I am going to be teaching ancient civilizations to a 5th/6th mixed class next year. It will be a new unit at my school so I will be developing a lot of it this summer to prepare. I need to put in an order for materials and I do not know what to order. Does anyone who teaches this content have some suggestions or a list of trade books or teaching resources. Things you cannot live without? Thanks in advance for the help!
check out the curriculum Story of the World- narrative account of history. Book 1 is on ancient civilizations. The teacher's manual is filled with trade book titles and ideas. Also check out the musical Dig It- a kid's musical that we did with about 35 kids can be done with many more. It explores ancient Greece, Egypt, Rome and China.
Publishers like Usborne and Dorling Kindersley have outstanding books: you might be able to preview some of them in your local bookstore. Dorling Kindersley's Eyewitness series is terrific, and Usborne's history materials are written on just about the right level for your students. You could try Googling for "lesson plans ancient civilizations" and see what turns up.
I think it is Evan Moore who publishes the Pocket books (Literature pockets, Fairy Tale Pockets, etc.) They have a book on Ancient Egypt and another on Ancient Greece.
I think this is a clever idea This teacher came up with a device used before (travel guide) and took it back to ancient Rome. With a little work it could be used with any ancient civilization. I might use the idea for work on the California mission era. http://teachershare.scholastic.com/resources/12
Usborne's got a funny traveller's guide to the ancient world; I don't recall the title offhand, but your kids would be toward the middle or younger end of the age range for which it's intended. I can rummage around and find it for you if you like.
Mr. Donn's website and published materials are terrific www.mrdonn.org I like the Scholastic "complete resource" books. The Evan Moore History Pocket books are fun and have a number of hands on activities. The Lessons on World History (Social Studies . com ) - there are something like 8 volumes - the reading level is a little high, but I really like the games and activities You'll like best what you make yourself, but those are some things to get you started Those are resource books - if you want picture book/novel titles, I'll make that another post
ancientcivteach, I just took a quick, random look at the the link you posted. It is fantastic!! While I primarily teach high school honors math...... I LOVE to teach history... any kind of history.... it doesn't matter. Thanks for the link....... It's now in my "favorites." Major........
When I taught ancient civ. to 6th grade years ago, we made time traveller's journals. After each chapter the students would complete pages for their journals telling when they had visited (time period), where they went, three interesting people the met (famous folks), three fascinating sights (the Pyramids or Pantheon or whatever), and three cool things they learned. They also had to draw or sketch pictures the recorded while there (nixing the Internet downloads) because time travel ruined cameras.
Major, if you haven't seen them, check out the British Museum links - fun! This is the one for Mesopotamia: http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/
The British Museum websites are awesome. I've created questions to go along with them and the students get to search the web to find the answers.
Along those same lines, what are some other world history websites you would recommend students use for doing research for classroom projects? Thanks! Mike Demana, 7th grade Social Studies, Canal Winchester, OH USA
