Grade 5 - Early Civilizations

Lesson Ten - Governments, Economies & Hierarchies

Description
In small groups, students examine aspects of government, economy, and hierarchies in various civilizations and share their learning with peers through a jigsaw approach. A consolidation of student learning occurs when students complete a Learning Log response relating their museum civilization to another ancient civilization.

Expectations
– compare how two or more early civilizations were governed (e.g., pharaohs in Egypt; early democracy in Greece; emperors in China; republican government in Rome; nobles, priests, and military in Aztec society; chiefdoms in the Indus Valley; city states on the Swahili Coast; clan mothers and chiefs in the Iroquois Confederacy);
– describe the physical features and climate of two or more regions where early civilizations developed (e.g., the flood plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Nile River Valley, the inland delta of the upper Niger River, the mountainous islands of Greece, the fertile plains of China, the rain forest of the Amazon, the deserts of the United States);
– identify and compare the distinguishing features of two or more early civilizations (e.g., class structure, location, governance, beliefs, arts).

Teaching / Learning
DAYS ONE AND TWO - Research:
1. Write the words: economy, government, hierarchies on the chalk board.
2. Select three student volunteers and give each a dictionary to find the first term in a "dictionary race".
3. After the student reads the definition to the class, ask other class members to help you put it into their "own words". Write the reworded definition on the board.
4. Repeat steps two and three for each term.

Note-Making:
5. Review the definitions the students have found. Ask them to think of other words that have the same meaning or relate to the topic for each of the words (e.g., economy, manufacturing, jobs, natural resources, products, trade, etc.).
6. Create a list of other words for economy, hierarchies, and government. Make sure this
list is available for all students as they begin their research.
7. Review the use of an index both within a book and within an encyclopedia. Discuss how an index is organized and what the numbers beside each word mean.
8. Challenge each group to look up one word and give the page number. Go directly to the group and check their findings.
9. Tell students that they work in their museum groups to collect data about the economy, hierarchies, and government of their ancient civilization.
10. Review expectations regarding point form notes. Discuss their appearances and remind students that point form notes are also to be written in their "own words." Provide a sample of a point form note and display it on an overhead. Point form notes will be collected and assessed at the end of this subtask. This is worth sharing with students now in order to emphasize their importance.
11. The group members should divide up the research work and report back to their group when they have finished.
12. Once group members are finished their research, they should ensure their notes clearly convey the important information. Share findings with group members while group members take notes.
13. When finished, each museum group should have notes on each research topic.
14. Give every student three enlarged copies of the handout titled "Fact Wheel" and have them copy their group's notes into the appropriate spaces.


DAY THREE - Jigsaw:
15. In museum groups, have students number off from one to four.
16. Using the jigsaw approach, have all number ones meet as a group, all number twos meet as a group, etc.
17. Tell students that they are responsible for teaching their
new
group members about the economy, hierarchies, and government of their museum civilization. The other group members are responsible for learning about the other civilizations and copying the other groups' notes into the appropriate spaces on their fact wheels.
18. When this task is finished, every student should have three fact wheels that describe four ancient civilizations: one describes economy for four civilizations, one describes beliefs, and one describes government.
19. Give students brass fasteners to put their fact wheels together.


DAY FOUR - Relate:
20. Discuss similarities in the government, economy, and hierarchies, of the ancient civilizations they have learned about.
21. Discuss any differences between the ancient civilizations they have learned about.
22. Tell students to use their Learning Logs to describe what they have learned about these three aspects of ancient civilizations.


Adaptations
Suggested adaptations specific to this lesson for students identified as having a learning disability are:
• teach visual strategies for note making (e.g., use of diagram/picture to represent content);
• write important definitions and ideas on the board or on a handout;
• allow plenty of time for copying;
• provide a print copy of chalkboard notes, if necessary (e.g., photocopy of teacher or peer's note, peer's note written on NCR paper);
• encourage group production of summary notes;
• allow the student if necessary, to tape notes instead of writing them, for later review;
• model and teach highlighting of main ideas, making margin notes, etc.

To accomodate for the needs of students identified as having behavioral/emotional disorders, the following accomodations could be incorporated into this lesson:
* set limits and boundaries consistently, predictably, promptly, and plainly;
* acknowledge and praise/reward acceptable behaviour;
* apply consequences fairly and consistently;
* announce what you are going to say before you say it, say it, then summarize it. This kind of structure helps to ‘glue' the ideas in place;
* talk through the process required to complete the task.


Assessment
- use the Learning Log Rubric to assess student responses to the writing assignment on the final day of the lesson
- Collect point-form notes after students have use them to write paragraphs.  Take anecdotal notes on how effectively the students organized their notes as well as how well they took notes using point-form in their "own words".


Assessment Strategies
- Observing
- Response Journal


Assessment Recording Devices
- Anecdotal Record

- Rubric

Resources
Fact Wheel Cover Sheet
Fact Wheel Research SheetVarious Resources on Ancient Civilizations
dictionaries
brass fasteners

Notes to Teacher
The information collected and placed in the fact wheels for this lesson is used as part of the museum display in the culminating task.

The first two days of this subtask would be best completed in your school's Library/Resource Centre.

Encourage students to question in order to make connections. Guide them to connect the facts they learn about their museum civilization's economy, class structure, and government to the overriding beliefs of the civilization. How do these parts of the civilization reflect the beliefs?

The concept of economy is a difficult one for students to understand.

A suggestion for teaching this idea is to begin with natural resources, using Canada as the sample country. After the notion of natural resources is established, ask the students, "What can you do with a tree?". Write all their ideas on the chalkboard, then challenge them to tell you how they would create the different items they listed. They begin to talk about manufacturing or factory work. This is the second step in discussing economy.  Next, ask the students, "What does a factory do for the people in the area where it is built?"  Once the students have realized that it creates jobs ask, "Why do people need jobs?"  They may answer, "To make money." Talk about profit and how it is distributed between workers, owners, purchasing materials and equipment. Also, discuss how the goods create jobs for other people (for instance, those in retail businesses).

A chart can be set up to show natural resources, manufacturing, jobs, trade, money.

This step-by-step lesson helps students understand the concept of economy.