematical Greek
soldiers get
killed each
day during
battle of
Make a song
about Ancient
Greece.
Write down
how many
Persians die
each day of the
battle of
Thermopyle
Create a map
of Ancient
Sparta or
Athens with
important
buildings
Classify a
group of
objects
into those
used in
Ancient
Times and
those used
today
Compare
life today
to that in
Acient
Greece.
Draw an
ancient
Greek house
with the
tools it wyou
havefe
Compare
life back
then to life
today.
Make a song
about why
Athens is
better than
Sparta.
Consider why
Alexander the
Great should
have attacked
Persia.
Survey
Hypothesize
what would
a Greek
soldier eat
during a
battle.
Make a
recommendation
of which city is
best and why.
cla
ss
to
fin
d
out
wh
ich
cit
y
is
bes
t.
Design your Compare
own Ancient Anceient Spara
Greek city
to Athens.
using the
best parts of
Sparta and
Athens then
make a
poster telling
us why we
should live
in that city.