Lesson Plan
Name: Mark Stevens
Date: September 16, 2010
Topic: Pompeii: History of Occupation
Syllabus outcomes addressed:
Class: 11AH2
No. of students: 22
Time: 55 mins
H2.1 explains historical factors and assesses their significance in contributing to change…in the
ancient world; H3.2 discuss relevant problems of sources for reconstructing the past; H4.1 use
historical terms and concepts appropriately.
Lesson outcomes:
Students learn about the stages of occupation before AD 79. Students learn to evaluate different
representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time.
Equipment/resources required:
Electronic white board; 5 computers; handout; scaffold
Assessment
Diagnostic: test knowledge of the two cities? Formative: monitor student’s task work. Summative:
How do Celtic stories influence our modern culture?
Key question: How ‘Roman’ was
Pompeii and Herculaneum? How
do we know?
Teaching strategies: Narrative; spatial
Stage
Teacher
Students
10 mins
Introduce the outcomes and the key questions. Diagnostic questions: Where
did the Pompeian’s come from? Where did the Herculaneans come from?
How do we know what we know about their history? What are the available
sources? What difficulties do fragmentary sources present? Is this a
problem for ‘good’ history? What is chronology?
Questions and
answers.
5 mins
Google Earth Pompeii, the Sarno, Vesuvius, Herculaneum and the Bay of
Naples. What are the geophysical realities of life in the region? Where does
Pompeii fit into that scenario? What can we imply from that scenario for
communal life in Pompeii?
Discussion.
10 mins
Open prezi file and explain the task: Using pages 5-7 of Antiquity 3 or
pages 2-6 of Cities of Vesuvius complete the cloze timeline.
Complete the cloze
timeline.
10 mins
Hand out the completed timeline and discuss the chronology. Discuss the
periods by ethnic control, language, and political control. What sources do
we rely on for the Samnite occupation? Problems? Focus on the possible
effects of Greek and Samnite culture on the towns. How might all these
changes and influences affect the character of the cities at the time of the
eruption?
Questions and
answers.
5 mins
Task 2: Hand out the coin with Oscan inscription. What does it tell us about
Campania? Can you decipher the alphabet? Handout the alphabet. Explain
the task. The inscription is fistluis otherwise known in Latin as Fistelia in
Campania close to Pompeii. Show on Google Earth.
Discussion.
If there is time, handout the comparative chronology of the 1 st century AD.
Questions and
answers.
Summative questioning: How ‘Roman’ was Pompeii and Herculaneum?
How do we know? How Roman do you think the Pompeians felt? How
does this history influence our thinking about Pompeii and Herculaneum?
Questions and
answers.
5 mins
Skills: Chronology; Comparative world history