Unit Lesson- Day 5
Day’s Topics:
Rome’s Contributions: Government (republican form of government: democratic republic)
Objective:
Students will be able to compare a democratic republic to a direct democracy.
Students will be able to identify that Romans had a democratic republic.
Students will be able to create a bar graph as a class.
SOL’s:
Social Studies 3.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient Greece and Rome have influenced the present in terms of architecture, government (direct and representative democracy), and sports.
Social Studies 3.6 The student will read and construct maps, tables, graphs, and/or charts.
Materials:
Lawson, B.S. (2002). Ancient rome: a virginia sol activity book. Fun Stuff Publications.
paper and pens for completing ballots, container for depositing votes
SMARTBoard set up to graph results
Instructional Activities:
Introduction: The teacher will ask students to recall the Greek system of government (direct democracy) and how it compared to the US government. The teacher will then share that the Romans took the Greek system and changed it a little bit, creating what we call a democratic republic.
Students will buddy read a paragraph about the roman democratic republic from the SOL activity book. When students are finished reading, the teacher will facilitate a discussion of what a democratic republic is, and its relationship to the US government.
The students will then participate in a mock Roman election. Each table group will represent a region and have to elect a representative to vote on behalf of them. Table groups of 5 will elect one representative, table groups of 6 or 7 will elect two representatives. The teacher will act as the master of elections and walk students through the process. Then the representatives will have to go Rome and vote on behalf of the table group on a proposed law (for indoor recess we will always have free choice). Again, the teacher will facilitate an orderly voting process. The teacher will keep a tally of votes on the dry erase board.
The class will work together to chart the results using a bar graph on the SmartBoard. The x axis will show the type of vote: yes or no. The y axis will be the number of votes each received. The teacher will call on the class for advice on how to construct the graph, and on student volunteers to come up and make the appropriate changes on the SB.
Once the chart is completed, the teacher will lead a discussion of how the election went. Do the students think this is a good form of government? Why?
Next, students will complete the government section of the Greece and Rome contribution comparison chart.
Conclusion: Teacher will ask student volunteers to share what type of government the Romans had, describe how it is different from a direct democracy, and tell what kind of government we have in the USA.
Assessment:
Students will be assessed on their accurate completion of the government section of their Greece/Rome comparing contributions chart. Students must accurately identify democratic republic as the Roman form of government (objective 2) and describe it. Students must also identify direct democracy as the Greek form of government and describe it (objective 1). If students do both of these things, and create an illustration for each (which will not be judged for artistic ability), they will be considered to have met objectives 1 and 2. The teacher will have a prepared list of students names which she will use to check off the names of students who met the objectives as she is circulating the classroom assisting students.
Students will also be informally assessed on their ability to work as a class to create the bar graph of the election results. All students will be considered to have met the objective if the class creates an accurate graph of the voting results.
Differentiation:
LD Student: For the buddy reading, will be partnered with the teacher since he is a DRA reading level 4. The teacher will read the passages to him. Likewise, during the fill in the comparison chart activity, the teacher will orally ask him what the government is that we got from the Romans, and will assist him in spelling his response.
ADD students: The teacher will pair them with focused buddies for the buddy reading. The teacher will assist students with directions individually for the chart completion task.
Why?
The technology component in this lesson is the use of the SMARTBoard and Smart Notebook software to create the bar graph. I used this because the kids are familiar with how to move things around on a SB, and they are just beginning to learn about different forms of graphing. I thought using the SB would be helpful for the students since it was a familiar medium, and the whole class could see the steps to making a bar graph. It is a shared creation process, and I think the SB is helpful for that. Also, we can print the graph out for students to have as a tangible reminder of the mock election activity.
Tags: ancient Rome, bar graphs, democratic republic, mock election