I was very proud of the way class turned out this Saturday; your kids showed more critical understanding than I had originally estimated. To be truthful, I was nervous about this one, but the lesson turned out very well.
The class started out with everyone reading aloud their homework (as is our habit), followed by a
cooperative learning exercise (you'll see lots of vocab like this since I'm currently in an MAT program and kind of got into the habit of using it) where we divided into two groups, each group being tasked with filling out a vocabulary list of "Zimmer und Zuhaus" words which we would use later. The group that finished first and most accurately received points. Then the two groups were pitted against each other in a board race for further points. The winners were promised their choice of Starbucks beverages at the beginning of next class.
We then learned about the Roman Empire and its interactions with ancient Germany in the 1st Century AD. It was a quick little introduction; we covered the basics overview at first, what the Roman Empire looked like at that time under Augustus, what life was like for an average Roman, and most importantly how the Romans tended to treat other nations.
This lead to a "think - learn - do": we webbed out associations with Rome and how the kids thought they would treat their neighbors, then went into a lecture/discussion about what it was ACTUALLY like, followed by the mixed reactions to Roman incursions on the part of ancient Germanians.
The high point of the class was when one student chimed in, "There were no good guys or bad guys. It's all perspective!" I was so proud.
After comparing lifestyles and cultures of Imperial Romans and the teutonic tribes, we then spent our time using the vocab from earlier to design both Roman Villas and Germanic steads (huts + farms). The class voted on the best two, and those are what we will make in class next week. I will make a run to Hobby Lobby for felt, popsicle sticks, paper and hot glue, but if you have any of the above lying around, please feel encouraged to donate them to the cause of creative anarchy for next week!
Homework for the week:
DECORATE THE CLASSROOM!
Choose two of the following to make at home and then bring to class to decorate the walls:
- Germanic or Roman swords, helmets, armor, spears
- Maps of Germania or the Roman Empire
- Roman-style Tapestries
- Fake "animal skin" rugs, wall hangings or beds
Also great but not required would be any posters, prints, or printouts of pictures of anything Imperial Roman, e.g. maps, busts of Caesar, and so forth.
The room will be divided into the "Germania" side and the "Rome" side with the Rhein running down the center.
My recommendations for making things such as weapons would be to cut shapes out of cardboard (like from boxes), then color and cover with either foil, glitter, or colored paper. Wonderful Roman pyla (cavalry spears) can be made from 5-6 paper towel rolls taped together with a cardboard spear tip at the top.
