S+Herrell,+Ethan

**Office: Room 7777** **Office Phone: 777-7777** **Office Hours: 7 am--7 pm, 8 days a week.** ** E-mail: ethan.herrell@maine.edu **
 * Teacher: Ethan Guthrie Herrell**

=Summary of Unit:= My unit is about the expansion and interaction of the civilizations of Europe, the Middle East and the Americas, in the time period between of 600 A.D. and 1450 A.D. Most important for students to achieve in this unit is empathy for the people that lived in ancient and medieval times: an appreciation for how they perceived time and space differently, for how individuals evaluated themselves in terms of duties and obligations rather than human rights, how the group was more important, and how violence and uncertainty were fixtures of everyday life. Battles, dynasties and wars are used as benchmarks of time for social changes. To achieve this, the students will read first-hand accounts of life in ancient times, look at tool used in everyday chores, look at what was in a typical village, and will even role-play as ancient and medieval people. = =

=Establish Goals= MLR-Social Studies Standard Label: E.History Standard E1. Historical knowledge, concepts, themes and patterns. Grade Level Span: 6-8. Students understand major eras, major enduring themes and historical influences in the history of Maine, the United States and various regions of the world. Expansion and Interaction of Civilizations 600 A.D.-1450 A.D. Performance Indicators: A and B //. //

= = =Students will understand that= the ancient/medieval people saw the world in a way that is fundamentally from our own view. ecological, social, and political shifts changed ancient peoples' lives there was significant continuity even across eras and political boundaries. = = =Essential Questions= // How did the ancient/medieval people see the world and how was that view different from ours? // // How did ecological, social and political shifts changed peoples' lives? // // Why were there such continuities across great spans of time and political boundaries? //

= = =Students will know= vocabulary: tribes, monarchy, farming, migration, violence, resources, religion, patriarchy, law, human rights, ideology • Key Facts: No modern devices to keep track of time, calendars rare or only for the clergy, no modern medicine so people lived in constant pain, violence was frequent and unremarkable, no concept of human rights • Sequence and timeline: 600 A.D.: Western Rome Empire has fallen. 600 A.D.-1450 A.D.: Feudalism in Europe and empires in the Middle East. The rise of the Aztecs in the 14th century and the rise of the Incas in 1200s, the collapse of Mayan Civilization in 900 A.D., and then the invasion of the Americas by the Spaniards beginning in the 1492.

= = =Students will be able to= // • describe ancient/medieval individuals worldview // // • make sense of ecological factors shaping society // // • design a situation of a government affecting a person's life in the time period // // • role-play as an ancient/medieval person // // • contrast how ecology effects ancient and modern people differently // // • recognize how much slower change came in the ancient/medieval world. //

**Performance Task Overview** The students will make a digital poster on glogster that will have photos and brief explanations of the major and mundane events of daily life: waking up, eating, attending religious services, weddings and funerals. The Smithsonian Institute is looking to take the museum into the new age, and so is taking submissions of digitally rendered archaeology exhibits.

=Expectations= -Students will, above all, have respect for the people and cultures they are studying, though their ideas about human rights (i.e. people from the ancient and medieval world not having such an idea). Students will further learn to empathize with their worldview, even though they may not agree. -Students will put their best effort into activities and projects and learn how customize what they do to inspire themselves. -Students will have academic integrity. They will not copy and paste the words or property of others without giving the original creator credit. -If a student needs more time for a project or assignment, they must email or talk to the teacher at least a day before the class it is due. However, it must be turned in at least 3 days before grades are due. Students will know ahead of time when their grades will be finalized. -A student must always ask to use the bathroom and or use the drinking the fountain and then take the hall-pass with them. Only one student out at a time. This is a privilege given on the basis of the trust. -If a student is absent, then it is their responsibilities to either talk to the teacher if the absent was planned ahead of time, email or call classmates to check up on assignments, or email the teacher to check up on assignments. Or they can use homeworkHotline.
 * Academic Expectations:**

-Food and water are allowed in the classroom, but the student must clean up any mess they make. If messes are left behind repeatedly all students will loose the privilege -Unless the teacher calls for them to be pulled out, laptops cannot be pulled out of their cases or used. Cell phones can only be out when the student has told the teacher of an potential emergency.
 * Classroom Expectations:**
 * -**Students will be respectful of the opinions of other students and the teacher. Bullying, sarcasm, insults, swearing and physical violence are not accepted. Any of these behaviors will result in them being immediately addressed by the teacher and a discussion with the student about what is and what is not appropriate.

=Benchmarks= Based on a 500 points system: - ** (25) **Podcast: students interview and act as person who lived in ancient/medieval times. - ** (50) **Google Earth: Students are asked to search out any location on the globe, and then compare how it looks now with how it looked in the past, especially local towns and ancient cities. - ** (25) **The students are asked to collectively construct a family typical of a culture from the period, with the basic unit (a parent) up in front of the class first, with students saying who should also be in the family (how many kid and the like) and who has what responsibilities around the house. - ** (50) **A newspaper article detailing a natural disaster. - ** (50) **iMovie: students act out a skit about ancient/medieval people - ** (50) **Students blog about what they feel are the gains and loses of technology through the lens of how hurts/helps us now and how it has hurt/helped us in the past.

- ** (250) ** Students will record on an audio file a story they will create that embodies a value important to an ancient/medieval culture.

=Grading Scale=
 * A** (93 -100), **A-** (90 - 92), **B+** (87 - 89), **B** (83 - 86), **B-** (80 - 82), **C+**(77 - 79), **C** (73-76), **C-** (70 - 72), **D+**(67 - 69), **D** (63 - 66), **D-** (60 - 62), **F** (0 - 59).