Early American Civilizations
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In this unit, students will have the opportunity to explore the genre of nonfiction and myths.
What's the story?
The Big Idea of this unit is that large complex civilizations, including those of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, developed in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans.
What will my students learn?
This unit orients students to the geography, climate, flora, and fauna of the Americas. It also presents an overall history and timeline highlighting the rise and fall of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. In addition, the unit describes innovations and discoveries of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca and features myths from these ancient civilizations.
Conversation starters:
Ask your student questions about the unit to promote discussion and continued learning:
1. What features defined the Maya civilization?
Follow up: How was the Maya civilization similar to and different from our society today?
2. How do the ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations compare and contrast?
Follow up: What factors made the Aztec civilization successful?
3. What are the major similarities and differences between the ancient Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations?
Follow up: What factors made the Inca Empire the largest and most powerful pre-Columbian empire in the Americas?
What's the story?
The Big Idea of this unit is that large complex civilizations, including those of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca, developed in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans.
What will my students learn?
This unit orients students to the geography, climate, flora, and fauna of the Americas. It also presents an overall history and timeline highlighting the rise and fall of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. In addition, the unit describes innovations and discoveries of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca and features myths from these ancient civilizations.
Conversation starters:
Ask your student questions about the unit to promote discussion and continued learning:
1. What features defined the Maya civilization?
Follow up: How was the Maya civilization similar to and different from our society today?
2. How do the ancient Maya and Aztec civilizations compare and contrast?
Follow up: What factors made the Aztec civilization successful?
3. What are the major similarities and differences between the ancient Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations?
Follow up: What factors made the Inca Empire the largest and most powerful pre-Columbian empire in the Americas?
Writing
In this unit, there are numerous writing opportunities. Students will regularly engage in writing short answers in response to text-based questions. Students will focus on the use of evidence from the text and on individual sentence construction.
They will engage in extended writing using information from their Reader to compare and contrast the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations and create informative or explanatory writings.
Students will practice using linking words, transition words, and phrases to compare these civilizations. Then, they will plan and draft paragraphs and practice paraphrasing and note-taking. Students are encouraged to generate logical, defensible spellings based on code knowledge, rather than guessing.
They will engage in extended writing using information from their Reader to compare and contrast the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations and create informative or explanatory writings.
Students will practice using linking words, transition words, and phrases to compare these civilizations. Then, they will plan and draft paragraphs and practice paraphrasing and note-taking. Students are encouraged to generate logical, defensible spellings based on code knowledge, rather than guessing.
Vocabulary
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irrigate
flourish diverse lush descendant domesticate |
cenote
isthmus empire sieve textile |