Ancient
Times
Designed by
Denise
Woloszyn
Sward Elementary School
Oak Lawn, Illinois
Introduction | Content
Areas | Standards | Implementation
| Resources | Entry Skills
| Evaluation | Variations
| Conclusion
This lesson was developed as part of the Oak Lawn Hometown School District 123 Millennium Mini-grant project.
This lesson is anchored in sixth grade social studies and language arts. For the social studies component, the students will conduct research on various aspects of Ancient Roman civilization. Language arts skills will be addressed as the students compile their information and report it in a variety of written formats.
As a result of this lesson, students will learn about life in Ancient Rome. They will be required to research information about the assigned topics and effectively communicate that information in a variety of written formats.
Language Arts Standards Addressed:
The following standards address goals relating to the student's ability to write clearly and effectively.
| 3.A.2.a | 3.A.2.b | 3.A.2.c | 3.B.2.a | 3.B.2.b | 3.B.2.c | 3.C.2 |
The following standards relate to a student's ability to research information, organize it effectively, and report it in a variety of formats.
| 5.A.2.a | 5.A.2.b | 5.B.2.b | 5.c.2.a |
Social Studies Standards Addressed:
The following standards deal with the student's ability to collect historical information, report on their research, and relate the information to their own society.
| 15.D.2.b | 16.A.2.c | 16.B.2.a | 16.B.2.b | 16.d.2 | 16.E.2.b | 18.A.2 |
The students will also have the opportunity to practice cooperative group skills and problem solving skills as they work through the lesson.
 Interdisciplinary
unit that address curriculum in social studies and language arts |
| To be implemented
during a daily 40 minute social studies class period |
| Targeted
completion time - 2 weeks |
| Students
work in groups of 4-5 to research information about the culture of Ancient
Rome |
| Information
to be reported in the form of newspaper articles or features |
| Articles
and features to be consolidated to form an Ancient
Times newspaper for each group using template provided (pre-made
AppleWorks newsletter form made by teacher) |
Prior to beginning the assignments, students and teacher will meet as a large
group to determine specific procedures and requirements, as well as evaluation
criteria.
 Computers
with Internet access |
| List of
Internet Resources (see student page) |
| AppleWorks,
ClarisWorks, or other word processing application |
| Newspaper
template created in AppleWorks (optional) |
| Timeliner
4.0 |
| Scanner
(optional) |
| Encyclopedias:
print and electronic |
| Social studies
textbooks |
| A variety
of print materials: books, magazines, etc. |
Entry Level Skills and Knowledge
 Basic computer
skills required |
| Knowledge
of Internet operation |
| Familiarity
with a basic word processing application |
| Knowledge
of scanner operation (optional) |
Prior to the activity, the teacher and the students will work together to develop an evaluation rubric. See links to rubric example sites.
Instead of using a word processing program, the project could be done on any other publishing program: HyperStudio, Kid Pix, etc.
On completion of this unit, the students will have a basic understanding of the culture of Ancient Rome. Language arts skills, cooperative group skills, and problem solving skills will also be addressed.
Graphics courtesy of:
