Erica Guillen, LIS 686, Unit Draft Revision

Unit project title: Meet the Romans

Essential question(s): What aspects of Ancient Rome are still present in the modern world? Connection
Questions: What challenges and benefits arise from having a population of people from many different places
and cultural backgrounds? Do these same challenges and benefits still apply to modern countries with diverse
populations, like the United States?
Primary disincline: Social Studies
Grade: 9
Unit/project duration: 6-8 weeks
Description of unit/project: The unit on Ancient Rome is a continuation of the 9th grade Social Studies
curriculum that introduces students to the history of man by exploring the Ancient world. Students will come to
know the Ancient Romans by learning about their history, political structure, religion, customs, and the
everyday life of someone living in the shadow of the Roman Republic and Empire. As a piece of the broader
curriculum, students will begin to be able to reflect critically on history and see the connections we still have to
the distant past.
Purpose: The purpose of this unit is to allow students to connect with the past on a personal level
through research of a topic of interest to them and creation of a piece of historical fiction that asks
students to imagine themselves as an Ancient Roman. Through writing and research students should
discover why we continue to examine Ancient civilizations and people to help us understand modern
society and culture.
Student activities planned:
1. Students will have several sessions with the school librarian throughout the unit:
a. Students will learn about primary and secondary sources. In this session, students will view a
video about primary sources, discuss evaluating primary sources, practice identifying primary
and secondary sources, and finally, practice citing primary sources.
b. Students will work with the librarian to review proper citation for different material formats
and how to evaluate sources. Student groups will practice locating, reviewing a source, and
writing a citation based on a given material format and the group’s topic. In this session,
students will also have the opportunity to create a citation for their Biographical Profile, which
is a classroom unit writing assignment that follows Session 1- Primary and Secondary Sources.
The profiles will also be used as content for the class Weebly site.
c. Students will be shown how to navigate the class Website on Weebly to add content and
structure their information. Students will practice by using the short biographical profile of a
Roman that they created after Session1 to add content to the Website.
d. The librarian will meet with each topic group separately to identify research resources,
brainstorm about presentation tools and technology, assistance loading content onto the
Website, and to create a rubric specific to their presentation.

2. After being introduced to some of Ancient Rome’s major historians and figures in the classroom,
students will research and create a short biographical entry with image (if available) of the person to
add to the class Website on Ancient Rome.
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Erica Guillen, LIS 686, Unit Draft Revision

Final product: There will be two final products for this unit:
1. Collaborative class Website on Ancient Rome:
a. Each student will contribute 1 biographical profile of an Ancient Roman Historian
or well-known figure from Roman History.
b. Each group will be responsible for a section of the class Website that will consist
of a header tab and appropriate subtabs.
2. Small group topical presentations: Each group will have 15 minutes to present their topic.
This presentation can be multi-media or performance. Examples: a dramatization, How-to
demonstration, Power Point, Infographic, Podcast, Video, etc.
Students will choose from the following topics: Rome, the Beginning; The Military;
Religion/Mythology; Politics and Government; Geography and Peoples of the Roman Empire;
Women and Children in Ancient Rome; Daily Life; The Arts; The End of the Empire.
Group size: 2-3 students
Standards addressed:
AASL Standards:
 I. Inquire: Build new knowledge by inquiring, thinking critically, identifying problems, and
developing strategies for solving problems. B. Create: Learners engage with new knowledge by
following a process that includes: 3. Generating products that illustrate learning. C. Share: Learners
adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes: 4. Sharing
content with an authentic audience.
 IV. Curate: Make meaning for oneself and others by collecting, organizing, and sharing resources
of personal relevance. A. Think: Learners act on an information need by: 2. Identifying possible
sources of information. 3. Making critical choices about information to use. B. Create: Learners
gather information appropriate to the task by: 1. Seeking a variety of sources. 4. Organizing
information by priority, topic, or other systematic scheme.
 VI. Engage: Demonstrate safe, legal and ethical creating and sharing of knowledge products
independently while engaging in a community of practice and an interconnected world. B. Create:
Leaners use valid information and reasoned conclusions to make ethical decisions in the creation of
knowledge by: 1. Ethically using and reproducing others’ work. 2. Acknowledging authorship and
demonstrating respect for the intellectual property of others.
Common Core State Standards:
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to
such features as the date and origin of the information.
 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary
describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

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Erica Guillen, LIS 686, Unit Draft Revision

C3 Standards:
 D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical sources for a specific historical inquiry based
on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
 D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry
and investigate additional sources.

Assessment criteria based on the standards: I can…

 Select appropriate resources for my topic.
 Summarize information about Ancient Rome.
 Create a portion of an informational Website about Ancient Rome.
 Recognize the influences of Ancient Rome on modern civilization.
 Evaluate sources for quality, accuracy, and authority.
Assessment instruments used:
 Checklists: Checklists will be used by students and teachers to make sure students are on track with
developing their sections of the Website. Teachers can also use the checklist to provide feedback on how
students are progressing with their projects.
 Worksheets: Worksheets will be used to check student understanding of citation formatting and
locating resources and using resources to answer questions.
 Tests: Tests will be used to assess student understanding of key concepts and knowledge of facts.
 Rubrics: Rubrics will be used to assess performance of both the Website contribution of each group,
and the presentation of each group. Rubrics will focus on the following criteria:
o Presentations: Each group will develop a rubric specific to their presentation with the librarian.
General criteria will be consistent for all groups: Accuracy of information, Staying within the
allotted time for the presentation, Organized ideas and information in a logical way, Explained a
connection between the group’s topic and modern civilization
Rubrics will have specific benchmarks for determining whether a student group: Meets, Approaches, of
shows Novice understanding/skills, based on the assignment standards.