Lesson Plan

Lesson Title:​ Athens: A Structured Academic Controversy

Grade Level and Course: ​Grade 9
Time Segment of Lesson:​ 100 - 150 minutes

Standard(s) Addressed in Lesson:

I have provided the curriculum connections for both Common Core and AERO. A teacher
should adjust the learning objectives depending on the curriculum.

Curriculum Objective of the Lesson/Students will be able to:

Framework

Common Core Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8​ Assess the extent to which the
reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9​ Compare and contrast treatments of
the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

AERO Standard 6 - Government

6.12.c. Evaluate issues regarding distribution of powers and
responsibilities within political systems
6.12.f Analyze how and why political institutions distribute benefits and
burdens.

ISTE for Empowered Learner:

Educators 1c - Use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their
practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
Creative Communicator:
6d - Publish or present content that customizes the message and
medium for their intended audiences.

Lesson Driving Question: ​Was ancient Athens truly democratic?

Formative and/or Summative Assessments

The following activity can be used as either formative or summative assessment. During the
lesson, students in groups will develop a 3 minute Flip Grid video along with 4-8 shorter
responses to their classmates. Use the following rubric to evaluate the initial video posting for
Flip Grid.

1
 Historical Thinking Skills Rubric
Because FlipGrid limits the number of characters, the below rubric has been adapted from the
Historical Thinking rubric developed by the UMBC Center for History Education.

Strategy or Concept Success Criteria

Close Critical Reading Questions the authors claims, cites examples of authors use
Reading (1-4) of language, & seeks answers to unanswered questions

Sourcing (1-4) Understands the meaning of sources, cites a document, evaluates

the reliability of a document.

Strategies/ Corroboration Constructs interpretation of events using info and

Procedural (1-4) perspectives in multiple sources. Corroborates different
Concepts accounts.

Claim (1-4) Formulates a plausible interpretation, argument, or claim

based on the evaluation of evidence

Contextualizing Applies prior and new knowledge to determine historical

(1-4) setting of sources. Uses that to interpret source within
context

Evidence (1-4) Justifies claims using appropriate direct evidence from a

variety of reliable sources.

Required Prior Knowledge

● Students should be able to:
○ Identify the different political systems that developed in the Greek city-states
(oligarchy, direct democracy) along with other traditional political systems (see
vocabulary list)
○ Describe the government of Athens.
○ Explain how Athenian and Spartan governments differed.
● Students should be familiar with the following terms:
https://quizlet.com/_7ltmas?x=1jqt&i=11k5na
○ If needed, include the Pre-training step provided in this lesson plan.

Discussion Questions
The following discussion questions should be used to check for student understanding during
and at the conclusion of the lesson. See step X of the lesson plan.
1. Was ancient Athens truly democratic?
2. What does democracy mean?
3. In what ways was Athens democratic?
4. In what ways was it not democratic?
Materials and Resources for Lesson (Provided by Sheg)
● Sheg Stanford Athenian Democracy PowerPoint (​click here​)
● Sheg Stanford Copies of Docs A-E with Guiding Questions and Graphic Organizer (​click
here​)
● Flip Grid Board (have both the QR Code and the join link available for students)
● Quizlet List: ​https://quizlet.com/_7ltmas?x=1jqt&i=11k5na

Teaching Strategies and Related Student Activities:

Plan of Instruction:

The following plan of instruction follows the proposed lesson plan offered by the Stanford
History Education Group. Any modification to the proposed lesson plan will be labeled to
facilitate identification.

1. MODIFIED​: Pre-training activity. In the case that you assess that your students may
need to deepen their factual knowledge on the different forms of government, have each
student individually access the Quizlet list and study the flashcards. Students can also
play the matching game. Allow the students 5 to 10 minutes to review the terms. Play a
round or two of Quizlet Live to gauge student learning prior to moving onto the next ste.

2. Use the PowerPoint to introduce or review information on Athenian democracy and to

introduce the Central Historical Question.
a. Slide 2:​ Background. In the 6th century BCE, Athens was the site of ongoing
fighting between the rich Athenians, who controlled the government, and poor
Athenians, who were farmers and merchants. In 508 BCE, a wealthy Athenian
named Cleisthenes rose to power in the city-state. The following year, he
introduced a system known as democracy.

b. Slide 3:​ Definition of Democracy. A democracy is a form of government where

political power comes from citizens. The word comes from the Greek demokratia.
Demo means “the people,” and kratia means “power” or “rule.” Athenian
democracy was a direct democracy. This means that citizens were allowed to
vote directly on laws and government actions. This is different from a
representative democracy, in which citizens elect officials to vote on laws. Note:
Depending on students’ prior knowledge of democracy, adjust the amount of time
you spend on this slide. Students need to understand what democracy is in order
to be successful in this lesson.

c. Slide 4:​ Athenian Democracy. The Athenian democratic government was divided
into three branches: the Ekklesia, the Boule, and the Dikasteria.
■ The ​Ekklesia​ was Athens’s main governing body and made the most
important decisions, including voting on laws, deciding whether to go to
war, and determining foreign policy. Any Athenian citizen could attend
and vote in the Ekklesia, which met 40 times per year. Decisions required
a simple majority to pass.
 ■ The ​Boule​ was a council made up of 500 men (50 from each of the 10
Athenian tribes). These men were chosen by lottery and served one year
terms. The Boule made decisions about day-to-day government and
decided what issues should go in front of the Ekklesia.
■ The ​Dikasteria​, or court, was made up of 500 men over 30 years old,
who were chosen by lottery. They decided legal cases by majority rule.
There were no official police or lawyers. Athenian citizens served in these
roles instead.

d. Slide 5:​ Central Historical Question. Now that we’ve learned a little about the
structure of the Athenian government, we’re going to focus for the rest of the
lesson on this Central Historical Question: Was ancient Athens truly democratic?
You’re going to carefully read several sources about this topic and, eventually,
engage with your peers in a dialogue about the question.

3. MODIFIED:​ Divide the class into heterogeneous groups of 4. Then, assign each group to
be either Team A or Team B. Ideally, the class should have equal numbers of groups as
Team A and Team B. Assign each group a Discussion Leader who will help ensure that
each member of the group is actively recording the information on their graphic
organizer. This student should ideally be a student who demonstrated ability and
success in the discipline.

4. MODIFIED: ​Pass out the Primary Source Documents and the Guiding Questions.
Instruct the groups to use the Graphic Organizer to collect data for their side. As a group,
they will read each document and answer the accompanying Guiding Questions. The
Discussion Leader will ensure that each group member is ready prior to proceeding onto
the next document.

5. MODIFIED​: Distribute one copy of the Graphic Organizer to each group. Instruct teams
to use the Graphic Organizer to collect data for their side.
a. Team A argues ancient Athens was truly democratic, and Team B argues ancient
Athens was not truly democratic

6. MODIFIED: ​Instruct the groups that they will engage in an online structured academic
conversation using Flip Grid.
a. Instruct the students that they will need to record a 3 minute video using Flip Grid
to outline the arguments that they have been assigned. Remind the groups that
each student will need to participate in the video.
b. After each group has recorded their video, they will need to respond ONCE to the
videos of the other groups - both for the groups they agree with and disagree
with.
c. After, they need to respond to two of the video responses they received - one in
favor and one against.
d. Review the Historical Thinking Rubric that will be used to assess the quality of
their video responses. See the rubric below.
7. MODIFIED: ​Allow the students to find a space in the classroom or school in which they
are able to record their videos in private. It is suggested that the instructor assigns each
group a space in the school environment to ensure deep and undistracted learning.
While the students are working in their groups, the teacher can accompany the videos
online or circulate the working space to check for understanding.

8. MODIFIED: ​Once each group has completed their video responses and watched the
comments from their colleagues. the group should return and engage in a discussion
amongst their group members using the discussion questions cited above.

9. MODIFIED: ​Upon completing the discussion, the entire class will engage in a discussion
with one member from each group sharing the general conclusions or an observation
they found interesting or relevant.

10. MODIFIED​ - ​Individual Assessment:

a. Option 1:​ To conclude the lesson, each student will individually record their own
video summarizing their actual opinion on whether or not Athens was a truly
democratic. The individual responses should be 2-3 minutes summarizing their
ideas. As an extension, the teacher could prompt further elaborative interrogation
by asking the students to answer the one or more of the following questions in
their final reflection video.
■ How does democracy in ancient Athens compared to democracy in the
United States today?
■ How is the democracy of ancient Athens similar or different to democracy
today?
■ Why was this activity useful to understand government today?
■ Why was this activity useful to better understand about ancient Greece?
b. Option 2: ​To conclude the lesson, each student will individually summarizing
their actual opinion on whether or not Athens was a truly democratic using Go
Formative. Go Formative allows for the students to either type their response or
record audio. The individual responses should be 2-3 minutes or 5 to 8
sentences summarizing their ideas. As an extension, the teacher could prompt
further elaborative interrogation by asking the students to answer the one or
more of the following questions in their final reflection video.
■ How does democracy in ancient Athens compared to democracy in the
United States today?
■ How is the democracy of ancient Athens similar or different to democracy
today?
■ Why was this activity useful to understand government today?
■ Why was this activity useful to better understand about ancient Greece?