Learning Experience Plan

Subject: Social Studies Grade level: 9th

Unit: Ancient History Length of LEP: 3 days

Topic: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Content Standards:

 Students will study the series of events that lead to the Fall of Rome, such as Political instability,
the Empire’s over expansionism, and invasions

Literacy Standards:

 Students will analyze Primary and Secondary Sources in order get insight of the fall of Rome from those
living at the time, as well as from historians
 Students will compare these sources to each other to prove their validity

Learning Experience Outcomes (knowledge/skills) Learning Experience Assessments

Students will:  Do Now
 Learn the causes and outcomes of the Fall  Homework on lesson
of Rome and their significance  Questions to be done in class
 Consider the following reasons for the Fall  Exit Ticket
of Rome: Political, Social, Economic

Materials Day 1

YouTube video Sponge Activity

In-class notes Ancient Roman Music will be played in the background as a map of the Roman
empire at its height is passed around

Anticipatory Set (focus question/s that will be used to get students thinking about the day’s lesson)

What were the causes of the Fall of Rome?

How did these causes affect Roman society?

Ho wee these causes so successful in bringing down the empire?

Activating Prior Knowledge (what information will be shared with/among students to connect to
prior knowledge/experience)

Students will get into groups to discuss among themselves what they already
know about the Fall of Rome

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 Direct Instruction (input, modeling, check for understanding)

I will start the lesson by discussing how one of the main reasons for the Fall of
Rome was invasions by Barbarian tribes. I will discuss the specific ways in which
these tribes created instability throughout the empire. Some of these tribes I
will discuss include:

 Goths
 Saxons
 Huns

Guided Practice (how students will demonstrate their grasp of new learning)

Students will get into groups of three. In these groups, they will imagine
themselves as one of the tribes mentioned in the slides. They will create a
strategy for attacking a group of Roman troops that are being stationed in their
land. In their strategy they will consider.

 How many Roman troops are there

 How many tribal soldiers are there
 How will they go about the attack
 What weapons will they use

Independent Practice (what students will do to reinforce learning of the lesson)

Homework: One paragraph essay on the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths

Day 2

Sponge Activity

Video Students will watch a video on the expansion of Rome

Notes Anticipatory Set

Why did Rome fall due to Over Expansion?

Why wasn’t Rome able to control all this territory?

Was there any way in which Rome could actually keep all this territory without
the Empire collapsing?

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 Activating Prior Knowledge

Students will get into groups and discuss/list what they have learned from the
day before.

Direct Instruction

I will start the lesson by showing a map of Rome and ask the students why they
think the empire fell because of this. They must consider.

 Size of the Empire

 Amount of Roman soldiers
 The areas it conquered

Guided Practice

Students will analyze primary and secondary sources to further understand how
expansion lead to the fall of Rome

Independent Practice

Homework: One paragraph summarizing what we have learned

Day 3

Anticipatory Set

 What was the aftermath of the Fall of Rome?

 Which kingdoms/states emerged from it?

Activating Prior Knowledge

Students will complete a Do-Now, where they will state their opinion by
answering this question: How did the Fall of Rome shape society as we know it.

Direct Instruction

Students will see the affects of the Fall of Rome by analyzing:

 How was society re-built

 Who came to power after the Fall of Rome
 How were these new kingdoms different from Rome

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 Guided Practice

Students will get into groups of three. They will pick any civilization that
emerged from Rome and discuss how were they different from Rome.

Independent Practice

Students will go home and watch a documentary on the Fall of Rome

References: (e.g. Book, course packet, pg #, complete web address URL)

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