Mesopotamia

scheme of work:
Lesson L/O How useful areLesson activities Sources
1: To argue what was the  Starter: 3 images from Mayan civilisation, question asking pupils what  Information handout
Mesopotamia: The most important inventions we can learn about the society from these sources. Pupils write down on inventions
Cradle of Civilisation created in Mesopotamia ideas. Class feedback.  Power point
 Explain definition of key word: civilisation. Opportunity to ask pupils
what they think the word means, before showing definition. Pupils
write down definition in own words.
 Introduce Mesopotamia – information about the civilisation on the
board, pupils need to create a fact file that gives them information on
the who, what, when, where and why of the country
 Pupils are instructed to draw a table: whole page, landscape in their
books, and then use an information sheet to fill in the table.
 The sheet provides information of 5 different Mesopotamian
inventions and why it’s an important invention. An example for one of
the inventions is on the board
 Plenary: Pupils vote on which invention they think is most important
and why
 If time: pupils have the chance to write their name in cuneiform, by
using alphabet on power point slide.
2: To analyse the problems  Starter: Image of the excavation of the Death Pit of Ur, question to  Archaeology
What can we with learning about the discuss with class: What do you think is happening in this image? information sheet
discover from the past by studying the Death  Introduce the practice of archaeology with some information on the  Ur artefacts
graves of Ur? Pit of Ur board, pupils answer 3 questions information sheet
 Move on to think about the problems with archaeology and studying  A3 table
the past. Pupils use information sheet to create a spider diagram of  Power point
different problems, which are shared back with the class
 Next, introduce the Death Pit of Ur, with some basic information on the
board about its discovery
 Pupils are then given second information sheet on the different objects
found in the Ur graves and a table on an A3 sheet
 Pupils will use information sheet to fill in table. They must include a
description of each artefact, what we can learn about Mesopotamia
from the object/s and what problems there are in studying the object.
 The first artefact has been completed for them.
 Plenary: Asking pupils which artefact they think is the most interesting
to them and why
3: To prepare for an  Starter: Task to encourage pupils to write down basic information  Orange peel image
How do we write a assessment on the about the discovery of the graves at Ur, as if they are explaining it to  Power point
History Essay? objects found in the Death someone who’s never heard of it before. In doing this, they are
Pit of Ur beginning to learn about what to put in an introduction
 Begin with a recap quiz to see how much pupils do remember about
Mesopotamia and Ur, will go through answers as a class
 Move back to focusing on writing essays – in pairs pupils create a
spider diagram of all the things they can think of for what makes a
good essay. Class feedback.
 Pupils are then introduced to the essay question: How useful are the
objects found at Ur in learning about Mesopotamia? and the basic
format of a history essay, which they write down
 They are then introduced to PEEL structure and are given a picture of
an orange peel, which they must annotate to show how to structure a
paragraph
 Practice writing PEEL: Pupils are shown an example of a paragraph
arguing that History is the best subject. They have to use this example
and their orange peel to write their own paragraph on a subject they
enjoy
 Once completed they will swap books with the person next to them
and give feedback for the classmate’s paragraph
 Finally, pupils are given examples of 2 more paragraphs, this time
based on the question they will be answering next lesson. In pairs they
need to discuss which is the stronger paragraph and why. Class
feedback.
 Homework set: prepare for assessment by writing out an essay plan

Extra notes:

 Have lesson (or 2?) on general introduction to History before Mesopotamia lessons
 Timers are on some of the power point slides, feel free to use them or delete them but they do not work on google slides, only power
point

 Pupils to have their essay plan and A3 table in front of them during assessment?