by Jalen Brown
The past week and a half of Ancient Civilizations has been wonderful. The students in our class have been working extremely hard and learning a great deal. During these first two weeks, we primarily focused on Greek culture, the rise and fall of Greece, and the rise of the Roman Empire. Specific topics have included including the Peloponnesian War, the Hellenistic Age, Greek mythology, the Persian Wars, and much more.
During the Greek unit, the students participated in simulations of daily Greek life where they were grouped together into different Greek city-states. In each group they debated different political issues such as equal rights for Greek citizens, establishing new colonies, regulating trade between city-states, and establishing peace treaties in times of war. Also, each group has been tasked to make a commercial for its city-state which they will present within the next few days. Lastly, as part of our study of mythology, we have been reading Homer’s Odyssey, one of the most popular works of Greek literature.
During the final week we will begin to cover more of the Roman Empire and link both civilizations to modern-day culture. As you can tell, the students here have had a very busy schedule! I have had a wonderful time working with these students and look forward to the remainder of my time with this class.