Making+Ancient+History+Relevant+to+Today

Robert Cousineau, Andrew Warren Southern Middle School
 * Making Ancient History Relevant in Today’s World **

- can get PPP and handouts from NCSS website!!!

How does //Vantage Point// trailer relate to the study of history? (note the different vantage points in the trailer)

Ex. Julius Caesar’s assassinations - Julius Caesar - Octavian - Cleopatra - Marcus Brutus - Cassius - Marc Antony
 * Why is it important to study a historical event from multiple perspectives? **

- Does the end justify the means? Comparing the assassination of Caesar to the overthrowing of King George III in the American Revolution. - “What match for a Roman senate was a single magistrate seated among them? His abilities could not be equal; his firmness could not be always depended on: but what is worse, he was liable to be intimidated, flattered, and bribed. It is really astonishing, that such people as Greeks and Romans should ever have thought a single tribune, or a college of ten tribunes, and adequate representation of themselves.” – John Adams. - To what extent can one person change the world? Leonardo da Vinci vs. Ben Franklin vs. Steve Jobs - How do civilizations and cultures remember their past? Ramses II vs. Abraham Lincoln vs. Martin Luther King, Jr.
 * Patriots vs. Traitors **
 * Essential questions that inspire discussion and debate **

- using __Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon__ when teaching Buddhism Key themes: 8 Fold Path - __ Groundhog Day __ and __Avatar__ to teach Hinduism Analyze Phil’s character traits and transformation throughout the movie Connect characters and themes from Avatar to Hindu principles - __ Truman Show __ with Plato’s __Allegory of the Cave__ Google search with “comic book” Themes of free will/fate, appearance/reality - *Alexander the Great and the Queen song “I Want it All”*
 * Pop Culture in the SS Classroom **

- using current events to relation ancient civilizations to the modern world - help students understand vital connections between the past and present - ex. Student CNN News, The New York Times Upfront, Time Magazine, National Geographic, USA Today - ** 60 Minutes ** “Resurrecting Eden” Saddam Hussein vs. the March Arabs and the ability to divert water resources (ancient Mesopotamia) --> how geography leads to conflict? Includes mud houses and reeds, ziggurats, belief system, geography
 * Current Events in the Social Studies Classroom **

- Compare Hammuarbi’s law code to today’s concepts of law and justice. - Imagine Hammurabi as the new principal of the school(using Hammuarabi’s Top Ten Rules and Punishments) - *Comparing Egyptian religious burial practices to modern cultural burial practices (see NY Times lesson)* - Chinese Emperor Shi Huangdi compared to Kim Jong-il - Silk Road compared to the internet (Venn diagram) - Was the Silk Road the internet highway of the ancient world? Was it as important as the internet is today? - Indian Caste system compared to modern social structures around the world. Article in Time Magazine on social classes in the US (LOOK FOR!)

Polleverywhere.com

(Rate on a Scale of 1 – 4) Even numbers so they can’t just pick the “middle” number - when people repeatedly view violence different forms of entertainment, they become hardened to it and are not upset by it - Playing violent video games and watching television programs or movies with extreme violence is just a leisure activity and not something that can desensitize people to violence - We glorify violence in our country - Societies that glorify violence and accept it as a form of entertainment are barbaric and uneducated - Violence begets violence and if you watch it you will want to behave in a similar manner
 * __ Violence in Society __**

Lead up to an essay (persuasive) debating what society was more violent, Rome or the US?

- Entertainment (violence in sports --> Ben Hur vs. Nascar?) - Leadership (Augustus vs. Obama) - Pax Romana vs. Pax Americana - Government (republic) - Military (Roman legions vs. American army) - Julius Caesar’s assassination - Student led mock trial of Marcus Brutus
 * Ancient Rome vs. Modern America **
 * CSI: Ancient Rome and Mock Trial **