This week we are taking a look at the structure of the Roman Republic and compare it to our own three branches of government. It does not line up exactly, but it is obvious that our founding fathers borrowed a great deal from the Romans, just as the Romans "borrowed" from the Greeks. You can ask these questions at dinner or maybe while driving your kids around to their 1000s of activities:
3 Branches of Government video Throughout this unit we have brought each topic of study back around to the essential question: How did Rome rise and fall? Students have been making predictions as we move along through this unit, but soon they will find out the truth. This week we will be looking at a variety of reasons why the Roman empire crumbled away.
Our summative test on Rome will be Friday of this week.
Here is a study guide.
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"All things atrocious and shameless flock from all parts to Rome." ~Tacitus (56-117 CE)
We spent a fair amount of time last week comparing and contrasting the patricians and plebeians, whether their relationship helped with the rise of Rome, or the fall. Students used adjectives to describe the social classes-- were all of the patricians selfish? or generous? Were all of the plebeians hard-working? or lazy? Students were asked if they could justify their explanation of the traits of each group. This was hard! Eventually they came to the conclusion that we can not make blanket generalizations about groups of people, whether they are ancient or modern.
Continuing with the social class theme, we looked at the life of a gladiator in the film below. Based on historical evidence, this video gives us a supposedly accurate depiction of what it was like to train as a gladiator.
We continue our study of Ancient Rome this week with more Geography and a close look at the Social Structures among the Romans. Questions you might want to ask include:
HANDOUTS Patricians and Plebeians Colosseum LINKS 10 Interesting Facts About the Colosseum
The Roman Empire
The United States is either 239 years old, if one goes by the Declaration of Independence, or 228 years old, if one dates it by the ratification of the Constitution. Regardless, that is not a very long history compared to the 500 years the western half of the Roman empire reigned supreme. Even longer was the 1,480 years the Eastern Roman Empire thrived. Last week, our students viewed "life-size" timelines showcasing significant events from both American history and from the Western Roman Empire. Students were able to see how short our own history is compared to that of the Romans. They were able to see the progress the United States has had on social issues, and also the evolution of military strength the Romans had. Our essential question for this unit is, "Why did Rome rise and fall?" With this timeline, students were able to see that the rise was a long one, spanning many centuries, as the Romans developed technology and strategy to defeat their enemies. As this week continues, we will ask them to make a plan to determine how the fall was so swift and devastating. As you talk with your children about what they are learning this week, you might also consider asking them to make predictions about what might happen to our own great "empire" in the future.
Here's a Quizlet for our next Everyday Words quiz. As we finish out our study of Ancient Greece, we will take a (very) close look at mythology. We will really dig into a reading on the Greeks' religion and its effect on their lives, increasing our fluency and understanding of complex terms. By doing this, students' comprehension of the text will increase. This method of close reading should, if they use it when they read other texts, increase their comprehension skills dramatically. Please ask your children what impact Greek religion had on the Greeks' daily lives. How did they view the gods? How did this viewpoint affect their behavior in society? We will conclude our study of Ancient Greece this week with a quiz on Wednesday. Here is a study guide, just in case your student forgets to bring it home. After the quiz, we will begin looking at ancient Rome. We hope to impress upon our students just how long the Roman empire was by comparing it to our American "empire." We will do this by showing them a physical comparison using a long paper timeline, and it should be quite shocking to them. |
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September 2017
AuthorMrs. Steinen enjoys tacos, running, and reading. This is her 14th year teaching, but the first ten were all in Social Studies. She has three daughters and a spotty dog named Stella. Stella types 55 wpm. :) |