Katina Cokinos

Learning Experience Plan

Subject: Social Studies Grade level: 9
Unit: The First Civilizations, ca. 10,000 B.C.E. – ca. 630 C.E​.
Length of LEP(days/periods/minutes): 3 days
Topic: Ancient Mesopotamia River Valley Civilization
Content Standards: ​9.1 ​DEVELOPMENT OF CIVILIZATION: The development of agriculture
enabled the rise of the first civilizations, located primarily along river valleys; these complex
societies were influenced by geographic conditions, and shared a number of defining political,
social, and economic characteristics. ​(Standards: 2, 3, 4; Themes: TCC, GEO, ECO, TECH)
9.1b​​ Complex societies and civilizations adapted to and modified their environment to meet the
needs of their population.
- Students will explore how the Mesopotamian, Shang, and Indus River valley civilizations
adapted to and modified their environments to meet their need for food, clothing, and
shelter.

Learning Experience Outcomes Learning Experience Assessments:

(knowledge/skills)
Formative: ​Day 1​​: exit slip on advantages/
Students will: ​Day 1​​: explain the geography disadvantages of river valley civilizations.
of river valley civilizations.
Day 2​​: define and describe key terms such
Day 2​​: a quiz on the definitions of cuneiform,
as cuneiform, agriculture, surplus and
agriculture, surplus, and ziggurats.
ziggurats and understand their significances.
Day 3​​: explain the transition that was made
from hunter gatherer to farmer. Day 3​​: t-chart comparing hunter/gatherers and
farmers.
Summative: Argumentative essay
Materials Procedures/Strategies

Day 1​​ - Geography of Ancient Mesopotamia

Map of 
Sponge Activity​ Students will see a map of Ancient Mesopotamia on the board.
ancient 
mesopotamia  They will be asked to go up to the board and jot down any physical attributes
Projector/Sm
they see. Students will be allowed to use markers to draw arrows, circles, stars
artBoard  etc.. to highlight their findings. They will then be given 2 minutes to share their
Lecture PPT  findings with a partner.
Geography  Anticipatory Set​ *Questions will be written on the board* What purposes do
Recap Video 
rivers, valleys, mountains, and deserts serve? What do they provide? Why can
Formative 
Assessment - 
they be detrimental? Why can they be helpful? Why is geography important to
exit slip  know when learning about civilizations?
  Activating Prior Knowledge​ - *Questions will be written on the board* How
does geography shape you? How does it shape your family? Your schooling?
Your social life? What do you like most about where you live? Towns, beaches,
farms, mountains? Can there be any downfalls to geography? Students will share
their findings with a partner and share with the class.
Direct Instruction​ Begin lesson by discussing the geography of Ancient
Mesopotamia mainly focusing on the cultural, social, and geographic aspects at
the time, particularly by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Syrian desert and fertile
crescent. The main ideas that will be discussed in the form of a lecture are:
I. Intro: Map of Ancient Mesopotamia
II. Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
III. Fertile Crescent
IV. Syrian Desert
V. Pros and cons geography can have
● After these four points are discussed, a video will be shown which will
recap everything discussed during lecture.
 

  Guided Practice​ (how students will demonstrate their grasp of new learning)
  Give students a list of questions to follow during the geography recap video
  and have them respond after the video is shown. Questions include:
 
1. How does the speaker connect geography and civilization? What were
  some examples he gave?
 

 
  2. What were some important points the speaker made? Do you agree with
  him? Why/Why not?
 
Independent Practice​ (what students will do to reinforce learning of the lesson)
 

 
Students will complete an exit slip on how river valley civilizations are shaped
by their surrounding geography.
 

  Closure​ Open discussion with the class about what was learned today. Highlight
  main points or interesting facts learned, as well as areas that are still “fuzzy”.
 
Day 2​​ - Structures of Ancient Mesopotamia
Pictures of 
ziggurats and  Sponge Activity​ Students will see pictures of ziggurats and cuneiform on the
cuneiform  board. They will take notes on what they observe and share their findings with a
Projector/Sm partner.
artBoard 

Lecture PPT 
Anticipatory Set​ *Questions will be written on the board* What do the following
words mean: cuneiform, agriculture, surplus, and ziggurats? What purposes do
Language and 
Culture Ted  cuneiform, agriculture, surplus, and ziggurats serve in Ancient Mesopotamia?
Talk Video  What do they provide (or not provide) for Ancient Mesopotamia?
Formative 
Assessment - 
Activating Prior Knowledge​ *Questions will be written on the board* How do
mini quiz  institutions and language shape society? How does your native language help you
  better understand the world? What is your native language? If you attend: church,
temple, mosque etc… what languages are the sermons in? Do you know any
 
second languages? If so, how/why?
 
Direct Instruction​: Begin lesson by discussing what makes a civilization thrive,
 
particularly in Ancient Mesopotamia. The main ideas that will be discussed in the
 
form of a lecture are:
 
I. Intro: Civilization in Ancient Mesopotamia
 
II. Ziggurats
  III. Cuneiform
  IV. Agriculture / Surplus
  - After these four points are discussed, a clip from a video
 
discussing the connection between language and culture will be
shown.
 

  Guided Practice ​Give students a list of questions to follow during the Ted Talk
 
video and have them respond after the video is shown. Questions include:
 
  1. How is language connected to culture? What are some examples Lera
  Boroditsky gives?
  2. Do you agree with Lera Boroditsky argument(s)? Why/Why not?
  Independent Practice​ (what students will do to reinforce learning of the lesson)
 
Students will complete a quiz on the definitions of cuneiform, agriculture,
 
surplus, and ziggurats.
 

  Closure​ Students will get in pairs of 2 or 3 and jot down one fact they each
  learned today. Students will be asked to share.
  Day 3​​ - Hunter Gatherer To Farmer
 
Sponge Activity​ - Students will hear Ancient Mesopotamian music at the
 
beginning of class.
Ancient 
mesopotamia Anticipatory Set​ *Questions will be written on the board* What are the
n music 
differences between hunter gatherers and farmers? Why did this transition
Projector/Sm happen? Was it a positive or negative transition?
artBoard 

Video from  Activating Prior Knowledge​ *Questions will be written on the board* Are there
History  any other times in history where there was a major socioeconomic transition?
Channel 
Any contemporary examples? How has technology evolved? How has fashion
Lecture PPT  evolved? How have cars evolved? Think: bigger, better, more expensive !
Irrigation 
Video  Direct Instruction​ Begin lesson by discussing the causes of the transition from
Formative 
hunter gatherer to farmer, mainly focusing on the social, cultural and geographic
Assessment - t  aspects of Ancient Mesopotamia at the time. The main ideas that will be
chart.  discussed in the form of a video and mini lecture are:
I. The Birth of Farming
II. The life of hunter gatherers in Mesopotamia
III. The life of farmers in Mesopotamia
IV. The importance of irrigation
● After these four points are discussed, a video discussing irrigation will be
shown.

Direct Instruction​ (input, modeling, check for understanding)

Give students a list of questions to follow during the History Channel video
and have them respond after the video is shown. Questions include:
1. How did farming start? What were some examples / situations that were
talked about? What were some strategies/tools that were used?
 2. Do you agree with the speaker? Why/Why not?

Independent Practice​ (what students will do to reinforce learning of the lesson)

Students will complete a t-chart comparing hunter/gatherers and farmers.

Closure​ Students will get in pairs of 2 or 3 and discuss one thing they learned
today and one thing they may need clarification on. Students will be asked to
share.

Materials for all 3 lessons

Lesson 1:

● https://www.flickr.com/photos/58696257@N03/5512116621​ (Map of Ancient

Mesopotamia)
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x18Sa6Mgu5A​ (Video of geography)
Lesson 2:
● https://www.ancient-origins.net/artifacts-ancient-writings/deciphering-cuneiform-helping
-scholars-get-handle-life-ancient-021433​ (Cuneiform picture )
● https://study.com/academy/lesson/mesopotamian-ziggurat-definition-images-quiz.html
(Ziggurats picture)
● https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think/tr
anscript?language=en​ (Language and culture video)
Lesson 3:
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wxsh_8ZWgMg​ (Mesopotamian Music)
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhzQFIZuNFY​ (Video about transition to farming)
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RP2KfewiJA​ (Video about irrigation)