Ancient Greece

We had an interesting class this past week, full of heroic battles and underdog wins!  We took a look back at Ancient Greece, from the forming of the city states to the Age of Pericles.  We finally got to put some dates on our Europe portion of the time lines. And we assigned everyone some people to find out about and report back to us as we study new times and places in the coming weeks.  Here are the assignments:
Michael - Homer
Siddhartha Gautama - Lydia
Confucius - Evan
Aristotle - Lyla
Alexander the Great - Celee
Asoka - Gwyn
Shihuangdi - Bella
Pericles - Olivia
Socrates - Gracie
*This does not have to be some huge report.  Just a few facts that each student can learn about their person and tell the others about.  If you'd like to find and show a picture or drawing of the person that would be great, but not required.

We worked on an Ancient Greece foldable, with the sections for Ancient Greece (Minoa and Mycenae), City-States (Athens and Sparta), Persia Invades (Battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Plataea), and Age of Pericles.  We didn't get to the Age of Pericles yet.
We watched an episode of Horrible Histories about the Battle of Marathon.  If you'd like to watch it again (or for the first time)  Here it is: Battle of Marathon

We watched a small portion of the History Channel documentary on the Battle of Thermopylae.  The whole thing is 1 1/2 hr. long and bloody in some spots, so we just watched some highlights.  Here is the link if you'd like to see it:  History Channel: Battle of Thermopylae

Here are some other videos and interactive sights that have some cool info about Ancient Greece.
History Channel - Crash Course on Greek Gods


Myth of Prometheus


Explore Ancient Greece


Adventures in Ancient Greece Game

Ancient Israel

  Thank you Gracie for the health lesson on Eating the Rainbow yesterday!

We had fun yesterday finding out about the Ancient Israelites.  We took a speedy tour of the past from Abraham leaving Ur in 1800 BC to the rebuilding of the Temple in 538 BC.    It was fun to let the students dress up and do a quick role play of the history.  They got to be roped into the Twelve Tribes of Israel, split into Israel and Juday, then taken over by the Assyrians, then the Babylonians, then the Persians, then the Greeks, and then back to independence again.  (We went a little farther up the timeline in our role playing to get in the Macabees kicking the Greeks out)
The kids also got to see how the Phoenicians developed an alphabet that was the beginnings of our Latin alphabet and the Hebrew alphabet.  We even practiced writing the Shema, which is prayed at least twice day.  Here is what it looks like in Hebrew and English:

For fun here is a funny video about Israel and a game about one of Israel's leaders and his lost tomb.


Israel explained in 5 minutes Video

Herod's Lost Tomb Game


History of the Phoenicians Video   

Evan is set to do the health lesson the next time we meet, which will be Jan 21st.  See you then!

Ancient China

We studied Ancient China last time and I totally forgot to post about it!  ARG!
Anyway, we discussed the unique geography of China and its isolation.  The large deserts that span the western side of China kept it isolated and allowed the civilization to develop independently from other ancient civilizations.  The Chinese came up with their own writing, crops, technology, religion, and societal structure.  We also talked about the Xia Dynasty, which is considered a myth by some scholars, as the 1st dynasty in China.  (Although we also mentioned the remains of an older civilization that has been discovered recently)  The Xia left no written records, and if they were real they were defeated by the Shang Dynasty who did develop the writing that we tried out.
The kids got to try a chopstick/rice relay.  It is harder than you think!
We discussed the image of the dragon and how it is an important animal in Chinese myths and legends.  Then we made dragons of our own.
They also tried painting Chinese characters, specifically the one for "hope." Several of the kids tried other words and their names as well.

I found a neat documentary on Ancient China.  It's 50 minutes long, but it has some really great info in it.
Ancient Civilizations and Theocracies: China Part 1


Thank you Lydia! She did a nice job doing our health lesson.  She taught everyone about Dyslexia and described how it can effect learning and communicating.
I believe Gracie is up to do our health lesson this week as we travel back to Egypt for History!

Ancient Egypt

We had a fun lesson on the history of ancient Egypt yesterday!  We re-capped some info from Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley.  We caught up on our timelines too.  Thank you Olivia, for sharing with us about Hammurabi!
The kids all colored a map of the Nile River Delta System and we talked about how its shape was like a long stemmed flower.  We spoke again about important this river was to the civilization that sprang up around it; in communication, a protective barrier, and agriculture.
We learned a brief synopsis of how King Menes (a Nubian) conquered and united the Nile River region under his rule and began the 1st dynasty of Egypt.  This also began the huge building projects  in Egypt.  We looked at 3-D images of the outside and inside of Khufu's Pyramid (the Great Pyramid).  We watched a short video about the engineering, labor, and mathematical feats that the Egyptians achieved to build such precise and sound structures.  We even got to read some deciphered taunts from Kind Kamose aimed at the Hyksos invaders.  Who knew you could talk trash in hieroglyphs?!  Here's the link if you'd like to see it.
If your students has an Egyptian assigned to them, be ready to talk about him/her next time on Nov. 18th.
I also challenged the kids that if they build a model of a pyramid, the Sphinx, a canopic jar, or another example of Egyptian engineering/art to bring it next time to show off.  I also encouraged them to build it as a replica of an actual structure or object that they can tell us about as opposed to a generic pyramid.  But anything they are motivated to build and show is fine with me!
Here are some cool games I found about Egyptian subjects.  The boys were especially excited about pulling brains out of a nose with a hook.  Thank heavens its virtual.  ;)

Egyptian Tomb Adventure

An Embalming Game 














Build a Pyramid Challenge

Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley

We had a fun time yesterday!  The kids discussed the differences that agriculture and living in cities would have on people's way of life as apposed to a nomadic one.  They came up with many important differences!

We looked at a map of the world c.2500 BC and the major river valley civilizations in Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Indus River Valley and China.  The kids glued or wrote the names of some important crops that were domesticated in those regions.  We also got to find out what millet and emmer are!   Here is a link to the interactive map I used for that:

Time Maps

The kids and I then honed in on Mesopotamia and the Indus River Valley.  We learned about Sargon, who created the first empire in Sumer and Akkad.  We also talked about Hammurabi and his code of law - which had good rules, but very harsh punishments that may seem unfair to us today.  

I also let the kids listen to the B52's song, Mesopotamia.  A hit for sure! ;)

Mesopotamia by the B52s

Everyone usually thinks the Romans came up with aquaducts, sewage systems, and bath houses, but we learned that the Indus River Valley Civilization had this technology over a thousand years before Rome existed!  Mohenjo-Dara was a huge complex city.  Houses there had their own private wells, bathrooms, and sewage drainage that kept the city clean.  It is also interesting that archaeologists have found very few weapons in its ruins, which suggest that they lived in a peaceful place and time.  We ended the lesson by playing the ancient game of Chaupar or Pagade (which in English is Parcheesi).  If your child would like to find out more about these amazing people who's history was forgotten for thousands of years, check out the BBC Indus website from the previous post.  

Thank you Michael for a great Manners lesson about how to properly introduce yourself and greet people!

Thank you Evan for finding out about Otzi the Iceman for us!

Thank you Lyla for telling us about Sargon the Akkadian!

Some of us have a field trip on October 14th, so our next History lesson will be on October 28th and we'll learn about early Egypt and China.  So be ready to tell about your person if they're Egyptian!  

Great Indus River Civilization site!

I found this great site with photos, videos, games and info for kids about the Indus River Valley Civilization!
BBC Indus Valley

If you click on any of the sections, you can then scoll down to play the Professor Indus Game.
:)
Enjoy!