Root Word Trees

The meaning of “civilized” is at the heart of this Inquiry Theme’s investigation. Students learn the latin root of this word, and explore related words that stem from the same root. They build vocabulary skills by creating word trees based on the root words of key vocabulary terms students will encounter as they progress through these lessons.

Societies Before the Rise of Civilization

Students investigate life prior to settled society by reading an article about the hunter-gatherer way of life. As they read, they take notes to respond to the guiding question: Before the establishment of Mesopotamian society, the first civilization, did humans have any of the characteristics of civilization?

Introduction to Text Structures

When authors write, they employ a variety of text structures, depending on the information they want to communicate and the purpose of their writing. Students are introduced to 5 common types of text structures in order to build skills in navigating and comprehending complex texts.

Reading a Chronological Text

Students focus on the structure “Sequence and Order,” and more specifically, a chronological text. They apply using clues to identify the text structure. Then they think about how that structure helps them to read with a purpose.

Timeline of Mesopotamia

Students co-create a timeline of Mesopotamian civilization to support understanding of the chronology of various developments in Mesopotamia. Students draw information from an informational text.

Analyzing Maps of the Region

Students investigate maps representing the region where Mesopotamia was located in order to draw conclusions about the conditions for settled civilization. They use a See Think Wonder protocol and respond to the guiding question: How did geographic features influence human settlement?

The Rise of Agriculture

Students conduct a close reading of an informational text to draw conclusions about the connection between geographic features and the rise of agricultural practices.

Respond Reflect Assess (Checkpoint Assessment)

Through this Essential Question, students have explored the geography of Mesopotamia and the connection between geographic features and the development of agriculture, which is considered a key contributing factor to the development of civilization itself. This final lesson may be used as a checkpoint assessment of cumulative learning throughout this Essential Question. Here, students review the connection between geographic features of the region of Mesopotamia and the development of agriculture, and demonstrate their learning by completing a Content Check.