Students explore the rise and fall of the ancient Roman Empire and Roman civilization, its various leaders, routines, and rituals, while practicing multiple informational reading strategies.
In this unit students explore the rise and fall of the ancient Roman Empire. Over the course of the unit, students learn about different characteristics of the Roman Empire, what lead to the Empire’s growth and success, and what eventually lead to the Empire’s demise. Through learning about the daily routines, structures, and rituals of the Roman Empire, students will be challenged to draw conclusions about what the civilization valued and how those values compare to societal values today. This unit builds onto the 2nd grade nonfiction unit on ancient Greece, in which students began to think about how the daily routines, structures, and rituals of a civilization show what they value. This unit, in conjunction with the second grade unit on ancient Greece, will help students understand early influences in the world and the first republics.
The mentor texts for this unit, Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House and Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome, allow students to practice multiple informational reading strategies in two very different text structures. In both texts, but predominately in Eye Wonder, students will practice using a multitude of text features and illustrations as a way of learning new information about a topic. Over the course of this unit, students will constantly be thinking about how the information from one text builds on and connects to the information in the other text. Then at the end of the unit, students will be asked to critically analyze the similarities and differences between the two texts.
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Book: Ancient Rome and Pompeii: A Nonfiction Companion to Magic Tree House #13 by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce (Random House Books for Young Readers) (April 2006) — 750L
Book: Eye Wonder: Ancient Rome (DK Children, 4th edition, 2004)
Article: “Roman Class Structure”
Article: “The Fall of the Roman Empire” (Readworks.org)
Resource: Recommended Texts for Independent Reading (Grade 3 Unit 1)
See Text Selection Rationale
These assessments accompany this unit to help gauge student understanding of key unit content and skills. Additional progress monitoring suggestions are included throughout the unit.
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Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 13 – 18
RI.3.2
RI.3.3
RI.3.5
Describe how the Roman Army shaped the future of the Roman Empire.
Ancient Rome pp. 4 – 11
RI.3.2
RI.3.3
RI.3.5
RI.3.7
Explain how the author uses different text features and illustrations to describe how the Roman Empire was founded.
Writing
L.3.1.f
L.3.1.i
Make sentences better and more informative by adding more details.
Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 41 – 54
RI.3.2
RI.3.3
Explain why the Romans were always ready for war.
Ancient Rome pp. 12 – 15
RI.3.2
RI.3.5
RI.3.7
Explain how the text features and illustrations help build a deeper understanding of the Roman army.
Writing
Ancient Rome and Pompeii
Ancient Rome
RI.3.3
L.3.1
L.3.1.h
Write multiple sentences using the conjunction because to explain how powerful and organized the Roman army was.
“Roman Class Structure”
Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 19 – 23
RI.3.2
RI.3.5
Describe the three groups of people in ancient Rome and explain why they were important for the success of the civilization.
Ancient Rome pp. 34 – 35
RI.3.3
RI.3.5
RI.3.7
Describe what life was like for enslaved people in the Roman Empire.
Writing
“Roman Class Structure”
Ancient Rome and Pompeii
Ancient Rome
RI.3.3
L.3.1
L.3.1.h
L.3.1.i
Write multiple sentences using the conjunctions but and so to explain why each role in society was important.
Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 24 – 37
RI.3.2
RI.3.7
Describe what the chapter “The Eternal City” is mostly about and why the structures described were important in Ancient Rome.
Ancient Rome pp. 24 – 27
RI.3.2
RI.3.5
Explain how the author uses different text features and illustrations to support the idea that gladiators and bath houses were an important part of Roman society.
Ancient Rome — 16–17, 20–21, 22–23
RI.3.2
RI.3.7
Explain what life was like in ancient Rome and what daily routines and structures show us about what ancient Romans valued.
Ancient Rome — 28–29, 30–31, 32–33
RI.3.2
RI.3.5
RI.3.7
Explain what life was like in ancient Rome and what daily routines and structures show us about what ancient Romans valued.
Writing
Ancient Rome
RI.3.3
L.3.1.f
L.3.1.h
L.3.1.i
Write multiple sentences using the conjunctions "because," "but," and "so" to explain what life was like in Ancient Rome.
Ancient Rome pp. 38 – 41
RI.3.3
RI.3.7
Explain the role that gods, worship, trade and transportation played in the Roman Empire.
Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 55 – 67
RI.3.2
RI.3.3
Describe Hannibal, Julius Caesar, and Octavian, including what type of leaders they were and why.
“The Fall of the Roman Empire”
RI.3.3
Explain what caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
Ancient Rome and Pompeii pp. 103 – 104
Ancient Rome pp. 42 – 45
RI.3.3
Explain the significance of the heading “The empire lives on."
Ancient Rome and Pompeii
RI.3.9
Compare and contrast both unit texts by comparing and contrasting the most important key details presented in both texts.
Discussion
Ancient Rome and Pompeii
Ancient Rome
SL.3.1
SL.3.1.a
SL.3.1.d
Discuss and debate unit-essential questions by stating a claim and using evidence from multiple texts to support and defend the claim.
Assessment
4 days
Informative Writing
W.3.2
W.3.2.a
W.3.2.b
W.3.7
W.3.8
L.3.2.f
Research another ancient Rome topic and create a brochure and visual representation to show what you learned.
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