Created By: Kaitlyn Coirazza Early River Valley Civilizations Date Developed: 6/12/16

Preliminary Information
LESSON: Early River Valley Civilizations Date of Lesson: 6/13/16
Grade: 6th Course/Subject: ELA/Social Studies
Number of Students: 24
Unit/Theme:Informational Text/Social Studies Period/Time: ELA/Social Studies
Estimated Duration: 75 Minutes
Where in the unit does this lesson occur? Structure(s) or grouping for the lesson (underline any that apply):
Beginning of the unit Whole class
Middle of the unit Small group
End of the unit One-to-one
Other (specify)

1. GOALS: What are your goals for student learning, and why are they appropriate for these
students at this time?
Big Idea or Concept Being Taught

In this lesson, students will read an informational text about an early river valley civilization: Mesopotamia, Yellow River,
Indus River, or the Nile River Valley. Students will determine the main idea and supporting details of the article and then
synthesize the information about the civilization into a short presentation (Tackk) for the class.

Student Learning Goal(s)/Objective(s):

(Identify 1 or 2 goals for students; below your goals state how you will communicate the goals to students.)
Teacher Version:
Students will demonstrate understanding of the Early River Civilization text by determining the main idea and sharing it in
their Tackk presentation.

Students will demonstrate creation by constructing a presentation about an Early River Civilization using Tackk, an online
web tool.

Student Version:
You will determine the main idea of an article about an Early River Civilization.

You will create a Tackk Presentation about your Early River Civilization that includes the main idea of your article.

Standards
(List the Common Core Learning Standards or other discipline-specific standards addressed in this Common lesson.)
Common Core State Standards:
RI.6.2: Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text
distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

NYS Standards: Social Studies

6.3: EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS IN THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE (ca. 3500 B.C.E. ca. 500 B.C.E.): Complex societies
and civilizations developed in the Eastern Hemisphere. Although these complex societies and civilizations have certain
defining characteristics in common, each is also known for unique cultural achievements and contributions. Early human
communities in the Eastern Hemisphere adapted to and modified the physical environment.

6.3C: Mesopotamia, Yellow River valley, Indus River valley, and Nile River valley complex societies and civilizations
adapted to and modified their environment to meet the needs of their population.
 Students will explore how the selected complex societies and civilizations adapted to and modified their
environment to meet their basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter.

2. ASSESSMENT: How will you know and document the extent to which students make
progress towards or meet your goals?
Evidence and Assessment of Student Learning
(How will you know whether students are making progress toward your learning goal[s], and/or how will you assess the
extent to which they have met your goal[s]?)

Students will be assessed on their formal Tackk presentation. Students will receive full credit if they effectively state
the main idea of their article and include all important details about their Early River Civilization. Students will also
be assessed on the quality of their Tackk (visually appealing, easy to read, includes at least 1 picture, order of the
information makes sense) and how well each member of the group participates in the presentation.

3. THE LESSON: How will you support students to meet your goals?
Launch/Hook/Anticipatory Set
(How will you get the lesson started? What questions, texts, inquiry, modeling, and/or other techniques will you use to
engage students?)

Good morning 6th graders! Today, we are going to continue our work with informational text, but we are going to
combine this time with Social Studies so we can learn about Early River Civilizations! Who can tell me what youve
already learned about Early River Valley Civilizations? Students should tell you the basics of all Early River Valley
Civilizations. Great! Who can name the Early River Valley Civilizations? Indus River, Mesopotamia, Nile River, and the
Yellow River. Awesome! Today, were going to dive deeper into these civilizations and learn how the people in these
civilizations had to adapt and modify their environments to meet their basic needs.

Explore/Instructional Strategies
(How will students engage with ideas/texts to develop understandings; what questions will you ask; how will you promote
question generation/discussion; how will you address the academic language demands? Detail your plan. Note: For math
lesson plans, please write or attach every task/problem students will solve during the lesson.)

Were going to break up into 6 groups of 4 people. Each group will be assigned a Early River Valley Civilization. You will
first read an informational article about your civilization. I have paper copies of the articles, but you can choose to use
your iPads or computers to read the articles online if youd like.

When youve finished reading, your group will create a Tackk presentation to present what you learned about the Early
River Civilization. Your presentation will need to include the main idea of the article and supporting details, so you will
need to use what you know about finding the main idea and supporting details in informational text to help you decide
what information to share in your presentation.

Are there any questions so far? If students in your class are not yet familiar with Tackk, teacher will use this time to
show students how to use Tackk. Okay, if there arent any more questions, I will split you into groups so you can get
started! Teacher will split students into predetermined groups, assign them their Early River Civilization, and hand out
articles or urls for students to access.

Teacher will circulate while students are working to help them determine the main idea and to help with the creation of
the Tackks. Teacher will give students time stamps and will stop students with 30 minutes left of the block to begin
presentations.
Closure
(How will you bring closure to the lesson?)

I loved seeing your Tackk presentations today! Turn to someone that was in your group and tell them something you
learned about one of the other Early River Civilizations.

Differentiation/Extension
(How will you address the needs of all learners in this lesson, i.e., how will you respond to diversity among students in such
areas as prior knowledge, ability level, learning needs, cultural background, and English language proficiency?)

Teacher will split groups based on reading level, to ensure students will read text that is accessible for them. Teachers will
also form groups strategically, ensuring that all students will have the opportunity to participate in the collaboration and
presenting of their Early River Civilization (i.e. teacher will not place one quiet student in a group of 3 outgoing, confident
students).

Resources and Materials

Early River Civilization articles (Nile River, Indus River, Yellow River, Mesopotamia)
iPads, computers
Tackk access
Smart Board (for presentations)