The Roman Empire

·         Title of the Unit :    "The Roman Empire"      

·         Course / Level :      1º ESO

·         Subject:                   Geography and History

      Teacher                   Daniel Alfageme Ramos

 

 

1.    General Introduction

This didactic unit has been designed for the subject of Social Science, which includes both geography and history, of 1º ESO (Secondary Obligatory Education) to be taught in English (L2) and Spanish (L1).  First of all, we have to be conscious that we are going to use CLIL methodology (Content and language integrated learning) that are implemented in the schools with Bilingual Sections.

 

2.    Learning outcomes/evaluation criteria

·        To identify the timeline as temporary reference in the historical processes

·       To value the basic features of the Roman civilization, with special attention to its political evolution, social organization and cultural legacy

·      To identify and describe the most important examples of the Roman architecture, sculpture and painting.

·         To difference the main social groups of the Roman society

·         To understand how the daily life was like on the Roman Empire

·         To understand how the first days of  Christianity were like

 

3.    Subject Content

·         The main features of the Roman civilization

·         The historical evolution of the Roman Empire

·         The main features of the society of the Roman Empire

·         Free time in the Roman Empire

·         The family in the Roman civilization

·         The main features of Roman art

·         The first days of Christianity

 

4.    Sessions

This didactic unit will be developed in 7 sessions:

We are going to analyse, step by step, what we will carry out in every single session:

 

·         1^st  SESSION  "Roman civilization: territory and phases"

In the 1^st session we will study what we call the Roman Empire. We will try to understand the territory, and the different characteristics of the phases of the Roman civilization.

We suggest the following activities for the 1^st session:

 

o   Presentation of the lesson contents: the teacher explains through an Impress presentation displayed on the smart board what the students will learn today meanwhile the pupils will have their textbooks in their desks. We will pay special attention to the political evolution and the territory where this evolution will take place.

 

o   Introduction on the Roman Empire through the analysis of a Video"3 minutes in the Roman Empire"    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCtx11izBQ.

The teacher will suggest different questions according to the video and the pupils will have to answer orally.

§  Why is it said all the roads lead to Rome?

§  Who was the first emperor of Rome?

§  What kind of food did the Roman eat usually?

§  What kind of material did the Romans use to build their houses?

 

o   Analysis of a map of the Roman Empire: A map of the Roman Empire will be shown in the smartboard. The teacher will explain the main concepts of the map and the pupils will have to answer different questions in the notebook

§  What seas bordered on the Roman Empire?

§  Which current countries were part of the Roman Empire?

§  What territories were conquered under the Republic period?

§  What territories were conquered under the Empire?

 

o   Timeline of the Roman civilization: The pupils will have to work in pairs to draw a timeline with the starting and ending years of each phase of the Roman civilization (Monarchy, Republic and Empire). The pupils will have to write also the main events of every phase. They will have to take the information from the class summaries and from the chronological diagrams included in the textbook or the images provided by the teacher in a presentation.

 

 

·         2^nd SESSION:  "Roman life and society"

In the 2^nd session we will study what Roman life and society were like. We will pay special attention the lifestyle, housing and roles of the different groups of that society.

We suggest the following activities for the 2^nd session:

 

o   Presentation of the lesson contents: the teacher explains through an Impress presentation displayed on the smart board what the students will learn today meanwhile the pupils will have their textbooks in their desks.

 

o   Answer written comprehension questions about introductory texts and summaries. This activity includes 4 exercises:

§  Answer basic comprehension questions (for instance: "Who were the legionaries?").

§  Answer true or false. Then correct the false sentences (for instance: "Women were excluded from political life").

§  Match each word to a concept (for instance: "slaves – prisioners").

§  Search in the dictionary the meaning of some words included in the lesson (like "Patricians") and create new sentences.

 

o   Draw a social pyramid of the Roman society. The pupils will have to draw a social pyramid that has to include the following names:

§  Senators

§  Knights

§  Patricians

§  Roman citizens

§  Free men and

§  Slaves.

 

 

·         3^rd  SESSION:  "Crisis of the Roman Empire"

In the 3^st session we will study the causes and consequences of the crisis and fall of the Roman Empire. This chapter of the unit is extremely important to understand the origins of the middle ages.

We suggest the following activities for the 3^nd session:

 

o   Presentation of the lesson contents: the teacher explains through an Impress presentation displayed on the smart board what the students will learn today meanwhile the pupils will have their textbooks in their desks.

 

o   Analysis of the Video: "The Fall of the Roman Empire" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBKKTgwPufE

Before watching the video the pupils have to read some questions that they will have to answer in a sheet after watching the video. The questions that are suggested are: 

·         Why all the Roman territories were heavily taxed?

·          Who were the Barbarians?

·         Explain the relationship between the Barbarians and the Roman army?

·         Why Christianity became so popular in the Roman Empire?

·         Who were the Praetorian guards?

·         Why the Praetorian guards lost their social position?

·         After correcting the questions, the teacher will provide the audio script of the video. The pupils will have to define some new words that appear in the audio script:

§  Unrest

§  Revolt

§  To be conscripted

§  Far-off territories

§  To throw off

§  To assassinate

 

o   Interactive learning site to review  "The crisis of the Roman Empire" http://www.educaplay.com/es/recursoseducativos/2213874/the_crisis_of_the_roman_empire.htm

 

o   Write a summary of the main causes and consequences of the Crisis of the Roman Empire: The pupils have to tackle the writing skill as one of the most relevant skills in the learning process.

 

 

CRISIS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE	CAUSES	CONSEQUENCES
	·           ·           ·           ·           ·	·           ·           ·           ·           ·

 

 

·         4^th SESSION: "Religion in Rome: from pagan gods to Christianity"

In the 4^th session we will tackle the evolution of the religion in Rome. It is important to point out the importance of the Greek and Etruscan legacy and how the Greek gods were introduced and adapted to the Roman culture. We will point out the importance of the Christianity in the late Empire and how this new spirituality set the foundations of the Christian roots of Europe in the middle ages.

 

o   Presentation of the lesson contents: the teacher explains through an Impress presentation displayed on the smart board what the students will learn today meanwhile the pupils will have their textbooks in their desks.

 

o   Interactive learning site to review the religion in the RomanEmpire through http://conteni2.educarex.es/mats/120736/contenido/ this website has different interactive plays about the Roman civilization, but we will pay attention to the games related to the Ancient Rome religion.

§  Brief explanation about Roman religion

§  Play: "Drag the correct word with the mouse and link it with its image"

§  Play: "Choose true or false"

 

o   Interactive learning site to review  the religion in the Roman Empire through crossword "Roman gods and goddesses"

http://www.educaplay.com/es/recursoseducativos/2091878/roman_gods_and_goddesses.htm

In this interactive game the pupils will have to find out the names of the main Roman gods through questions such as: "She is the goddess of war and cunning wisdom. She is also the goddess of pot-making and wool-working. She invented the chariot, the bridle and built the first ship. The olive tree is sacred to her: Minerva

 

 

·         5^th  SESSION:  "Roman art"

In the 5^th session we will tackle the main characteristics of the Roman art, paying attention to the Roman architecture, sculpture and painting. It is important make clear the influence of the Greeks and Etruscans, as well as the influence of the Roman art in other artistic styles.

 

o   Presentation of the lesson contents: the teacher explains through an Impress presentation displayed on the smart board what the students will learn today meanwhile the pupils will have their textbooks in their desks.

 

o   Analysis of video of Roman Art:

http://gbaacademy.com/watch?id=RM2D7iJHWXQ

Before watching the video the pupils have to read several questions that will have to answer after that:

§  Who were the Etruscans?

§  List the three names of the classical orders

§  What are the main differences between Greek and Roman temples?

§  List the name of other temples you remember?

§  Why are so well-preserved the houses of Pompeii?

 

o   Analysis of a Roman temple: After explaining the contents through the impress presentation, the teacher will show a picture of the Pantheon of Agrippa and the pupils will have to answer the following questions:

§  What type of building is that?

§  Describe the main features of this building

§  What was its function?

§  What rites were performed inside this building?

§  What similarities and differences can you appreciate between this temple and a Greek temple?

 

 

·         6^th  SESSION: revision  

In the 6^th session we want the pupils to make a revision of all the contents, procedures and attitudes that they have learned through the current didactic unit:

o   Revision of the Roman civilization through the design a comic about the evolution of the Roman civilization:

We have to be conscious that all the instructions to carry out this activity will be explained beforehand. This task is thought as homework that the pupils will do at home and they have to display on the 6^th session, so they will have enough time to design the comic, to organise the information, to ask questions to the teacher and everything they need to complete the comic successfully. The pupils will have to follow these simple instructions:

 

§  The comic has to be designed at home, by groups of four-five pupils. The comic will be displayed in the class.

§  The students will use the content of the textbook as a main reference to translate into images the main phases and events of the Roman civilization. The teacher will show different example of comics that will help the pupils (Such as The Adventures of Asterix comics  by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo)   https://archive.org/details/Asterixcompleteset

§  The comic has to be divided in several panels (at least five panels). These panels have to explain the different phases of the Roman civilization: Monarchy, Republic, Empire and The Crisis of the Empire.

§  The texts of the comic have to be made with speech balloons (speech indicator, containing the characters' dialogue) and captions (words appear in a box separated from the rest of the panel or page, usually to give voice to a narrator)

§  The content of the comic has be written in L2 (English)

§  The comic will be explained briefly by the pupils. We have to be conscious that it is the hardest part for the pupils. The explanation or presentation of the comic does not consist in reading the text displayed in the captions and speech balloons. They have to make the effort to explain the content of the comic. In this case we are allowed to use L1 and L2.

§  This activity will make possible to practice the different skills: writing, speaking, reading and listening.

§  The teacher will have to take into consideration different aspects: creativity, accuracy, spelling, grammar and all the language skills.

 

 

o   Revision of the Roman civilization through didactic plays

§  Word search puzzle about basic vocabulary of the Roman Empire http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1162830/roman_empire__basic_vocabulary.htm

 

§  Online quiz about the Roman Empire

http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1393207/the_roman_empire.htm

 

 

·         7^th  session: written test

The last session of the unit is thought to carry out a written test or exam of the Roman Empire. We will use different kind of questions where the pupils have to show they have learned:

o   Answer short questions (For instance: What were the Barbarians?)

o   Write true or false (For instance: The arch and the vault were used in Roman art or August divided the empire in two parts)

o   Put in chronological order (For instance, Julius Caesar`s death, Rome was invaded by the Barbarians, Augustus was proclaimed emperor, etc)

o   Compare, writing the similarities and differences (For instance: Compare a Greek and a Roman temple)

o   Identify pictures, by writing their names (For instance: the most important buildings of the Roman architecture)

o   Fill diagrams (For instance: the Roman social classes)

o   Explain: (For instance: the main causes of the fall the Roman Empire)

 

 

 

5.    Methodology

·         Organization and class distribution / timing

First of all we must take into consideration the following methodological principles:

·         L1 and L2 will be combined, trying to the reach the right balanced between the two languages.

·         Learning should be active whenever possible

·         Learning should be guided and well structured

·         Concepts should be introduced in a clear way, using language adapted to the students´ level, and helping to improve and practice the different skills (listening, speaking, writing and reading).

·         Contents should be supported by visual aids, which help comprehension.

·         Historical texts should be analysed in order to consolidate the knowledge of the subject as well as improving the language skill. 

 

This unit will be developed in 7 sessions:

§  From the 1^st  to the 5^th session to tackle all the contents and activities

§  The 6^th session as a revision

§  The 7^th session to carry out a written test.

 

·         Resources / Materials

We will use the following materials:

·         Textbook

·         Blackboard

·         Smart board

·         Photocopies

·         Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries

·         Laptops with Internet connection

·         Interactive web pages

·         Impress presentations.

 

                           We will use the following digital resources:

 

 

·         Video: Introduction on the Roman Empire, "3 minutes in the Roman Empire": ( 1^st session)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmCtx11izBQ

 

 

·         Video: "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (3^rd session)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBKKTgwPufE

 

·         Interactive learning site to review  "The crisis of the Roman Empire"  (3^rd session)

http://www.educaplay.com/es/recursoseducativos/2213874/the_crisis_of_the_roman_empire.htm

 

 

·         Interactive website about the Ancient Rome, including videos, games and revision activities (4^th session)

http://conteni2.educarex.es/mats/120736/contenido/

 

 

·         Interactive learning site to review  the religion in the Roman Empire through crossword "Roman gods and goddesses" 

(4^th session)

http://www.educaplay.com/es/recursoseducativos/2091878/roman_gods_and_goddesses.htm

 

 

·         Analysis of video of Roman Art: (5^th session)

http://gbaacademy.com/watch?id=RM2D7iJHWXQ

 

 

·         Word search puzzle about basic vocabulary of the Roman Empire (6^th session)

http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1162830/roman_empire__basic_vocabulary.htm

 

 

·         Online quiz about the Roman Empire (6^th session)

http://en.educaplay.com/en/learningresources/1393207/the_roman_empire.htm

 

 

Daniel Alfageme Ramos

 

 

 

 

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3dROuz32sHIT1FMM0tVa2o1cjg/view?usp=sharing