A Unit Study of Ancient Rome

A study on ancient Rome can be thrilling and a very fulfilling unit. Here are some resources and hands-on activities to help you get underway. In the general resources you will find several activity books that have wonderful ideas that you can use to expand and enhance your study. Several of the websites also have activities for all ages levels, including adult, that are fun and educational.

GENERAL RESOURCES:

TS Denison has an activity book entitled Ancient Civilizations: Rome that is great for this unit. It has cross-curricular activities, reproducible activity pages, and come with over 170 incentive stickers. ISBN 513-02189-2-2. Its part of their Time Traveler series written for grades 3-6. The activities are scaleable for any age in my opinion; however, many activities stress thinking skills and will need to be modified for the much younger student.

Ancient Rome Activity Book in the Hands On Heritage series published by EduPress is another good addition to this study. ISBN 1-56472-032-2. This book has a lot of fun learning activities incorporating crafts and cooking. You'll also cover different aspects of everyday Roman life such as Latin, clothing, law, mythology, and athletic games.

Ancient Rome. By Simon James. Rome springs to life in this examination of religion and gods, masters and slaves, farming, architecture, government, Roman life, and other topics. Full-page overlays show a town house, a bath house, a theater, and a fort. 1992.

Ancient Rome. This cross-curricular activity book sketches out crafts ideas (how to make a Roman mansion out of a cereal box, for instance), supplies reproducible student handouts (such as math problems using Roman numerals or diagrams for building miniature catapults and battering rams), and offers teachers basic background readings on Roman society. Sample activities: enact a Readers Theatre play about the murder of Julius Caesar, create an ancestor mask, build a model arch, stew up some Roman candy. A colorful 20"h x 31"w poster maps the Roman world in AD117. Grades 4-8. Scholastic. 80 pages. 2000.

Ancient Rome. Individuals or teacher teams can use this complete, in-depth resource to implement an interdisciplinary program. Grades 5-8. Teacher Created Materials. 176 pages. 1998.

Classical Kids. More than 100 hands-on activities show how ancient Greek and Roman civilizations contributed to our present-day world. Abundantly illustrated chapters with brief background readings cover ancient clothing, food, crafts, arts, games, reading, writing, and math. Activities include: crafting stone pendants, drama masks, paper mosaics, pulleys, and sandals; making Latin small talk; writing fables; experimenting with numbers and ciphers; and creating ancient foods such as spinach triangles, olive rolls, and sesame circles. Grades 2-7.

DK Eyewitness Ancient Rome ISBN: 0789457881.

Here is a list of books recommended on Ancient Rome for children. There is a list of 10.

WEB RESOURCES:

Kid Info's site on Ancient Rome. Lots of good links here.

This teachers.net site is an amazing source of information. There are hundreds of links including a section on Judaism and Christianity. A word of warning is in order. I've check the main links that I've posted in my unit studies; however, any subsequent links out may be broken or to possibly inappropriate sites, especially in a site of this size. Please, always check out a website before your children get to it.

The Roman Empire in Africa

Roman Life

Ancient Rome

Historicial Personae is a site with links to studying various people of import to the Ancient Roman era

World Civilizations: Rome is a site that has several useful links to study this time period

Ancient Rome

Site on Roman topics

Ancient Rome educational site that is set up in a webquest style. Very full of useful info.

Ancient Rome Webquest Rome: The Past is Present

BBC Education page on Ancient Rome

A fun page called Larth the Etruscan

Daily Life in Ancient Rome #1
Daily Life in Ancient Rome #2

Roman Government

Homework Helpers for Ancient History

Women of Ancient Rome #1
Women of Ancient Rome #2

Photos of Ancient Rome

Marriage in Ancient Rome

Chronological history of Ancient Rome with some links

Slavery in Ancient Rome

This is an interesting digital reconstruction of some Ancient Roman sites.

Study the ancient culture of Rome. Includes some comments from the Gospel of Mark:

Rome: Republic to Empire

Dead Romans

PREPARED LESSON PLANS:

http://members.aol.com/DonnAnCiv/RomanReforms.html
http://members.aol.com/Donnpages/Ideas.html#ROME
http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/RomeTest.html
http://www.discoverlearning.com/classroom/daybook/search_for_daybook.cfm (search for lesson #354)
http://score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/rome/rome.html
http://www.trinity.edu/departments/education/TCKC/3rome95.htm



ACTIVITIES:

1. Take a virtual guided tour of Pompeii's Ruins and other Ancient Roman sites. This has a lesson plan to go with it:
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/990218thursday_print.html
http://www.ancientsites.com/as/rome/academy/tours/index.html

2. Study Shakespeare's tragedy Julius Caesar:
http://www.classzone.com/lol_demo/center/10/ceas_pl.htm
http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/resrcs/lessons/6.htm
http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/lausd/resources/shakespeare/caesarwebguide.html
http://www.westga.edu/~kidreach/caesar.html

3. Participate in a Roman Thinkquest:
http://library.thinkquest.org/11402/home_intro.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/17740/
http://library.thinkquest.org/26602/monarchy.htm

4. Play board games popular in the Roman times:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/roma/rbgames.html

Also, here is a site for Roman ball games:
http://www.personal.psu.edu/users/w/x/wxk116/romeball.html

5. Cooking: Look at some authentic Ancient Roman dishes....would you eat this? There are modern recipes attached for each selection.
http://www.mit.edu/people/wchuang/cooking/recipes/Roman/

6. Study the ancient roots of some modern holidays:
http://members.aol.com/Donnpages/Holidays.html

7. Study the dress of the Ancient Roman era...not everyone wore togas. Here is a site that should help:
http://www.costumes.org/pages/fashiondress/ancientworld.htm
http://www.costumes.org/pages/timelinepages/ancientrome1.htm

8. Geography and map skills: The Ancient Roman Empire grew and shrunk several times. Study the topography and land area that the Roman Empire encompasses. Also, study some city maps.
http://www.jmiller.demon.co.uk/

9. Architecture: study the architecture of Rome. One way to do this is to look at pictures of Roman ruins:
http://http.cs.berkeley.edu/~jhauser/pictures/history/Rome/Rome/index.html

10. Science: Study the advances of the sciences in ancient Roman times.

11. Geology: Study Vesuvius and how it affected ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum and how this volcano is still affecting people today.

12. Language: Study Latin. Check out a Latin primer from the library and write an original paragraph or try and translate a simple piece from English to Latin or vice versa.

13. Make a Fresco. The homes in ancient Rome were often brightly painted with pictures to make the rooms seem larger.

VIDEOS:

Spartacus. Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Based on historical fact, this spectacular production tells how the gladiator Spartacus united his fellow slaves and rebelled against Republican Rome. Set against a backdrop of gladiatorial combats, Senate orations, and classic military formations, the drama brings ancient Rome to life while raising timeless issues such as tyranny as a means of bringing about "order," and how the institution of slavery is enforced. The all-star cast includes Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, and Woody Strode. Color. 196 Teaching guide for this movie available at:
http://www.teachwithmovies.org/guides/spartacus.html

National Geographic has a couple of videos out on Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. They are worth the effort to find.

FICTION/NON-FICTION:

The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henty
Rome Antics by David MacCaulay
City by David MacCaulay
Ancient Rome, History Beneath Your Feet by Sean Sheehan
Daughter of Earth: A Roman Myth by Gerald McDermott
The Secrets of Vesuvius by Sara C. Bisel


For more selections, ask your librarian for some assistance or use an electronic card catalog and refine your search to juvenile fiction or young adult fiction and Ancient Rome. See also the recommended book section of this website.

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