Title: When and where did classical antiquity begin?

Lesson plan elaborated by: Magdalena Trysińska

Topic:

When and where did classical antiquity begin?

Target group:

1st‑grade students of a high school.

Core curriculum

Basic level

I. Literary and cultural education.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

1) processes and hierarchizes information from texts, such as journalistic, popular science and scientific texts.

III. Creating statements

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

1) agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion;

2) build a statement in a conscious manner, with the knowledge of its language function, taking into account the purpose and the addressee, keeping the principles of rhetoric;

3) in accordance with standards formulates questions, answers, evaluations, edits information, justifications, comments, and a voice in the discussion.

IV. Self‑study. Student:

1. develops the ability of independent work, inter alia, by preparing various forms of presenting their own position;

2. organises information into the problematic whole by valuing it; synthesizes the learned content around the problem, topic, issue and uses it in your statements;

3. uses scientific or popular science literature;

4. selects relevant quotes from the text and applies them in the speech.

General aim of education

The student acquires knowledge and skills about the history and ancient Greek and Roman culture.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn;

• social and civic competences.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• defines the time frame of the era;

• explains the meaning of the terms: antiquity and antiquity;

• gathers and develops information;

• presents the results of his own work;

• characterises the elements of Greek and Roman culture, which influenced contemporary civilizations.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Volunteers get acquainted with the content of the abstract and prepare a knowledge quiz for their colleagues.

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. A short conversation about: What are the roots of European culture? Where do we come from (mentally, culturally). Students should point to the sources of Greek, Roman and Judeo‑Christian culture.

Realization

1 . Determining the scope of concepts: ancient and antiquity. Exercises 1 and 2 in the abstract.

2 . An introduction to the history of Greeks and Romans, which will become the basis for group work.

3 . Work in groups. The teacher divides the class into two groups. Each of them has the task of developing in the form of an oral presentation (if possible – using computer tools) information on the history of the civilizations of the Greeks (1st group) and Romans (2nd group). Division of work:

Group No. 1 has the task of developing in the form of presentations information on the history of the Greeks. Students should include information on:

• reasons for the expansion of the Greeks;

• the circumstances in which the different Greek tribes joined in coalitions;

• the reasons for the struggle between Greek city‑states.

Group No. 2 is to prepare information on the history of the Romans in the form of a presentation. Students should include information on:

• three state systems that stand out in the history of Rome;

• how Greece won against Rome;

• reasons for the fall of the empire;

• a language that allowed residents to function efficiently throughout the empire.

Students can use texts and graphics found in the abstract as well as information found on the Internet. They should remember respecting copyright.

4 . Presentation of work results in the class forum. Assessment of presentation according to the following criteria:

• Has the group completed all the issues given?

• Was the presentation interesting?

• Was the presentation satisfactory?

• Does the presentation contain additional content?

• Were all group members involved in the presentation?

• The group receives a point for each of these criteria. The group with the most points wins.

5. Students do ex. 4: crossword in pairs.

6. Language exercise. The teacher chooses one sentence from the abstract and reads it out loud. Then he or she asks one student to provide a translation of this sentence. The student translates, selects a different sentence, reads it aloud and directs the same request to a friend.

Summary

1. The students, selected before the lesson, present their knowledge quiz related to the topic of the lesson. The class answers questions. The teacher assesses the activity and involvement of students.

Homework

1. Prepare a short presentation of two selected Greeks and Romans achievements. Remember to provide bibliographic addresses of sources you will use.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

When and where did classical antiquity begin?

The European culture is built on two solid foundations: the Greco‑Roman Antiquity, and Christianity (itself rooted in Judaism).

Antiquity is the period of culture’s history starting with the appearance of writing (ca. 3500 BC) and ending with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 473 CE. It encompasses, among others, the achievements of: Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Egypt, Persia, Palestine, Greece and Rome.

Classical antiquity is the period in the culture of Greece and Rome from around the ninth century BC (the times of Homer) until the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE; it comprises the achievements of Greece and Rome.

Historians do not provide a precise date of the beginning of Antiquity. Both Antiquity and classical Antiquity are acknowledged to have ended symbolically in 476, when Romulus Augustulus was deposed and the Roman Empire fell.

Another date researchers assume to be the end of classical Antiquity is 529 CE, when Plato’s Academy, one of the period’s most important institutions of its type existing from ca. 387 BC, was shut down. The school, founded by the great thinker himself, educated its students in philosophy, mathematics, rhetorics, etc.

Antiquity not only lasted longer than classical Antiquity, but was also present in a broader territory. It encompassed the areas of the Middle East, Northern Africa, and Southern Europe. Among the countries making up the culture of that era are Greece and Rome, but also: Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Egypt, Syria and Palestine. The latter is the cradle of the Bible. The beginnings of Judaism and Christianity’s holy book are situated in Antiquity (and classical Antiquity).

Now we may complete the previously‑given definitions:

According to the legend, a settlement called Rome was founded in 753 BC, supposedly by Romulus. It was inhabited by people hailing from the Latin tribe. Gradually, Rome’s position began to grow ever stronger among the Mediterranean states. A factor particularly important to gain dominion over those territories were the Punic Wars (216‑146 BC) against Carthage. In the first century BC, as a result of their conquests, the Romans ruled over the whole Apenine Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, Spain, Gaul, Norther Africa, Greece, and other areas. The Empire and its colonies were inhabited by almost 50 million people!

Even though the Romans were proud of their military advantage, they acknowledged the greatness of the Greek culture. They borrowed many elements from it. In Western Europe, Latin reigned supreme, while Greek held strong in the East. One of Rome’s greatest poets – Horace – said that “Greece, conquered with arms, defeated the victors and introduced art into the peasants’ Latium”. The Greek influences are evident in the mythology as well.

The development of the Empire (the first century BC until the first century CE) led, paradoxally, to its downfall. The extensive territory proved too difficult to defend. The barbarians from the North raided the Roman territories, and the ideas imported from Palestine in the form of Christianity changed the outlook on human relations. The great Empire split into two parts: Western (with its capital in Rome, inhabited by 1 million people!) and Eastern (ruled from Constantinople). The Eastern Empire survived until the fifteenth century, but its Western counterpart fell in the fifth.