Teach Primary 18.8

These questions will help children to put the dates in context and link with prior learning. A video is linked from the download that children can watch to find the answers. Alternatively, they could research the questions online. Answers are included on slide 24 of the PowerPoint. You can then move on to plot some key events from the history of Ancient Greece, some of which you will explore further in later lessons. Assessment Can you explain the similarities and differences between Ancient Greece and [Ancient Egypt/Ancient Rome]? WEEK 3 Learning objective l To know about the lives of a range of people in Ancient Greece Given the number of different city- states the Ancient Greek culture encompassed, you could fill a whole year working towards this objective! Begin by exploring what a city-state was and dispelling the misconception that the Ancient Greeks were one homogenous culture. There is a great BBC resource available to support this – a link is in the downloadable PowerPoint ( slide 34 ). To draw a classic comparison, we then explore the opposites of democratic Athens and the monarchical (and moderately homicidal) Spartans. There is an information text for children to read through that gives an initial summary of the two cities, their cultures and how they were ruled. Children may be shocked to learn about the routine killing of sickly babies by Spartans, or of the keeping of slaves. They may well also have lots of their own ideas to add to the following class discussion, as Athens and Sparta are often used as examples in history books and TV shows. It’s important to highlight how the Spartans, whilst a martial society, were not blood-crazed fighters. Some children may argue that the Spartans had a fairer society than the Athenians, given their views on the roles of women. There are then two activities that follow on from the reading. The first is to copy and sort eight statements about the city-states, as they either apply to Athens or Sparta. This should be fairly simple, so you may want to make this trickier or add a few of your own ideas. The second activity is for children to write a paragraph or two explaining whether they would rather live in Athens or Sparta. This is a good opportunity to use the Point Evidence Explain method of writing a short paragraph answer, drawing ideas and quotes from a text. You can never have too many opportunities to practise and apply those reading skills. Assessment Can you explain if you would like to live in Athens or Sparta and why? WEEK 4 Learning objective l To understand difference and diversity in Ancient Greece Breaking the learning objective naming pattern, we are not asking the What or Why of the Ancient Greeks (yet). This lesson expands upon the previous one, adding in learning about more of the city-states. We will be learning more about Athens and Sparta before progressing on to learn about Corinth and its famous columns; the plutocracy of Thebes; and about Delphi and its insightful oracles. Slides have been included in the download – you could read them aloud to the class or have children read a portion of them each. Equally, these slides could be printed off for children to read at their own pace. With lots to read, the provided activity is light on writing. After reading F EATURE S P L ANN I NG www.teachwire.net | 29