Help students make connections by teaching thematically
Teaching Ancient Civilizations Thematically
Sep 28
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Several years ago, I noticed that my 6th grade history class was getting stale. It was my 7th year of teaching the exact same Ancient Civilizations curriculum to the same age group. My classroom followed the same format for each ancient civilization unit. We trudged through the book in chronological order. Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, and Rome. While students enjoyed learning about mummies and pyramids in Egypt, the Olympics in Greece, and the gladiators in Rome, We were rushing through each topic, just so we could cover the whole curriculum before June. 11 year olds were copying down notes that were produced by me and taking tests where they had to memorize names like Hatshepsut and Liu Bang. (Do you remember who those people are? Does it matter that you don’t?)
6th graders are naturally curious about the past and wanted to know more about so many topics, but instead of letting them dive deeper into the topics that they really wanted to learn about, I was forcing them to memorize content that they were going to forget after the next test. I was rarely giving them the chance to create their own content and take ownership over their own learning. So, about eight years ago, I gave my entire curriculum an overhaul and I have never looked back.
In the past few years, the conversation around social studies education has shifted to a focus on skills rather than content. New discussions about best practices conclude that it is better for students to be able to make cause and effect connections between events than it is to memorize every emperor in ancient Rome. It is better for students to be able to make a historical argument based on evidence than it is to be able to identify the Yellow River on a map.
For a history teacher, this notion can take awhile to get used to. When I was growing up, I was used to creating a pile of flashcards for every history test and having two notebooks filled with information copied from the textbook or the overhead by the end of the year. “Can I really teach a class where I don’t test students on the names and powers of each of the Greek gods?” I have found that the answer is yes.
By ditching the memorization and having students ask questions, do research, create projects, and teach one another, students make better connections about how different groups of people move and change over time. They can make thoughtful arguments about our world based on primary sources and historical evidence. Perhaps most importantly, they are engaged and excited to come to class each day because they create their own content, rather than just copying down what I have created. Below is a step-by step guide of how I break this unit down:
Step 1: Ditch Chronology
My units are the five themes of social studies, rather than the civilizations.
Instead of covering each civilization in chronological order individually, I shifted by focus to the larger idea of the five themes of social studies. Now, students learn about ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China all at the same time through the lens of geography, history, government, economics, and culture. Then, we compare and contrast each civilization. When I began teaching this way, I noticed that students began to observe common patterns and themes throughout history and began to make big connections between time periods and places throughout history. The overarching question of the whole ancient civilizations unit was "What makes a civilization thrive?".
Step 2: Inspire Inquiry
Students began the unit with an entry event that I like to call a KQO gallery walk. I print our several images from each ancient civilization that I felt would interest students and get them to ask questions. (A map of the growth of the Roman Empire, a photograph of the Great Wall of China, and a painting of the assembly meeting in Athen’s democracy, to name a few).
Next, students walked around the room and wrote about their prior knowledge, their questions, and their connections directly onto the page. By activating prior knowledge, I could gauge how much student already knew about any of the topics. This also gives students a chance to ask questions that they might want to learn more about later (Think of it as a KWL, but more active). 6th graders also love to share what they know about a topic and this gives them an opportunity to tell the world what they already know, but without interrupting the whole class during a lesson.
After they got an idea about what the unit might be about, they moved through inquiry stations. At each station, they found more resources to skim about their topic. They watched videos, skimmed their textbooks and library books, and looked at timelines and word walls about each civilization. The idea here is to get students to ask questions about each topic. They record their questions in a graphic organizer. If I can capitalize on their curiosity, they will be chomping at the bit to learn more. Kids have only been allowed to ask questions for the past few days, and now, they can't wait to answer them.
If you'd like more information about my gallery walk or inquiry stations activities, check out this blog post about social studies hook activities.
Step 3: Incorporate Research Skills
Instead of starting with a unit about ancient China, I started with a unit called “Geography of Ancient Civilizations”. This would be followed by a unit on history, then government, then economics, and finally culture. My class was divided into small groups of 3 or 4, which rotated through the civilizations for each unit. A quarter of the class became experts on ancient Mesopotamia, while the other groups become experts on Egypt, India, and China.
After spending two day asking questions about what they noticed during the graffiti walk and the inquiry stations, students were asked to create two “Thick Questions” about the geography of their civilization. Based on their inquiry over the past few days, students are allowed to ask a question about a topic that they are truly curious about.
During the first unit, teaching the difference between "thin" and "thick" questions can require some explicit teaching. By the end of the unit, your students will be pros and can come up with thick questions without much scaffolding. I use this Thick vs. Thin Question Infographic to help them understand the distinction.
Here are some examples of questions they created:
Why were most of China's cities located in the eastern part of the country?
How did the Mediterranean Sea impact the way that the ancient Greeks lived?
How did the Romans expand to places like Africa and Asia?
After students choose their questions, they were allowed to research using textbooks, library books, maps, and the internet (in collaboration with lessons in library class about proper internet research, citations, and how to paraphrase). I have students use an information checklist graphic organizer to help them include all of the information that they need to answer their question.
Each day students turned in their daily progress, and I would give them feedback, on how to make their questions thicker, how to expand their research, and how to write their answers in a clear expository piece. At the beginning of the year, answers are expected to be between 5-10 sentences. As the year goes on, the expectation gets higher and the answers get longer.
Step 4: Assess Content Knowledge
The danger of letting students choose their own research questions is that they might miss some of the essential topics that need to be covered in a unit. For example, I once had students do a project about the culture of ancient Rome, and no one was interested enough in Christianity to include it in their questions. It is pretty impossible to understand the history of Europe (and America for that matter) without an understanding of the rise of Christianity. I realized that I needed to create some checkpoints in order to ensure that students weren’t missing the big picture in the minutiae of their inquiry questions.
One solution I found to this problem is by creating focus questions that students answer at the beginning of the unit. These are quick questions to help students focus their research and make sure they are not missing any essential information. Using word walls is also a great visual cue for "need to know" information.
Another solution was to create “quizzes” about each topic. I created some questions about the things I felt were “need to know” about each topic. Students took these quizzes after they had written the answers to their inquiry questions. If they knew all the answers, it was an indicator that they were on track. If they were lost, it showed that they needed to do more research before they could consider themselves "experts" and teach their topic to the class. These quizzes will later be used by their classmates after each group presents their projects.
Step 5: Let their creativity run wild with menu projects
After students have researched their questions and written about the answer, the next step is for them to turn their expertise into a creative project. I like to call my students historians and tell them that it is their job to share their information with other historians, so that they can work together to understand ancient civilizations.
In the old days, I used to have every group or individual create the same project (create your own cuneiform tablet, create a poster advertisement for an ancient Chinese invention, etc.) The result was often 24 of basically the same exact project with varying degrees of quality.
Several years ago, I began to differentiate my projects using menus. The idea behind a menu is that students are given a choice of how they will demonstrate their knowledge. Students are given a list (or menu) of options to choose from. If they have an idea that is not on the list, they can create a proposal for a brand new idea. Each idea is given a set of expectations and parameters, but in general, as long as they are teaching the important information and answering the essential question, the sky is the limit.
Step 6: Present Menu Projects
When they are ready, students present their menu projects to the class. Kids enjoy watching each other's videos and reading each other's comic strips a lot more than they like listening to a lecture. Students are usually proud to show off their work. To make sure that all students understand the basic components of each civilization, kids in the audience take notes using the focus questions template during or after each menu presentation. Then, to check for understanding, they take the quizzes that each expert group took earlier in the unit. These are formative assessments and students can use their books, notes, and even the experts in the room to help them answer each question.
Step 7: Tie it all together
Throughout each units, it can be helpful to do class activities that really help focus on the theme and help student make broad connections.
Geography unit- maps, cause and effect
History unit- timeline that links all four civilizations together, cause and effect
Government unit-debate where students argue the effectiveness of monarchies, republics, and democracies
Economics unit-trade simulation
Culture unit-venn diagrams, socratic seminar
Step 8: Answer the Essential Question
For each theme of social studies, our unit begins and ends with an essential question. I post the essential question on the first day of each unit and the students discuss what the question means, but they are told that it is ok if they don’t have the answer yet. They are supposed to investigate like historians and slowly gather evidence throughout the unit to help them answer the question.
At the end of each unit, they answer the essential question using an example from each of the ancient civilizations to support their answer. Rather than forcing them to memorize random names and dates, they are being challenged to apply that knowledge into making a historical argument. I teach students how to create a thesis statement and support it using evidence. Using an essay map graphic organizer helps students organize their ideas.
Essential Questions for each unit:
Geography: How does geography, climate, and natural resources affect the way people live?
History: What causes a civilization to change?
Government: How much power should the people have in government?
Economics: How do natural resources impact the success of a civilization?
Culture: What cultural elements do all ancient civilizations have in common?
By May, not every student in my class remembers Pericles (who was discussed way back in October), but they have a solid understanding of how the governments of different civilizations changed over time. They might not remember the date that Shi Huangdi came to power in China, but they will know that he was one of many absolute rulers who ruled with an iron fist, but who also improved society. Students will begin to compare him to Caesar Augustus and Napoleon, rather than viewing all of these rulers as separate and unrelated leaders. Then, students begin to ask big questions about the best ways to govern a society.
Step 9: Repeat
Every unit in this curriculum follows the same basic pattern of creating questions, answering them, teaching them to others through projects, and a summative assessment where they write an answer to the essential question. Feel free to mix things up as you see fit. I usually spend less time on economics (or combine it with the government unit), because by the time they get to that unit, they have learned so much about the resources and trade in the geography and history units. One of the awesome things about structuring your class this way is that students realize how interconnected the five themes are.
Step 10: Sit back and watch your students make "big picture" connections.
I really have enjoyed this style of teaching. I spend so much more time having conversations with students about what they are learning, rather than lecturing from the front of the classroom. Students love asking questions, creating projects, and showing off what they know in new ways. Rethinking your curriculum can be a daunting task, but the end result is rewarding for both the teacher and the students!
Want to learn more?
Follow along with me on Instagram, where I share so much of what I do all year long!
Want to try out some of these activities?
All of these activities are available in my TpT Store. You can save by purchasing this bundle of products that includes timeline cards, word walls, gallery walks, and many other activities!
Want to completely rethink the way you teach your classes and try teaching your whole curriculum thematically?
My River Valley Civilizations Unit and Classical Civilizations Unit are also available on Tpt!
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