Students read about the daily routines, structures, and rituals of ancient Greece, and are challenged to draw conclusions about what the civilization valued and how that compares to today's society.
A note from our team: As part of the upgrade to Fishtank Plus, this unit will be revised this year. See which texts and materials will change as part of the revision in this guide to our 2nd Grade text adjustments.
In this unit students explore ancient Greece. Over the course of the unit students learn and explore different characteristics of ancient Greece and its values. Through learning about the daily routines, structures, and rituals of ancient Greece, students will be challenged to draw conclusions about what the civilization valued and how those values compare to society today. Students will also learn about many different gods and analyze the role gods played in ancient Greek society. At the end of the unit students will be challenged to compare and contrast the role of the Olympics in ancient Greek society with the modern-day Olympics. It is our hope that this unit, in conjunction with others in the sequence, will help students understand early influences in the world.
The mentor text for this unit, Ancient Greece and the Olympics, allows students to practice multiple informational reading strategies independently and in partners. Over the course of the unit students will practice the spiraling strategies of determining the main topic and details, using context clues to figure out unknown words, analyzing illustrations, and using text features to deepen understanding of a text. An additional focus of this unit is on describing how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text. Over the entire unit students should be challenged to think critically about the reasons authors include in a text to support a particular point and why those reasons support the point. Another focus of this unit is on comparing and contrasting the most important points presented across two texts on the same topic. It is important to note that in order for students to successfully analyze authors’ use of reasons and to compare and contrast across texts, students must be able to determine key details. Plan small-group remediation or reteach for students who are still struggling with this concept.
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Book: Ancient Greece and the Olympics: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce (Random House Books for Young Readers, 2004) — 590L
Book: Growing Up in Ancient Greece by Chris Chelepi (Troll Communications,1997) — 900L
Book: The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus by Aliki (HarperCollins, 1997)
Book: The Olympics: Past and Present by Katherine Follett and David Dreier (Reading A-Z) — 651-730L
See Text Selection Rationale
This assessment accompanies this unit and should be given on the suggested assessment day or after completing the unit.
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The writing about reading focus area in this unit is on answering the question correctly and selecting and explaining details. In this unit, students work on using the best evidence, particularly in lessons that push students to notice what the author is trying to teach. This does not mean that students should be quoting from the text or that students should be told to always include two details. Instead, students should learn how to include details that help answer the question correctly. Most often those details should be in their own words. Student work should be scored using our Short Answer Rubric.
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compare, contrast
rule, citizen, rival, democracy, worship, please, resist, stored, gather, seldom, sacrifices, attached, inspect, occasion, culture, inspire, admire, oath, philosophy, vase, artifact, honor, compete, obey, truce, sacrifice, javelin, discus, long jump, wrestling, brutal, tense, modern, devote, athletes
“getting even”
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Ancient Greece and... — Chapter 1
RI.2.2
Describe Athens and Sparta and what was similar and different about the two city-states by identifying the main focus of specific paragraphs within a text.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 21 – 25
RI.2.8
Identify and explain the evidence an author uses to support the idea that “religion was a big part of Greek life” by identifying and describing how reasons support particular points the author makes in a text.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 26 – 37
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Describe two gods and what made them unique by identifying and explaining details the author includes to support the main points in a text.
The Gods and Goddesses... — (pp. 18–40 selected gods)
RI.2.2
RI.2.6
RI.2.9
Describe two gods and what made them unique by identifying and explaining details the author includes to support the main points in a text.
The Gods and Goddesses... — (pp. 18–40 selected gods)
RI.2.2
RI.2.6
RI.2.9
Describe two gods and what made them unique by identifying and explaining details the author includes to support the main points in a text.
Writing
RI.2.9
W.2.2
W.2.8
Write a biography of one of the Greek gods by using facts and details from the text to write an informational text with a strong introduction, details from the text, and a conclusion.
Ancient Greece and... — (Chapter 3, 39–46)
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Analyze the evidence the author includes to support the statement “The ancient Greeks had busy lives” by identifying and describing how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
Ancient Greece and... — (Chapter 3, 47–56)
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Explain how ancient Greeks loved learning, fun, and beauty by identifying and describing how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
Growing Up In... pp. 4 – 13
RI.2.8
RI.2.9
Analyze how the evidence from Growing Up in Ancient Greece builds on information from Ancient Greece and the Olympics by comparing the most important information presented by two texts on the same topic.
Growing Up In... pp. 16 – 25
RI.2.8
RI.2.9
Analyze how the evidence from Growing Up in Ancient Greece builds on information from Ancient Greece and the Olympics by comparing the most important information presented by two texts on the same topic.
Writing
RI.2.9
W.2.2
W.2.8
SL.2.1
Explain what life was like in ancient Greece by writing an informational text with a strong introduction, details from the text, and a conclusion.
Writing
W.2.3
Write a journal entry describing what life would be like in ancient Greece by using a narrative structure to retell important events and ideas about life in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 57 – 65
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Explain the statement “The ancient Greeks left gifts for the whole world to enjoy” by identifying and describing how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
Project
RI.2.7
SL.2.5
Using information from the video and book, recreate a Greek vase to show a detailed illustration of life in ancient Greece.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 69 – 80
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Explain how and why the Olympics became the most popular festival in Greece by identifying the main topic and details within a text.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 81 – 87
RI.2.6
RI.2.8
Defend if the Olympics were important to everyone in ancient Greece by identifying the reasons an author states to support a point.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 89 – 99
RI.2.2
Describe two different Olympic events by identifying the main focus of specific paragraphs and the key details within them.
Writing
W.2.2
W.2.8
Explain what took place during the Olympics in ancient Greece by writing an informational text with a strong introduction, details from the text, and conclusion.
Writing
W.2.3
Describe what happens during an Olympic event by using a narrative structure to retell important events and ideas about the early Olympics.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 101 – 101
RI.2.2
RI.2.8
Explain why the author says, “When the winners returned home, they were greeted like heroes,” by analyzing and describing how reasons from the entire text support specific points the author makes in a text.
Project
RI.2.7
SL.2.5
Using information from the unit, recreate a Greek vase to show a detailed illustration of an Olympic event.
Ancient Greece and... pp. 105 – 109
RI.2.8
Defend if the Olympic Games of today are exactly the same as the early Olympic Games by explaining the reasons an author gives to support a point in a text.
The Olympics pp. 1 – 9
RI.2.9
Describe how the evidence in The Olympics: Past and Present builds on information from Ancient Greece and the Olympics by comparing and contrasting the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
The Olympics pp. 10 – 17
RI.2.3
RI.2.9
Describe how the Olympic Games have changed over time by sequencing details and retelling the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
Writing
RI.2.9
W.2.2
Describe how the Olympic Games have changed by writing an informational text with a strong introduction, details from the text, and a conclusion.
Writing
W.2.2
SL.2.1
SL.2.6
L.2.6
Debate and discuss unit essential questions by stating a claim and supporting it with evidence from the entire unit.
All unit vocabulary
L.2.5
L.2.6
Distinguish shades of meaning among closely related verbs and closely related adjectives by sorting and interacting with target unit vocabulary.
Assessment
4 days
Project
Project materials
RI.2.10
SL.2.3
SL.2.5
SL.2.6
Research and present on a specific aspect of Ancient Greek society.