深美一周课堂—踏进历史的洪流|SAIS Class-Stepping into the torrent of history

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第二季度，我们的四年级学者探索了埃及、巴比伦、中国、非洲、希腊和罗马的古代文明。我们的目标是回答这个问题：我们为什么要关心历史？学生首先对文化的不同方面进行头脑风暴。他们制作思维导图并提出他们想了解的内容。随着每个文明的介绍，我们在课程时间表中添加了图片。

我们研究了古埃及的木乃伊，并在本季度的课程中制作了一只鸡的木乃伊！我们了解了世界七大古代奇迹，一些学生在我的世界中创造了金字塔和空中花园。学生们比较和对比了古希腊城邦、斯巴达和雅典：君主制与民主制、战士与学者、陆军与海军、力量与知识、权力与艺术。他们进行了性格测试，看看他们最适合哪个城邦。我们观察了其中一些文明的领导人，并讨论了成功领导人的要素。

我们的学者还阅读了这些古老文化中的每一个故事，这些故事已经代代相传，至今仍在阅读，包括蜘蛛阿南西、一粒米和奥德赛中关于独眼巨人的节选。我们还读了嫘祖在桑树下从蚕中发现蚕丝的故事，我们跟着一起在教室里开始养蚕。学生们阅读了丝绸贸易及其对古代中国和当今我们的影响。在这个项目中，学生们在了解蚕蛾的生命周期时运用了数学和科学知识。学生们学习了如何计算蚕的平均长度。（目前蚕正处于幼虫阶段，大家都在焦急地等待着它们结茧。）

以这些信息为基础，他们进一步调查了他们选择的文明。当我们准备第一个 4 年级 SAIS 古代历史博物馆时，他们成为了历史学家和策展人。为了成功举办展览，我们虚拟参观了世界各地的博物馆。学生们非常兴奋地从他们选择的古代地点找到了真实的文物，包括古老的非洲鼓、帕特农神庙的雕像和大英博物馆内的罗塞塔石碑。我们与创客老师合作创造了可以在我们博物馆展出的手工艺品。

四年级学生还写了一篇有说服力的五段文章，内容是关于为什么人们应该学习历史，特别是他们的古代文化。他们提出了一些令人信服的论点：罗马开创了快餐业，汉谟拉比向我们展示了法律应该是什么样子，古印度给了我们棉花和糖，如果没有罗马的渡槽和隧道，管道系统可能不会像今天这样。每个学生都策划了自己的展览。他们制作海报来引起游客的兴趣，并告诉他们为什么我们应该了解历史。

我们在星期一举办了我们的博物馆，学生们做得非常出色。校长Abbott 先生说：“这是一个让学习充满活力并将主人翁归还给学生的好例子。很棒的展览！”

Second quarter our 4th Grade Scholars explored the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Babylon, China, Africa, Greece, and Rome. Our goal was to answer the question: Why should we care about history? Students first brainstormed different aspects of culture. They made mind maps and came up with what they wanted to learn about. As each civilization was introduced, we added pictures to our class timeline. 

We studied about mummies in ancient Egypt and over the course of the quarter mummified a chicken! We learned about the 7 ancient wonders of the world, and some students created pyramids and the Hanging Gardens in Minecraft. The students compared and contrasted the ancient Greek city-states, Sparta and Athens: monarchy versus democracy, warriors versus scholars, army versus navy, strength versus knowledge, power versus art. They took a personality test to see which city-state they would fit into best. We looked at the leaders from some of these civilizations, and talked about what makes a successful leader.

Our scholars also read stories from each of these ancient cultures that have been passed down through generations and are still read today including Anansi the Spider, One Grain of Rice, and an excerpt from the Odyssey about the Cyclops. We also read the story of Lei Zu, who discovered silk from the silkworms under the mulberry tree and we followed and began to raise silkworms in the classroom. Students read about the silk trade and its impact on ancient China and us today. In this project the students used math and science as they learned about the life cycle of the silkworm moth. Students learned how to find the average length of the silkworms. (Currently the silkworms are in the larva stage. We are all eagerly waiting for them to build cocoons.)  

Using this information as a foundation, they further investigated a civilization of their choosing. They became historians and curators as we prepared the first 4th Grade SAIS Ancient History Museum. In order to set up a successful exhibit, we took virtual tours of museums throughout the world. The students were so excited to find authentic artifacts from their chosen ancient location, including an ancient African drum, statues from the Parthenon, and the Rosetta stone, inside the British Museum. We teamed up with the maker teachers to create artifacts that could be displayed in our museum. 

Fourth grade scholars also wrote a persuasive five paragraph essay about why people should learn about history and specifically their ancient culture.  They came up with some compelling arguments: Rome started fast food, Hammurabi showed us what laws should look like, ancient India gave us cotton and sugar, and plumbing might not be what it is today without Roman aqueducts and tunnels. Each student curated their own exhibit. They made posters to interest visitors and teach them why we should learn about history. 

We held our museum on Monday, and the students did a fantastic job. Mr. Abbott said, “What a great example of bringing learning alive and giving ownership back to the students.  Fantastic exhibit!”