Mongol Empire Lesson Plan
Timeline: 60 minutes (1 class period)
Unit: II--Intensifying Hemispheric Interactions
Course: Word Studies
Grade Level: 10th grade
Objectives: After this lesson, students will be able to:
1. describe the positive and negative impacts of the Mongolian conquest, including Pax Mongolica and their influence in China.
2. analyze and assess the role the Mongolians had in shaping civilization.
3. utilize a variety of different resources and texts to form an argument.
Key Concepts and Terms: Pax Mongolica, conquest, Genghis Khan
Intellectual Problem: Did the Mongols have a positive or negative impact on civilization?
Standards: MI HSCE 4.2.2
Instructional Sequence:
Activity One: Forming Initial Responses (approx. 5 minutes)
Introduce the thematic question of the day to students: Did the Mongols have a positive or negative impact on civilization?
Prompt students to look back at their notes from the day before to help them formulate their opinions. Then, have students write down their initial responses on a sheet of paper.
Activity Two: Gathering Evidence
1. Pass out the graphic organizer. Explain to students the assignment of the day, telling students what they need to accomplish during the hour and how to effectively use the graphic organizer. (2 mins)
2. Have students watch the video clip: Barbarian Nomads Capture Control of China: Mongols Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan. (2 mins)
3. As a class, discuss what they saw in the video. (By using the graphic organizer as a class, we will be modeling what it expected of them, which should help students recognize what they need to do with the other resources. This will be the only source we do together as a class). (5 mins)
Discussion Questions:
-Did the video portray the Mongols in a positive or negative light?
-What were the positive and negative impacts of the Mongols based on the video?
4. Pass out the remainder of the resources (What was the Mongols’ Influence on China?, A New Look at Mongol Contributions, and What were the Mongols Like? Depends on who you ask!). Tell students they have the next 20 minutes to read the sources and to fill out the graphic organizer. If students finish early, tell them to read sections 12.1 and 12.2 from the textbook to help them complete the graphic organizer. (20 mins)
5. With 20 minutes left in class, have students discuss with the people around them what they found. This will give students the opportunity to share their ideas, ask questions, and organize their thoughts. (10 mins)
Activity Three: Forming an Opinion
Pass out the Writing on Demand prompt and rubric. Remind students that they need to support their arguments with specific examples and details. (1-2 mins)
Students will have 10 minutes to complete the Writing on Demand. When finished, they will turn it in, along with their graphic organizer from the day. (10 mins)
Activity Four: Debriefing
If time, take a poll on how many students thought that the Mongols have a positive impact and how many thought they had a negative impact. Call on volunteers to share their opinions.
Then, have students return to their initial responses from the beginning of class. Ask students if their opinions changed after going through the sources and why.
Accommodations: For many students, reading the documents will prove to be difficult. To help students overcome these challenges, I am providing students with a graphic organizer to help them organize their thoughts and to scaffold the readings. Furthermore, I will give students time to discuss their findings with their classmates, providing them the opportunity to ask questions about things that didn’t make sense or to share ideas that they thought particularly interesting or important,
Assessment: By the end of the lesson, students will have completed the graphic organizer listing the positive and negative effects of the Mongol conquest, giving me an informal assessment of their understanding of the readings. Similarly, I will be able to informally assess the students’ understanding based on the small-group discussions, as they share their findings and their ideas.
Furthermore, students will also be writing a Writing on Demand response, compiling their findings from the readings and their own thoughts and interpretations of the Mongols. This will be a formal assessment, as I will read and grade these writing responses and be able to assess if the students’ understanding of the larger concepts and ideas of the lesson.
Technology: For this lesson, I will be using a video clip from unitedstreaming.com to give students a visual representation of the material. Also, while students are sharing their responses, I will pull student work to project on the Document Camera.
Materials:
- Graphic organizer: What are the positive and negative influences of the Mongols?
- Secondary source What was the Mongols’ Influence on China?
- Secondary source A New Look at Mongol Contributions
- Textbook section (Sections 12.1 and 12.2, pages 330-338)
- Video clip: Barbarian Nomads Capture Control of China: Mongols Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan(1:50)
- Compilation of primary sources What were the Mongols Like? Depends on who you ask!
- Writing on Demand prompt and rubric
To view my reflection of the lesson, click here.