Rule of Law and Ancient Civilizations

Grade: 6 Subject: Social Studies

In this lesson, students will examine the rule of law and identify how Ancient Roman and Greek contributions impacted the United States by completing a KWL chart, a PowerPoint with guided notes, and an exit ticket assessment.

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Lesson Plan Template: Civics Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives

  • Students should be able to define the rule of law.
  • Students should be able to identify how Ancient Greek and Roman contributions influenced the rule of law as a foundational principle of the United States.
  • Students should be able to identify how the rule of law affects everyday life.

Prior Knowledge

  • The principles underlying America’s founding ideas on law and government.
  • How the governments in ancient Greece and Rome contributed to the development of democratic principles and America's constitutional republic.

Guiding Questions

  • What is the rule of law?
  • Which ancient civilizations were most influential to our Founders?
  • How have Ancient civilizations impacted our government?
  • How does rule of law impact our daily lives?

Procedure

  1. To introduce the lesson, have students develop a KWL chart to find out what they already know about Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece and what they want to know and learn. The final column will be left blank until the end of the lesson.
  2. Pass out the Rule of Law and Ancient Civilizations Guided Notes for students and put up the Rule of Law and Ancient Civilizations PowerPoint slideshow.
  3. After completing the PowerPoint and Guided Notes with students ask them to turn to their shoulder partner and discuss what they have learned through today’s lesson.
    • While students are discussing they should fill in the final column of their KWL sheet.
    • Circulate around the room to facilitate the discussion and check student understanding.
  4. To bring the lesson to a close, pass out the Exit Ticket Worksheet for students to complete and turn in on their way out of class.
    • This exit ticket will be a formative assessment of the lesson content.
  5. There is an additional, optional assessment activity as a crossword puzzle under special materials.

Teacher Notes

  • The CPALMS interactive tutorial Understanding Rule of Law, linked in the optional section, would be a great primer to the lesson if you are in a flipped classroom.
  • Key terms
    • Rule of Law
    • Ancient Greece
    • Ancient Rome
    • Code of Hammurabi
    • 12 Tables of Ancient Roman Law
    • Code of Justinian

Optional

  • CPALMS interactive tutorial on Understanding the Rule of Law is a great resource to supplement this lesson and can be found here.
  • A game (Kahoot, blooket, etc.) can be used as a fun activity to develop a deeper understanding or to help with content vocabulary.
  • As a summative assessment, students could be asked to write a summary on Ancient Greece and/or Ancient Roman influence on the Founders and America’s constitutional republic.
  • For an extension activity, you could have students work in small groups to do further research and Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome and present their findings to the class.
  • You could also collect students KWL charts as a formative assessment.
  • An additional assessment activity is listed under special materials, a crossword puzzle to practice important vocabulary from the lesson.

Special Materials Needed:

  • Rule of Law and Ancient Civilizations PowerPoint
  • Rule of Law Guided Notes
  • Exit Ticket

Information Benchmarks 4
Grade(s): 6 Subject : Social Studies Instructional time : 00 Hour(s) 45 Minute(s) Instructional type(s) : Lesson Plan, Worksheet, Presentation/Slideshow, Formative Assessment Resource Collection : CPALMS - Civics Original teacher resources - Grades 6-12 Name of Author/Source : byron lee/CPALMS