Advice for teachers -
History

Outcome 1

Analyse the features of an ancient society and evaluate how these features developed, interacted and changed.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Egypt (1550–1069 BCE)

• Create a booklet (either hard copy or electronic format) that includes:
  
  • a glossary in which to record key terms
  • a simple ‘quick reference’ timeline in which to record dynastic periods, rulers and key examples of the material record (such as the building programs of Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III, Rameses II and Rameses II) and written sources produced during each rule
  • a map that can be annotated to show key geographical features including Thebes and other key cult and administrative sites, the Nile, the cataracts, trade routes, Egypt’s neighbours, military campaigns and Egypt’s changing boundaries
  • an insert map of the West and East Banks of the Nile at Thebes, indicating key sites such as Karnak, Deir el-Medineh and the Valley of the Kings.
  Update the booklet as the learning progresses.
• Create a plan of the archaeological site of Karnak that can be annotated to identify changes to the temple as part of the building programs of Hatshepsut, Thutmosis III, Rameses II and Rameses III. Explain the significance of these changes in the development of New Kingdom society, including how such changes represented the political expressions of power of the pharaohs.
• Watch Joann Fletcher’s BBC documentary ‘Life and Death in the Valley of the Kings’. Using the example of the architect Kha and his wife, Merit, create a table outlining how their lives and deaths reflected the social, political and economic features of the New Kingdom. Additional material about Kha’s grave goods can be accessed at Images of Deir el-Medina Past and Present.
• Select sections from the tomb of the noble Rekhmire and evaluate what they represent about the social, political and economic features of the New Kingdom (for example: the status of women, artisans, agricultural workers, the civil administration, and commerce and trade). Images can be accessed at Rekhmire TT1000.
• Compare the decoration of tombs of royals (Seti I), nobles (the vizier Rekhmire) and workers of Deri el-Medineh (such as Sennefer) and evaluate their historical significance as representations of the social, political and economic features of life in Thebes during the New Kingdom. Illustrated sources include Tombs of Ancient Egypt and images of Deir el-Medina Past and Present.
• Create a multimedia presentation analysing how the decoration of the tombs of royals, nobles and of the workers at Deir el-Medineh represent differing perspectives of people within the social structure of New Kingdom Egypt.
• 
  Evaluate sources for use as evidence by visiting The Ancient World gallery at the National Gallery of Victoria and applying a source analysis thinking routine such as Form, Content, Context, Function (FCCF) or Summarising, Contextualising, Inferring, Monitoring - Corroboration (SCIM-C) to the analysis of material objects from the New Kingdom in the collection.
  
• Evaluate the status of women by investigating their roles. Consider: God’s Wife of Amun, Great Wife of the King, Mother of the King, Mistress of the House and, in the case of Hatshepsut, pharaoh. Then use the evidence collected to evaluate the historical significance of women in the New Kingdom by debating the topic: ‘Women had little impact on the development of ancient Egyptian society.’
• Using a range of historians’ interpretations, create a conversation (talking heads) between historians on the various historical interpretations of Hatshepsut’s reign. Individually or in groups, put forward a summary of the interpretation and defend it using the knowledge gained.
• Read historical interpretations about the co-rule of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III and use them to construct an argument, supported by evidence, about how their co-rule represented changes to the role of the god-king.
• Assemble images of the pharaohs Thutmosis II, Rameses II and Rameses III represented as warriors. Analyse them individually using a thinking routine such as Form, Content, Context, Function (FCCF) or Summarising, Contextualising, Inferring, Monitoring - Corroboration (SCIM-C) and then create a table comparing key features of the representations. Write a paragraph explaining how the iconography presented the king as a warrior and expressed the power of the king as a feature of political life in the New Kingdom.
• Investigate and compare contemporary representations of the Battle of Kadesh, such as reliefs, inscriptions, papyri and cuneiform. Analyse the differing perspectives of those involved.
• Fake news activity: compare historical interpretations of the Battle of Kadesh with contemporary accounts and evaluate the extent to which Rameses II’s account can be considered a reliable representation of events.
• Using the detailed timeline, identify the internal and external factors that caused social, political and economic change during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties of the New Kingdom. Create a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine identifying and ranking the significance of such factors in causing change.
• Using the detailed timeline for reference, write an essay on the topic: ‘The social, economic and political features of Egyptian society changed little during the New Kingdom. To what extent do you agree?

Detailed example – Ancient Egypt (1550–1069 BCE)

Object-based learning excursion to The Ancient World exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria International

The Ancient World is a permanent exhibition of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) International and contains objects from the New Kingdom period. It is located on level 2 of the gallery. Class visits to the NGV should be prearranged with the gallery’s education team. Alternatively, items of the NGV collection can be viewed online.

The aim of this activity is to connect abstract analysis of the material record of ancient Egypt to real objects. Students will analyse several objects in the collection and make inferences about them in response to written questions.

Instructions for teachers:

Schedule the excursion to fall after the introduction of source analysis activities in class so that students are well practised at analysis.

Book a self-guided tour of the NGV. Allow 1.5 hours in the gallery.

Note that while the exhibition is permanent, objects can be changed. It is advisable to make a preliminary visit the gallery to check what is on display and to choose about 4–6 items for analysis.

Create a booklet for students to complete at the NGV that includes:

1. Questions about the NGV collection, particularly provenance (so that students can contextualise the objects they are viewing). This information can be gleaned from the label introducing the Egyptian collection.
2. A worksheet for each of the four objects chosen. This is intended to take students through the same analytical routine that they have applied to sources analysed in class. For example, if you have worked with the Form, Content, Context, Function thinking routine, students would examine a source (such as Head of Queen Nefertiti, from sculpture flanking Boundary Stela Q, el-Amarna) and then ask:
1. Form: What type of object is the source?
2. Content: What is represented/depicted/described in the source?
3. Content: What is represented/depicted/described in the source?
4. Function: What does the source tell us about the past?
3. Questions requiring a short paragraph response about what the objects convey about the social, political and/or economic features of the New Kingdom. Students use evidence from the objects they have analysed to support their answers.
4. Extracts relating to the object from the NGV publication, Ancient Civilisations, as a source of contextual information and detailed descriptions of the objects. This could also be set as pre-reading before the excursion.:

Alternative activity:

This activity could be run as a virtual excursion. The NGV International has digitised part of its collection, including some of the objects on display in The Ancient World. These can be accessed by searching the NGV collection and searching ‘E’ for Egypt. If a virtual excursion is preferred, students would complete the same activities as outlined above.

Outcome 2

Evaluate the significance of a crisis in an ancient society and evaluate the role, motives and influence of key individuals involved in the crisis.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Egypt – The Amarna Period (1391–1292 BCE)

• Develop a timeline of kings, their reigns, key developments of the crisis in the Amarna Period, key examples of the material record and written sources related to each ruler. Update regularly as learning progresses.
• Create an A3 size annotated map to show the transfer of the capital to Akhetaten and the changes that it brought in terms of building projects, changes in art and architecture, and changes to traditional religious beliefs and practices. Use text and illustrations. Display as a poster.
• Make a table with headings for governance, art and architecture, foreign relations, traditional religious beliefs and practices. In groups, investigate and enter descriptions of these features at the beginning of the time period, during the reign of Akhenaten, and at the end of time period. Using the table, write an explanation of the nature and pace of change during the Amarna Period
• Create a biographical profile of Amenhotep III that explains his role, motives and influence in the Amarna Period. Include his religious beliefs and practices, building projects, and comparison to earlier kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Repeat to outline the role, motives and influence of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun when studying the relevant point of the chronology.
• Watch episode 2 of the PBS series Egypt’s Golden Empire ‘Pharaohs of the Sun’. Identify and trace changes to the relationship between consecutive pharaohs and the priests of Amun. As an extension, find more details such as extracts from N Reeves’s Akhenaten: Egypt’s False Prophet, 2019, Thames and Hudson: London (Chapter 3).
• Analyse the description of the foundation of Akhetaten as observed in the boundary stele at el Amarna and evaluate the reasons provided for the foundation of Akhetaten. Transcriptions can be found on the websites of the Digital Egypt for Universities and the Amarna Project.
• Draw images of the evolving representation of the Aten. Include the relevant pharaoh’s reign and regnal years of changes, where known.
• Create a picture book (of primary sources, supported by historians’ interpretations) comparing representations of Akhenaten with those of earlier pharaohs. Consider how his leadership style impacted ma’at.
• Select images from the tombs of the nobles and the royal tomb. Analyse what they represent and how this differed from previous funerary representations of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Explain why this change occurred
• Examine images of the royal family, Nefertiti and Akhenaten. Identify how they differ to traditional representations of another Ancient Egyptian royal family, both in content and artistic style.
• Create an annotated plan of Akhetaten, labelling the buildings and tombs and providing details of construction methods.
• Read the Hymn to the Aten and listen to the podcast ‘Phillip Glass’s Akhnaten: I am Your Sunshine, Your Only Sunshine’ . Drawing on knowledge of Amenhotep III’s religious beliefs, discuss the extent to which Akhenaten’s expression of religious practices represented change.
• Read a selection of translations of the Amarna Letters. Identify what evidence they provide about Akhenaten’s military and foreign policy, and relationships with foreign powers, ‘brother’ kings and vassals.
• 
  Evaluate historical interpretations about a crisis in an ancient society and use them to support historical arguments. Key debates in this outcome include (but are not definitively) the causes of the Amarna Crisis, the relative significance of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten in escalating the crisis, co-regency of Nefertiti with Akhenaten or her sole rule, and the meaning and consequences of changes in the representation of people and gods.
  
• Read M-J Nederhof’s translation of Tutankhamun’s restoration stele. Identify the reasons for the restoration of religious practices.
• Create a family tree including Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun. Annotate to explain each individual’s origins and right to inherit the kingship.
• Write an obituary for each of Amenhotep III, Amenhotep IV/Akhetaten, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun (referring to the study design dot points for key topics to cover) and make an evaluation of their role, motive and influence during the Amarna Period.
• Create a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine identifying and ranking the significance of each individual in causing the Amarna Crisis.
• Using a range of historical interpretations about the causes of the crisis in the Amarna Period, discuss the topic: ‘To what extent was the crisis in the Amarna Period caused by Akhenaten’s religious beliefs?’

Detailed example– Ancient Egypt – The Amarna Period (1391–1292 BCE)

Historical interpretations

Context:

The aim of this activity is for students to practise evaluating historical interpretations about a crisis in an ancient society and use them to support historical arguments.

Key debates in this outcome include (but are not definitively) the causes of the Amarna Crisis, the relative significance of Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten in escalating the crisis, co-regency of Nefertiti with Akhenaten or her sole rule, and the meaning and consequences of changes in the representation of people and gods.

Activity:

Select extracts from secondary sources that provide a range of interpretations and which allow differentiation in levels of sophistication of analysis. Students may attempt some or all readings.

For example:

Entry level

Text books such as:

Lawless et al. 2010, Studies in Ancient Egypt; Nelson Cengage Learning.

Bradley, P 1999, Ancient Egypt: Reconstructing the Past, Cambridge University Press.

Medium level

Tyldesley, J 1998, Nefertiti: Egypt’s Sun Queen, Viking.

Reeves, N 2019, Akhenaten, Thames & Hudson.

Advanced level

Shaw, I (ed.) 2004, The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press.

Dodson, A 2014, Amarna Sunrise, The American University in Cairo Press.

Instructions:

1. Formulate a research question to guide students’ reading on a preferred topic.
2. Direct students to read the extracts that are appropriate to each student’s level and take notes about the historians’ point of view in relation to the inquiry question.
3. Discuss the points of view put forward in the readings and the points of commonality and difference between them.
4. Direct students to sort historians’ interpretations into groups, based on the previous discussion, and organise into a table. This could be a whole class activity on the board or in a shared document.
5. Direct students to write a paragraph responding to the inquiry question and using historians’ interpretations as evidence for their argument. Encourage students to compare and contrast interpretations.

Outcome 1

Analyse the features of an ancient society and evaluate how these features developed, interacted and changed.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Greece (800–454 BCE)

• Create a map illustrating the geographical features of Ancient Greece and colonies in the Mediterranean. The map should label physical features and key city-states. Make sure to label Sparta and Athens. Look at the geographical features of where the city-states are and write a description explaining how the geography may have influenced the political organisation of Ancient Greek society.
• Evaluate the relationship between the colonies and the metropolis. Create a table detailing the characteristics of major colonies, noting in particular trade and population. Use the table to write a short paragraph explaining the significance of colonies in the Greek world.
• Create a poster that explores the different political systems of aristocracy, oligarchy and tyranny. Construct arguments about the positives and negatives of the systems.
• Create a hierarchy chart for the social classes of Athens, making sure that a description of each role is provided. Conduct a class discussion on the hierarchy.
• Create a diagram for the Spartan political system and write a detailed description of each roll in the system.
• Construct a Venn Diagram that compares the role and position of women in Athens and Sparta. Then, read selected extracts of Aristotle and Plutarch’s writings on women and evaluate their usefulness as historical sources.
• Create a table that compares the political impact of the reforms implemented by Solon, Pisistratus, Cleisthenes and Ephialtes. Evaluate the significance of individuals in shaping and changing ancient Athenian society.
• ‘The greatest thing that Lycurgus, if such a man existed, did was define what already existed and lay down a set of rules for the first time in Sparta’s history’ (WG Forrest, History of Sparta, Duckworth, London, 1980). Write an evaluation on Lycurgus’ role in Sparta's constitution.
• Create a diagram that illustrates the different roles in the Spartan political institutions. Role-play: two students as kings, five as ephors and the rest as the gerousia. Debate the importance of their role compared to the others.
• Develop a Venn Diagram that compares and contrasts the political structures and systems of Athens and Sparta at the outbreak of the Persian Wars.
• Develop a timeline that begins with the Ionian revolt and continues up to and including the transformation of the Delian League into an Athenian hegemony. Comment on the significance of each event.
• Create a digital presentation on the development of the Delian League and its transformation into the Athenian hegemony. Put forward arguments to explain why Athens was able to seize control.
• Curate a museum exhibition with images of objects dated between 800 and 454 BCE. Apply the form, content, context and function thinking routine to the objects and prepare descriptions of each object that includes a brief assessment of its usefulness as historical evidence.
• 
  Create a Lotus Diagram on one of the following topics: the Ionian revolt, Persian invasions of 490 and 480/479 BCE, the Delian League. Work collaboratively in groups to create Lotus Diagrams to add to the others in the class. Once completed, write a paragraph on the significance of the event and its influence on social, political and economic impacts.
  
• Create a set of flashcards on the economic, political and social characteristics of Ancient Greece. Each card should have a question on one side and the answer on the other. A warm-up task for class could be using these flash cards to play: Quiz, quiz, swap. In this task each student has a flash card and they take turns asking a partner to answer the question on their card. After each student has attempted their partner’s question, they swap flash cards with another pair and repeat the process until all flash card questions have been answers.

Detailed example – Ancient Greece (800–454 BCE)

Lotus Diagram

1. Students are divided evenly among the following topics:
1. Ionian revolt
2. Persian invasion of 490 BCE
3. Persian invasion of 480/479 BCE
4. Development of the Delian League by Athens
2. Teacher puts an A3 Lotus Diagram on the wall that contains the following:
   

   	Ionian revolt
   Persian invasion of 490 BCE	Warfare and its impact in Ancient Greece	Persian invasion of 480/479 BCE
   	Development of the Delian League by Athens

3. Students are provided with an A3 Lotus Diagram. They put their topic in the middle of the Lotus Diagram. For example:

   	Ionian revolt

4. Students divide their Lotus Diagram as follows:

   Cause	Course	Consequence
   Social	Ionian revolt	Political
   Economic	Significant individual	Evidence

5. Students then fill in their Lotus Diagram with key points:
1. cause: focuses on what caused the key event
2. course: states where conflict occurred
3. consequence: mentions the outcome of the event
4. social: highlights the social impact of the event
5. political: mentions the political impact
6. economic: mentions the economic impact
7. significant individual: highlights who the leaders were
8. evidence: states the sources used
6. When the Lotus Diagram is completed, students write a paragraph on the significance of the event and its impact on the social, political and economic features of Ancient Greece.

Outcome 2

Evaluate the significance of a crisis in an ancient society and evaluate the role, motives and influence of key individuals involved in the crisis.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Greece, The Peloponnesian War (460–404 BCE)

• Create an A3 map of Ancient Greece at the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, identifying the city-states that made up the Peloponnesian League, The Delian League/Athenian Empire and neutral states. Refer back to this map throughout the unit when examining key events.
• Develop a symbol to use for battles or events and add this to the map as the unit progresses, making a note of the year next to it. An example would be the battle of Piraeus 403 BCE. Also write a number next to this, which will be added to the timeline.
• Develop a digital timeline in the form of a table that lists the key events between 460 and 403 BCE. The timeline should have a numbered column that corresponds to an event. For each event list its significance, the belligerents, key individuals and, if possible, provide a quote. This can then be used as a tool for revision.
• Create a multimedia presentation that compares Athenian naval power and Spartan hoplite supremacy, and demonstrates how this could influence warfare between the two powers.
• Examine Chapter 2 (causes of the war) of Thucydides’s The History of the Peloponnesian War and discuss the escalations made between the belligerents.
• Thucydides describes Cleon as ‘the most violent man in Athens’. Discuss Thucydides' perspective of Cleon and why it may be biased. Cleon’s ability as a politician and a general should also be discussed. Write a paragraph based on the discussion.
• 
  Referring to Thucydides’s The History of the Pelopennesian War, compare the three Athenian leaders: Pericles, Alcibiades and Nicias in a table. Discuss as a class before writing an extended response on which of the leaders was the most significant during the war.
  
• Read the speech of Brasidas to Acanthus (Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, 4.85-4.87). Analyse how effective the speech was in convincing Acanthus to join them.
• Create a biographical summary of the lives of Cleon and Brasidas. Write a paragraph that compares and contrasts Cleon and Brasidas’s contributions to their respective city-states in the Peloponnesian War.
• Create a life roadmap on a large piece of blank paper. In small groups or individually, choose a key individual from the context studied. Conduct research into the individual and add to the map: important decisions and events that have shaped their life, historical events, goals and motivations, important relationships and different perspectives of their actions. Report findings to the class.
• Create an historical meme from the point of view of Thucydides that depicts the difference between Cleon and Pericles. Consider how Thucydides feels about both men.
• Create a poster that explores the impact that the plague of Athens had on the Athenian war strategy. The poster should evaluate the consequence of the plague on Athenian leadership.
• Create a table that compares the family background, early career, military contributions and involvement in key events of Pericles, Nicias and Alcibiades. Evaluate each leader in terms of their contribution to Athens during the Peloponnesian War and construct arguments about which leader was the most significant to Athens during the Peloponnesian War.
• ‘Without Nicias’s intervention there would have been an Athenian expedition against Sicily in 415, but there could not have been a disaster.’ (D Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, p.191). Write an extended response that evaluates the significance of the Sicilian Expedition and Kagan’s assessment of Nicias’s contribution.
• Create a biography of Lysander that covers his family background, naval commands, the fall of Athens, installation of the Thirty Tyrants and his relationship with Cyrus the Younger. Provide evidence from ancient and modern sources where possible.
• ‘… where he could not get on with the lion’s skin it must be pieced out with the skin of the fox.’ (Plutarch on Lysander, Moralia). Construct arguments about Lysander as an ‘honourable’ Spartan general.
• As a class, discuss the roles and motives of the key individuals: Pericles, Alcibiades, Nicias and Lysander in the Peloponnesian War. Then choose two individuals to compare and contrast on a poster.
• Write an essay plan about the major turning points of the Peloponnesian War. List a range of primary and secondary sources that could be used. Make comparisons among the class, noting sources that had not been identified.
• Create a ‘character map’ of significant individuals and their relationship with one another. Include photo/image, political ideology and affiliation, and role and significance in the Peloponnesian War. For each character (individual), generate a meme or a pithy slogan that summarises their character.

Detailed example: Ancient Greece, The Peloponnesian War (460–404 BCE)

Compare the three Athenian leaders

Activities:

1. Select excepts from Thucydides’s The History of the Peloponnesian War.
2. Students read excerpts from Thucydides’s The History of the Peloponnesian War.
3. Students create and fill in the table on the three Athenian leaders as they read the text.

	Pericles	Alcibiades	Nicias
Family background
Early career
Military contributions
Other events
Role
Motives
Influence
Evidence

4. When students have filled in the table, they write a paragraph on each leader and their contribution to Athens during the Peloponnesian War, making sure to reference the Thucydides.
5. Hold a class discussion on the key leaders of Athens, using evidence to support the discussion.
6. Write an extended response on which Athenian leader was the most significant during the Peloponnesian War.

Outcome 1

Analyse the features of an ancient society and evaluate how these features developed, interacted and changed.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Rome (c.753–146 BCE)

• Develop a digital annotated timeline that identifies important events for Rome between 753 and 146 BCE. Highlight the social, political and economic developments in different colours. Find sources where possible to link with events or developments.
• 
  Use a thinking routine on the foundation narratives of Ancient Rome, analysing sources such as the Capitoline Wolf or Cassius Dio’s Roman History.
  
• Create a diagram that shows the roles of the following in Roman society: the paterfamilias, women, social hierarchy, the relationship between patrons and clients, and slaves. Choose one of these topics and create a poster that examines its perspectives in Roman society.
• Create a three-column table, based on the example below, to illustrate the relationship between patricians and plebeians. Complete the table for the patricians and plebeians drawing on a variety of sources. Using the table, explain the relative positions of patricians and plebeians in Roman society.

  Standing	Patrician	Plebeian
  Political
  Social
  Economic

• In groups of three, each individual student investigates one of the following: the consuls, the senate and the comitia curiata. Analyse the significance of these political changes and how it is different to kingship.
• Speak like an expert task: students record themselves presenting (as a historian would) on the importance of the Twelve Tables to the development of plebeian rights. The presentation should focus on how plebeian rights changed due to having written laws.
• Create a diagram for the cursus honorum. Evaluate the importance of the cursus honorum in developing experience in public office.
• Create an A3 map of Italy. Represent the different stages of Roman expansion from foundation in 753 BCE up to the Punic Wars in 264 BCE in different colours. Include the route of the Sack of Rome by the Gauls and that of Pyrrhus of Epirius in the Pyrrhic War. On the back of the poster, document the cause and consequence of the conquest of the Veii.
• Create a poster and choose either the Sack of Rome by the Gauls or the Second Samnite War to construct an argument about which had the bigger impact on the development of Rome.
• ‘If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.’ (Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus, p. 417). Write an evaluation of Pyrrhus as a general and as leader in his campaign against Rome.
• Create an A3 map of Ancient Rome and Carthage at the outbreak of the Punic Wars, identifying the extent of Rome and Carthage and their spheres of influence. Refer back to this map when examining key events of the Punic Wars.
• Develop a symbol to use for battles or events and add this to the map as the Punic Wars progress, making a note of the year next to it. An example would be the Battle of Cannae in 216 BCE. Choose one of the battles and write a report on its significance to the course of the Punic War.
• Create a life roadmap on a large piece of blank paper. In small groups or individually, choose a key individual from the context studied. Conduct research into the individual and add to the map: important decisions and events that have shaped their life, historical events, goals and motivations, important relationships and different perspectives of their actions. Report findings to the class.
• Create a twitter feed, of at least six tweets, from the perspective of a historical individual, such as Hannibal or Scipio. Tweets should respond to major events or developments in the life of the subject. Use only 280 characters per tweet to capture the thinking of the individual. Teachers could assign students key individuals from the study design.
• Read and discuss Appian's account of the destruction of Carthage. Write a paragraph on how the fall of Carthage influenced Rome’s expansion.
• Create a set of flashcards on the economic, political and social characteristics of Ancient Rome. Each card should have a question on one side and the answer on the other. A warm-up task for class could be using these flash cards to play: Quiz, quiz, swap. In this task each student has a flash card and they take turns in asking a partner to answer the question on their card, after each student has attempted their partners question they swap flash cards with another pair and repeat the process until all flash card questions have been answers.

Detailed example – Ancient Rome (c.753–146 BCE)

Analyse sources using a thinking routine

Teachers:

1. Choose from a range of teaching strategies for analysing historical sources. For example:
• The FCCF thinking routine Form, Content, Context, Function, is designed to assist students to analyse sources before they use them as evidence in their responses.
• SCIM–C Strategy (Summarising, Contextualising, Inferring, Monitoring and Corroborating). It is recommended that this routine be modelled as a class activity before students attempt individual or group responses.
2. Present students with a primary source(s), either visual or written, such as the Capitoline Wolf  and the foundation narrative by Cassius Dio.
3. Use a graphic organiser as a means of visually organising responses. Alternatively, students can make notes in their notebooks next to each letter FCCF, in the acronym.

Students:

1. Examine the source before beginning the thinking routine.
2. Complete the thinking routine:
• Form: identify the form of the source using captions, titles, authorial attribution and knowledge of types of primary source (e.g. statue, relief, book). Ask: What type of object is the source?
• Content: describe what can literally be seen or read in the source to identify what is represented in the source. Do not interpret the source. Ask: What is represented/depicted/described in the source?
• Context: based on content, establish the historical context in which the source was created by considering what else was happening at the time the source was produced. Ask: What was happening at the time the source was created?
• Function: drawing on the previous three steps, make inferences about the purpose and meaning of the source. Consider the limitations of its representation and possible bias. Ask: What does the source tell us about the past?

Outcome 2

Evaluate the significance of a crisis in an ancient society and evaluate the role, motives and influence of key individuals involved in the crisis.

Examples of learning activities: Ancient Rome – The fall of the Republic (133–23 BCE)

• Create a booklet (either in hard copy or electronic format) that includes:
  
  • a glossary in which students to record key terms
  • a simple timeline in which to record key phases of the study, such as the tribunates of the Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, the military and political careers of Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Octavian/Augustus and Mark Antony and Cleopatra’s relationship
  • a map that can be annotated to show the extent of the Roman Republic and the Mediterranean context of the crisis
  • a detailed timeline in a table format that can be annotated to show change over the whole Area of Study. Include headings for date, event, key players, key sources. This could be updated at the beginning of each lesson as a way of recapping the previous lesson.
  Regularly update the booklet as the study progresses.
• Create a flowchart to explain how Tiberius Gracchus responded to the economic conditions of the Republic during his tribunate and the consequences of his response.
• Make a table with the headings ‘optimates’ and ‘populares’ and under each heading, list the allegiance of leading Romans to either faction after Gaius Gracchus’ tribunate. Leave space to update subsequent shifts in alliances to the Caesarian and Pompeiian factions, and to Ocatavian and Marc Antony.
• Create a parallel timeline of the military and political careers of Gaius Marius and Cornelius Sulla. Make three columns with individuals on either side, and dates in the middle. Discuss how their rivalry contributed to the crisis. This activity could be repeated for Octavian/Augustus and Mark Antony at the relevant point in the course.
• Create a flowchart depicting the cursus honorum, with annotations to show changes over time.
• Create a table that compares the mandated stages of the cursus honorum with Marius’s progress through it. Repeat at the relevant part of the course for Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Ocatavian/Augustus and Mark Antony.
• Create a ‘character map’ of significant individuals and their relationship with one another. Include image, political ideology and affiliation, role, motives and influence on the fall of the republic. For each character (individual), generate a meme or a pithy slogan that reflects their character.
• Create a political biography of Sulla that explains the significance of his military and political career, rivalry with Marius, march on Rome, his dictatorship, and the restoration of senatorial power. This could be completed as group work or individually and produced as posters or in an online context. Repeat to outline the role, motives and influence of Pompey, Caesar and Ocatavian/Augustus when studying the relevant point of the chronology.
• Use Venn Diagrams to illustrate the motives of the members of the First Triumvirate in 60 BCE and again in 56 BCE.
• Read Caesar’s Gallic Wars Book 8, Chapters 52–55 and use different colours to annotate Caesar’s account of both his own and Pompey’s attitudes towards the Senate.
• Create a visual representation of the course of the Civil Wars by annotating a map showing key battles and movements of the rival factions under Caesar and Pompey.
• Evaluate whether Caesar’s assassination was a justified response to his dictatorship by staging a debate between Caesar’s supporters and the ‘liberators’. Support arguments with evidence.
• Create a mind map to identify the consequences of the Second Triumvirate from its formation in 43 BCE to its collapse in 33 BCE.
• Create a flowchart detailing Cleopatra’s role in the fall of the Roman Republic. Using the flowcart and at least three pieces of historical evidence, evaluate Cleopatra’s significance as an individual contributing to the fall of the Republic.
• 
  Identify and rank the significance of Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Octavian/Augustus in causing the fall of the Roman republic.
  
• Read the Res Gestae (The Deeds of the Divine Augustus). With the class divided into four groups, each one is allocated a reading from sections 1–14, 12–25, 26–33 and 34–35. Create a table with the headings of Octavian’s deeds according to the Res Gestae and other evidence. Summarise Octavian’s version of events and compare it to other knowledge. Discuss why Octavian would represent events as he did.
• Create a tug-of-war chart examining the extent of continuity and change in the Roman constitution between 133 and 23 BCE

Detailed example: Ancient Rome – The fall of the Republic (133–23 BCE)

Rank the significance of Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Octavian/Augustus in causing the fall of the Roman republic

A.  Preparation:

1. Conduct a class discussion on the concept of historical significance, what it means and how it can be determined.
2. Students select historically significant events, people or developments to explain their understanding of the past.
3. Students focus on the causes and consequences of the crisis within the Romana Republic between 133 and 23 BCE.

B.  Jigsaw activity:

1. Focus of the activity: Identify and rank the significance of Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Octavian/Augustus in causing the fall of the Roman republic.
2. Students must rank the four individuals in order of who contributed most to the fall of the Roman Republic. Useful tools are a Ladder of Significance or a Diamond Nine graphic organiser.
3. Divide the class into four groups, one for each of the key individuals: Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Octavian/Augustus.
4. Using their knowledge of the timeline and their key individual, groups evaluate significance against the criteria:
• The role and motives of the individual in the crisis
• The extent of change that resulted from the actions of their individual
• The nature of the issues they confronted during their period of influence.
5. Re-arrange students into groups with one representative from each group who puts forward the case for their individual.
6. As a class, collaboratively decide on a ranking for the four individuals, based on the criteria for significance listed above.

C.  Extension

Write an essay on the topic: Evaluate the role of Caesar in the fall of the Roman Republic.

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