Student: Ryan Mulholland

Course: Student Teaching

Grade: 9
Content Area: Social Studies

Field Supervisor: Dorothy Garvin

Date: December 3, 2015
Topic: Golden Age of Athens

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVE(S)
After completing a write-pair-share activity where students write their definition of a golden age, then
discuss their answers with their partners and the class, students will relate that definition to the
Golden Age of Athens and will work in groups to read about the father of the Golden Age, Pericles,
and will answer reading comprehension questions with 80 percent accuracy. Students will then view
a Google Slides presentation about the contributions of different Golden Age figures and will be
responsible for filling in the blanks on their notes sheet, and will receive a homework assignment
assessing them on the same topic. Lastly, students will fill out an exit ticket before leaving class
which will inform the teacher of 1 new thing they learned during class.

STANDARDS AND INDICATORS FROM NEW YORK STATE

COMMON CORE LEARNING STANDARDS
Social Studies Standard (NYS) #2: World History
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas,
eras, themes, developments, and turning points in world history and examine the broad sweep of
history from a variety of perspectives.
Indicator: This will be evident as the students will demonstrate their understanding of the importance
of Pericles to the creation of the Golden Age of Athens during a reading activity, and when they fill
in their notes sheet on the contributions of Golden Age figures.
Social Studies Standard (NYS) #3: Geography
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the geography
of the interdependent world in which we livelocal, national, and globalincluding the distribution
of people, places, and environments over the Earths surface.
Indicator: This will be evident as the students are shown a map of Athens and are able to visually
understand the location of Athens and how it relates to the rest of Ancient Greece.

English Language Arts and Literacy (NYS): Speaking and Listening (SL 7.1)
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one on-one, in groups, and teacher-led)
with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others ideas and expressing
their own clearly.
Indicator:
This will be evident when students work together on a Write-Pair-Share activity, and to
answer questions during their reading activity.

Council for Exceptional Children Standards

CEC Initial Preparation Standard 2: Learning Environments
2.1 Beginning special education professionals through collaboration with general educators and other
colleagues create safe, inclusive, culturally responsive learning environments to engage individuals
with exceptionalities in meaningful learning activities and social interactions
CEC Initial Preparation Standard 3: Curricular Content Knowledge
3.1 Beginning special education professionals understand the central concepts, structures of the
discipline, and tools of inquiry of the content areas they teach and can organize this knowledge,
integrate cross-disciplinary skills, and develop meaningful learning progressions for individuals with
exceptionalities

MOTIVATION
The teacher will start off with a thought-provoking Write-Pair-Share activity that will encourage
students to come up with their own definition of the Golden Age, and will relate the Golden Age of
Athens to something they are familiar with, for example, the Golden Age of technology or the
Golden Age of hip-hop.
MATERIALS

Smart Board
Golden Age of Pericles readings
Golden Age of Athens notes sheets
Exit Slip
Our Heritage from Ancient Greece homework

STRATEGIES

Write-Pair-Share: The teacher will start off with a thought-provoking Write-Pair-Share

activity that will encourage students to come up with their own definition of the Golden Age,
and will relate the Golden Age of Athens to something they are familiar with, for example,
the Golden Age of technology or the Golden Age of hip-hop.
Cooperative Learning: Students will work together in groups in order to answer their reading
comprehension questions following the Golden Age of Pericles reading.
Exit Ticket: At the end of the class, each student will write down one new thing that they
learned during class today.

ADAPTATIONS
Throughout the lesson, including the group activity the teacher will constantly be assisting those in
the class that are struggling or falling behind on activities. For the reading activity, the teacher will
assist by directing the student to the numbered paragraph where the answer might be found, and
during the filling in the blanks activity, the teacher will actively monitor that students are following
along and have not fallen behind.
DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION
Tier 1: Students will be given a Golden Age of Pericles reading assignment, with each
paragraph numbered. If students struggle to find answers to the reading comprehension
questions, then the teacher will help direct them to the numbered paragraph where it might be
found.
Tier 2: Students will be given a Golden Age of Pericles reading assignment, with each
paragraph numbered. The reading comprehension questions will also tell the students what
paragraph the answer can be found in.
Tier 3: Students will be given a Golden Age of Pericles reading assignment, with each
paragraph numbered. The reading comprehension questions will also tell the students what
paragraph the answer can be found in.
DEVELOPMENTAL PROCEDURES
Developmental Procedures include Activities and Key Questions.

Students will read the Golden Age of Pericles reading as a class, and then will work in groups
to answer 2 reading comprehension questions each. There will be 5 groups, accounting for
the 10 questions. Students will then report back to the class.
o What were some of Pericles main goals?
o Did Pericles always have the support of the citizens?
o Is Pericles legacy still felt in Athens today?
The teacher will present a Google Slides presentation on key figures of the Golden Age of
Athens. Students will follow along by filling in the blanks on the notes sheet that will
replicate the language of the notes on the presentation.
o Who were the key contributors to Philosophy, Government, Art, Architecture,
Literature, Science and Medicine, and what did they specifically accomplish?
Students will complete an exit ticket before they depart class, which will be handed to the
teacher.
o What is one new thing you learned today?
Students will receive a homework assignment with a brief reading and matching activity, and
one deeper thinking question, regarding key figures during the Golden Age of Athens.
o What did some of the key figures during the Golden Age of Athens accomplish?
o In which area do you think the Greeks made their greatest contributions, and why?

ASSESSMENT
Students will be assessed during the group activity as each group will present 2 answers to the class,
in order to assess their reading comprehension skills. Students will also fill out an exit ticket which
will determine what they learned during class.

INDEPENDENT PRACTICE
Students will receive a homework assignment with a brief reading and matching activity, and one
deeper thinking question, regarding key figures during the Golden Age of Athens.
FOLLOW-UP: ACADEMIC INTERVENTION AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT
Academic Intervention:
The teacher will be available for extra help in the morning in order to help students complete their
homework assignment.
Academic Enrichment:
Research 2 other Golden Ages that occurred throughout history and compare their accomplishments
to the Golden age of Athens in a one-page paper, 12 point font, Times New Roman, double-spaced.

TEACHER REFERENCES
AventaLearning.com: Golden Age of Pericles. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:
http://aventalearning.com/content168staging/APWorldHistorya/course_home/teachers/resources/Ho
me_Work/Week_6_Chapter_4_home_work.pdf
Britannica.com: Aristarchus of Samos: Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Aristarchus-of-Samos
ClassicalWriting.com: Aesop and Homer Literature Selections: Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:
http://www.classicalwriting.com/Literature_Aesop_Homer.htm
History.com: Herodotus. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from http://www.history.com/topics/ancienthistory/herodotus
Montville.net: Our Heritage of Ancient Green. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:
http://www.montville.net/cms/lib3/NJ01001247/Centricity/Domain/412/Our%20Heritage%20from%
20Ancient%20Greece%20WS.pdf

Sophocles.net: Aeschylus; Sophocles. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:

http://www.sophocles.net/listingview.php?listingID=39
Watson.org: The Glory that was Greece. Retrieved November 30, 2015 from:
http://www.watson.org/~leigh/philo.html

The Golden Age of Pericles

1 Perhaps the most splendid days of the ancient Greek city of Athens
took place during the time of Pericles, one of the most influential
leaders in the history of Greece. Pericles did not rule directly over
the people as a dictator. Instead, he used his eloquent speaking
ability and sense of judgment to gain support for his plans and
programs in the city of Athens. Deeply dedicated to his home city,
Pericles made use of his words to bring about change and encourage
prosperity of Athens.
2 Pericles had many advantages in early life that would help in his
future political career. Born the son of an Athenian fleet commander, Pericles had the
connections, wealth, and family prestige to use for his benefit. He studied under various
famous Greek philosophers, most notably the Athenian scientist and mathematician
Anaxagoras. His desire to serve his homeland led him to pursue high office.
3 During this time, Athens was already one of the more powerful city-states of Greece. Having
won an outstanding victory against the Persian Fleet during the Persian wars, Athenss
military strength was undeniable. Furthermore, the government of Athens had undergone
many changes over the years, transforming from an aristocratic-based government to a more
democratic government with a constitution.
4 Meanwhile, Pericles was already experiencing great success, having gained the position of
statesmen around 460 B.C. He made a bold move by shifting his loyalties from the noble
families who ruled Athens to the common citizens of Athens, urging the participation of all
citizens in the government.
5 Athens made peace with the Persians and various other rival Greek cities. Having dealt with
enemies both within and without, Pericles could bring about many changes to the Athenian
government and improvements to the city of Athens.
6 Pericless thirty years as leader is known as The Golden Age of Pericles. Since the city had
suffered great damage during the Persian Wars, much of Pericless work involved rebuilding
of the city. Pericles gave the task of rebuilding to many of the poorer citizens of Athens; while
he favored helping the poor, he sought to do so by giving them occupations rather than merely
granting them charity. Many of the beautiful structures of Athens were built during this time,

but most of the work focused on the rebuilding and repairing of temples, including the
Acropolis. One of the more splendid temples built during this time was the Parthenon, a
beautiful piece of architecture that served as the jewel of Athens for many years. Dedicated to
the Greek goddess Athena, it featured a 38-foot tall bronze statue of the goddess that had been
created by Phidias, an artist friend of Pericles.
7 Pericles also brought about change to the flow of Athenian government and made it more of a
democracy. He did this in several ways. One of his early reforms was a new standard for
citizenship; in order to become a citizen, one had to have two parents of Athenian birth as a
requirement. This new policy favored the common citizens, seeing as how the well-traveled
aristocrats and merchants tended to marry foreigners more often. Another measure Pericles
took, this time through the popular vote of the city, was the practice of paying members of a
jury for their time served. Again, this benefited the lower classes, who could now afford to
take time off from their other occupations to serve in the Athenian judicial system.
8 Despite the immediate benefits of Pericless building programs and governmental reforms,
problems began to surface. Owing to the vast expenses of Pericless projects, Athens was
forced to rely on money from its weaker Greek allies. This caused a great deal of annoyance
on the part of the allies, who were paying the money to Athens for military purposes, not for
domestic affairs. An Athenian official named Thucydides accused Pericles of using the money
improperly, and although he was eventually ostracized in 443, the allies of Athens grew ever
more resentful of Athens prosperity at their expense. While Pericles effectively used
diplomacy to stave off massive war for thirty years, conflict still loomed.
9 In 431 B.C., Sparta formed its own alliance and declared war against Athens and its allies,
precipitating what became known as the Peloponnesian War. Though Pericles soon managed
to regain his position as statesman, he would not live to make any further reforms. Soon after
his re-election, in 429 BC, he died of the plague that had struck the city. Athens never truly
recovered its former glory, and the Spartans conquered the city in 404.
10 Pericless vision, wisdom, and skill in the art of politics served Athens well for many years,
but his Golden Age eventually came to an end. Most of the buildings of Athens have
crumbled or been destroyed, including the glorious Parthenon. As wise as Pericles may have
been, even his works did not last forever.

Name ___________________________________________ Date _______________

Reading Comprehension Questions: After reading, answer these questions about Pericles and the
Golden Age of Athens.
1. How did Pericles convince the people of Athens to follow his reforms and ideas? (pgh 1)

2. What advantages did Pericles have that many others did not have? (Pgh 2)

3. Who did Pericles shift his loyalties to during the 460s BC? (pgh 4)

4. How did Pericles help the poor during the Golden Age? (pgh 6)

5. What buildings / structures were built during the Golden Age? (pgh 6)

6. How did Pericles reform the government to make it more democratic (involve more of the people)
during this time? (pgh 7)

7. What did Pericles do that may have caused other city-states to resent (become angry at) Athens? (pgh
8)

8. What happened to Pericles? How did he die? (pgh 9)

9. Can you still see the magnificent buildings and temples constructed during the Golden Age of Pericles
today? (pgh 10)

10. How long approximately was Pericles reign as statesman? (pghs 4 and 9)

Name__________________________Date___________________

Exit Ticket: What is something NEW you learned today?