NYCDOE: Passport to Social Studies - grade 6, unit 4

Note to Teachers: To help with remote and hybrid learning, digital materials for this unit are available on the NYCDOE TeachHub. Access these materials by following these instructions.

This is the fourth unit of the grade six Social Studies Scope and Sequence, titled: Comparative Classical Civilizations in the Eastern Hemisphere. It was developed by a team of NYCDOE staff and teachers, in collaboration with scholars of both the humanities and social sciences as well as museum curators.

This guide offers a multitude of perspectives on the development and spread of civilizations and empires during the Classical Age in the Eastern Hemisphere. Topics of representative lessons in this unit include: exploring the characteristics of a Golden Age, evaluating the role of geography in shaping classical China, Greece and Rome, an exploration of the lasting contributions of Golden Age civilizations, and an investigation into how historians use new evidence to develop new interpretations of the past. Students will immerse themselves in the Classical Age by reading and analyzing a rich collection of diverse primary and secondary sources, examining artifacts, and interpreting images, such as paintings, maps, images of important cultural symbols, architecture and statues. Social Studies lessons about the events in the past as well as discussions of individual agency in each of these civilizations are highlighted throughout lesson activities to highlight the role and importance of groups and individuals in shaping history. This unit also includes a pre-assessment and formative assessments including an assessment of students’ abilities to use historical evidence to create biographies of significant individuals. The unit culminates in a performance- based assessment in which students take part in a Socratic Seminar and are prompted to a make historical claim and support it with evidence to evaluate whether a civilization can be considered a Golden Age civilization.

Please note: the complete set of NYCDOE K-8: Passport to Social Studies Core Curriculum materials include a wide-range of trade books and primary documents, in addition to this unit of study. To support rigorous social studies instruction and student inquiry, it is recommended that teachers utilize this work in conjunction with these resources.

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