Putting Historical Thinking into Practice – Sample Activities
6th Grade
Chronological and Spatial Thinking
1. Draw three political maps reflecting three distinct eras in Roman history.
2. Participate in a chronological quiz game based on events in Egyptian
history.
3. Make a class time line that includes major events from all the different
periods covered in the sixth grade (for example, Early Humankind,
Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Hebrews, Ancient Greece and Rome).
4. Make a map of the different civilizations taught in sixth grade, including
major rivers in order to understand the relationship between rivers and the
development of civilization.
Examining Evidence
1. Read excerpts of the United States Constitution and in conjunction with a
lecture, identify political constructures and concepts that might be
connected to Roman ideas of government; create a wall chart.
2. Look at a picture of the Rosetta Stone and speculate about why it was so
important.
3. Look at pictures of art in Mesopotamia and Egypt and make inferences
about daily life in the ancient world.
4. Read Greek mythology and make inferences on what life was like for
people living in ancient Greece.
Diversity / Multiple Perspectives
1. Participate in a simulation activity about the fall of Rome and the fragility of
military expansion.
2. With a partner, write and dramatize a fictional meeting between a sixth
grader of today and a ten year old from ancient India, emphasizing what
would amaze and/or dismay the other person.
3. Debate Confucian beliefs about a child's obligations to parents. Debrief all
the different opinions in the class.
4. Act out a play on the trial of Socrates and reach a verdict.
5. Make a wall chart comparing the values and beliefs of Hindus and Greeks
in ancient times.
6. Read two myths from two different cultures to compare similarities and
differences
.
Interpretation
1. Write a short piece of historical fiction based on a particular character,
from adistinct social class; include details about food, clothing, housing,
daily routine, and social relationships.
2. Read Boy of the Painted Cave and chart which information is known about
early humankind and which information is speculation by the author.
Oakland Unified School District / Oakland, California / August, 1999
3. Write a report on a day in the life of a child in ancient China.
4. Read two different accounts of how human life developed and spread to
compare different interpretations.
Determining Historical / Geographical Significance
1. Analyze political cartoons about social problems (TCI) and write a
speculative essay entitled, "Is Our Society About to Fall?"
2. Write a eulogy to the Roman Empire emphasizing its achievements and
legacy in the arts, architecture, religion and law; or to indict it for its legacy
in connection to our social problems.
3. Compare social stratification in China based on a Confucian system with
social stratification in the United States today.
4. Draw a mural of the six major achievements of ancient civilization along
with a written justification for the choice of those particular achievements.
5. Write an essay exploring the importance of rivers in the development of
civilization.
Oakland Unified School District / Oakland, California / August, 1999