Crossing Borders/Breaking Boundaries
Pre- and Post-Encounter Arts of the Early Americas
June 22 – 29, 2009
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Unit of Study:            Ancient Civilizations of Latin America

Lesson Title:             SURVIVOR! How would YOU survive as an Aztec?

Subject Area(s):        Social Studies, Spanish

Grade Level:             6-8 Grades

Author:                      Patricia Klos

County:                     Anne Arundel

Length of Time:        Four 55-minute classes

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Abstract:

This lesson will examine the art and history of Mexico from the Aztec empire. We will trace the history and origins of current cultural practices, learn about the heritage and achievements of ancestors and recognize the identity of the present day Mexicans and Central Americans by understanding the Aztecs. The Aztecs and other indigenous groups built rich and powerful empires in central Mexico. The key question to be explored is which factors influenced the beliefs and traditions of these pre-Hispanic peoples of Mexico and how is this reflected in rise and fall of the Aztec empire?   The Aztec dominance/empire lasted from 1325 until Hernan Cortes conquered New Spain (present day Mexico) for the Spanish Kings in 1521. How was this possible and what factors contributed to the rise and fall of this great empire? The purpose of these lessons is to help students step back in time and feel what it is like to live in Aztec times in order to understand how life in that empire was shaped by geography, social structure, religion and warfare.  The students are being asked if he/she could survive being an Aztec. They will examine primary source documents and artifacts to find out. Students will develop a sense of historical empathy and a tolerance and appreciation for these cultures, as well as develop geographical awareness for the ancestral homeland of many of their peers.

Background:

This set of lesson is the second of a three part unit in which students will study the 3 most important indigenous groups in the ancient Americas. Students will have studied the Mayan civilization of Mesoamerica and will already understand that many groups of indigenous people inhabited the area now known as Mexico and Central America in distinct city-states. They will know that each with their own languages, religions, government, economies and myths.  After the Aztecs, the students will examine the Inca civilization of the Andes. The students will compare and contrast the three cultures and produce a visual triptych in the form of a retablo to illustrate the differences between the three civilizations.

Lesson #1 – Civilized or Uncivilized?

Materials:

Map of current day Mexico and picture or map of Tenochtitlan (p. 476) on an overhead, presenter or interactive whiteboard
Excerpts from primary sources describing Tenochtitlan: Diaz and Cortez
A variety of laminated pictures of 6-8 artifacts from the Aztec era and background information sheets for each artifact
Artifact Examination graphic organizers
United Streaming video segment: The Aztec Empire: Life in Tenochtitlan (1502 A.D.)
Newspaper Article template
Text: Holt World History   Ch. 16, pp. 474-475

Resources:

Interactive website: Ancient Americas Odyssey http://www.carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/AA/aafront.htm 
McDonald, Salariva, and Bergin. How Would You Survive as an Aztec?  Children’s Press, 1997    
Baquedano, Elizabeth. Aztec, Inca, & Maya. Eyewittness Books. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1993

Content Standard, Indicator(s), Objective(s):

Social Studies:
3.0 Geography:  Use geographic tools to locate places and describe the human and physical characteristics in early world history.
5.0 History Examine the emergence, growth and decline of the empires in America.

Language Arts:
4.0 Writing:
            1. Compose oral, written and visual representations that express personal ideas, inform and persuade.
            2. Describe in prose and/or poetic forms to clarify, extend, or elaborate on ideas using evocative language and appropriate organizational structure to create a dominant impression.

Visual Arts:
4.0 Aesthetics and Criticism: Students will demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and apply criteria for making visual aesthetic judgments.
1. Evaluate selected artworks using established criteria.
            a. Analyze ways the elements of art and principles of design contribute to aesthetic response
            b. Apply established criteria to determine the historical, social, and cultural contexts of artworks.
            c. Analyze ways that beliefs and values are communicated and reflected by the artworks of various cultures.
1.0  Perceiving, Performing, and Responding:
Students will demonstrate the ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to ideas, experiences, and the environment through visual art.
            1. Identify, describe, and produce visual representations of the physical qualities of observed form

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keywords/Vocabulary:

Aztec
Moctezuma
Tenochtitlan
Cortez
Causeways
Canals
Chinampas
Artifact
Anthropology
Types of line in art

Scope and Sequence:

Warm up: Anticipation Guide  Students respond to statements about the Aztec civilization by indicating whether they believe they are true or false.  They will come back to this at the end of the lessons to see if they were correct or not.

Motivator:  Journal  Quick-Write “Survivor”

Prompt: The year is 1501. You have been shipwrecked off the coast of New Spain where the Aztec Emperor rules. You want to learn about these people and write about them. Can you survive as an Aztec?  What does it take to be a survivor? What do you expect to encounter?
Students share out.

Brainstorm with a Circle Map (Thinking Map): What does it mean to be civilized?

Examine a Map of Tenochtitlan

Provide students with a selection of primary sources that describe/show the city:

Read aloud from:
Bernal Diaz de Castillo book
Letters of Hernan Cortez.

Present an illustration of Tenochtitlan (tay noach tea tlan), the capital of the Aztec civilization
Ask the students to look at the picture/map and make educated guesses about what they can tell about the area and the people who built and lived in this city. What indications can they find to support the premise that Aztecs were a highly successful and advanced civilization.
Talk about what it means to be a civilization (writing system, arts, government, roads, system of education, etc.). Even the Spanish who came to conquer the Aztecs were amazed at the beauty and organization of the city of Tenochtitlan.

Students read from text: The Aztecs Build an Empire.

Artifact Examination Activity

Discuss: What is an Anthropologist?  Inform students that they are going to be an anthropologist for the day.  “You scientifically study and write about humans and their origin, behavior, and physical, social, and cultural development”.

Use the Think Aloud strategy as you model the process with the map of Tenochtitlan to model how they will, in small groups, work together to brainstorm to name the item, identify various art elements and images, particularly types of lines found in the artifact, find out what materials the item is made of and what it’s purpose is by completing the Artifact Examination sheet.
Review and point out straight, curved, wavy, zigzag, broken, thick, thin, horizontal, vertical, diagonal lines in the artifacts.   

Divide the class into 6 cooperative groups.
Distribute laminated color pictures of artifacts (or facsimiles of artifacts) along with the Artifact examination sheets to each group.
Students discuss and examine the object together.
Students complete the examination sheet individually.
Distribute information sheets about each artifact and instruct students to compare findings with this information.
Groups select a reporter who will act as a museum anthropologist.

Museum Walk:

Items are displayed and students move around the room in a Museum Walk.
The reporter/anthropologists remains at the group and explains the groups finding/relates information about the artifact.
Students walk around in assigned groups and look at other objects in order to find similarities in line, image, construction and purpose of the artifact.
Return to seats
Students select two objects to compare/contrast and create a Double-bubble map (Thinking Map).

Homework Assignment  Writing: Newspaper Article: 

Provide students with a newspaper template hand out  
Using their notes, students write a newspaper article describing and analyzing the African artifact they examined.  They write as if they were anthropologists who have just discovered it and include predictions about the culture of the people who produced the artifact.
Students include a sketch, a headline and create a name for the newspaper.

Assessment:

Artifact examination sheet
Double Bubble maps
HW assignment: Newspaper article
Exit Ticket: What did you learn about Aztec culture from examining the Aztec artifacts and map?

Closure:

How did this activity help you learn about Mesoamerican culture?
Could you survive as an Aztec given what you know now?

 

Lesson # 2   Life in the Aztec Empire

Materials:

Image of Diego Rivera mural (Panel 1 Pan American Unity  http://diegorivera.com/murals/index.php #5/37)
A folder of information/articles/artifacts about 6 aspects of Aztec life such as:
Religion
Military
Agriculture and Food
Trade
Social classes
Ball games
Tree Map or similar graphic organizer for taking notes
United Streaming video segment: The Rise and Fall of the Aztec
Text:  Holt World History

 

Resources:

Carrasco, David and Eduardo Moctezuma.  Moctezuma’s Mexico: Visions of the Aztec World. New York,  (1992)
Kubler, George. The Art and Architecture of Ancient America.  Pelican Press (1992)
Johnson, William W.  Mexico, Time-Life Books, New York (1992)
Smith, Bradley. Mexico: A History in Art.  Gemini-Smith, Inc., New York, (1968)
http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/alife.html
http://www.aztec-indians.com/aztec-daily-life.html
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztec-life.htm   drawings
http://worldhistory.pppst.com/aztecs.html powerpoints
Kagan, Spencer.  Cooperative Learning.   Resources for Teachers, Inc.  (1999)  JIGSAW
Drama Strategies (handout on Crossing Border website) for tableau (freeze frame)

Content Standard, Indicator(s), Objective(s):

Social Studies:
A. Elements of Culture: Describe characteristics that historians use to organize people into cultures

  1. Describe how location and environment influenced early world cultures
  2. Describe and compare elements of culture such as art, music, religion, government, social structure, education, values, beliefs and customs, from civilizations in early world history
  3. Describe the social, political, and religious character of societies in early world history

Visual Arts:
4.0 Aesthetics and Criticism: Students will demonstrate the ability to identify, analyze, and apply criteria for making visual aesthetic judgments.
            c. Analyze ways that beliefs and values are       communicated and reflected by the             artworks of various cultures.
1.0  Perceiving, Performing, and Responding:
Students will demonstrate the ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to ideas, experiences, and the environment through visual art.
            1. Identify, describe, and produce visual representations of the physical qualities of observed form

Drama:
1.0 Apply a variety of dramatic structures to theatrical presentations
            a.  Use formal elements of performance to improvise scenes from original or given ideas that feature characters in comic or dramatic conflicts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keywords/Vocabulary:
Emperor
Nobles
Priests
Warriors
Merchants and artisans
Farmers and laborers
Slaves
Tribute
Polytheistic
Sacrifice
Quetzal

Warm up:  3-2-1

Students name 3 facts about life in the Aztec empire that you are sure about, 2 aspects of life in the Aztec empire that you need clarification on, and 1 WOW fact you learned in the previous lesson.

Motivator: Visual Thinking Strategy  

Students respond to questions by discussing the Diego Rivera mural in pairs/triads.
What’s going on in this picture?
What do you see that makes you say that?
What more can you find?

Scope and Sequence:

Partner Reading and whole group discussion: Life in the Empire p. 475-7
Video:
Students watch video through the eyes of as an anthropologist looking for indicators of “civilized” culture. 
Students find two WOW ideas to write on post-it notes as they watch.
Review tableau procedure.  Review drama elements: high, medium and low levels of posing.
Conduct a jigsaw activity using 1-2 page readings for each topic about life in Aztec culture. 
Divide students into groups of six. Assign each person in the group to be an expert on a topic.
Students move to expert groups and read and discuss the selection and take notes using the organizer.  Groups also prepare a tableau to visually represent what they have learned.
After reading, discussing and summarizing the information on the organizer as an expert group, the students return to their original groups as experts and share their findings with the group.
Students return to expert groups and perform tableau to indicate the most significant ideas about the topic.  Thought tracking: Students voice the thoughts of their character as the teacher taps selected student’s shoulders.

Assessment:

Exit Ticket:  In which role would you survive best as an Aztec.  Why?  How?

Closure/Reflection: 

Connect one artifact from the previous lesson to one of the aspects of Aztec life that you learned about today.  Describe the artifact and why you think it has a connection.

 

Lesson # 3:  Beliefs  (2-days):

Materials:

Five (5) Aztec myths readings 1-2 pages in English or Spanish such as
The Great Journey to Tenochtitlan
Popocatepetl and Ixtlaccihuatl Volcanoes
Quetzalcoatl and the Creation of Man
The Five Suns
The Mark of the Rabbit
Tezcatlipoca and the King of Tula
Graphic organizers for examination of myth such as the P-6 story map
Arrangement of desks into 5 areas
Stance question cards and multiple copies of myth for each reading group
Reciprocal reading role assignments.
Materials for codices
Brown craft paper cut in 6x24 inch sections or several pieces of paper glued together to make one long, narrow strip.
2 pieces of poster board for covers
Glue
Red, black, yellow, white tempera or watercolor paint or markers
Paint brushes
Black markers
Samples of Mesoamerican glyphs, gods, stellas, codices

Resources:

http://worldhistory.pppst.com/aztecs.html powerpoint
http://www.river-styx.net/aztec-codex.htm many codex samples
http://pages.prodigy.com/GBonline/awaztec.html#European.Paper.Manuscripts
http://www.lib.utah.edu/portal/site/marriottlibrary/menuitem.350f2794f84fb3b29cf87354d1e916b9/?vgnextoid=2702c1892183b110VgnVCM1000001c9e619bRCRD&vgnextfmt=nomenu
http://www.mexicolore.co.uk/index.php?one=azt&two=lif&id=334&typ=reg
Myths
http://www.cis.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1994/3/94.03.03.x.html#top

Content Standard, Indicator(s), Objective(s):

Social Studies:
D. Acquire Social Studies Information
1. Identify primary and secondary sources of information that relate to the topic/situation/problem being studied

  1. Gather and read appropriate print sources, such as journals, periodicals, government documents, timelines, databases, reference works, and web sites
  2. Read and obtain information from texts representing diversity in content, culture, authorship, and perspective.
  3. Locate and gather data and information from appropriate non-print sources, such as music, artifacts, charts, maps, graphs, photographs, video clips, illustrations, paintings, political cartoons, multimedia, interviews, and oral histories
  4. Access and process information that is factual and reliable from readings, investigations, and/or oral communications

Visual Arts:
1.0  Perceiving, Performing, and Responding:
Students will demonstrate the ability to perceive, interpret, and respond to ideas, experiences, and the environment through visual art.
            1. Identify, describe, and produce visual representations of the physical qualities of observed form
Drama
1.0 Apply a variety of dramatic structures to theatrical presentations
b. Identify and use dramatic narrative conventions to adapt
scenes from folktales and short stories
c. Use formal elements of performance to improvise scenes
from original or given ideas that feature characters in comic or
dramatic conflicts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keywords/Vocabulary: 

Codex
Glyph
Popocatepetl
Ixtlaccihuatl
Quetzalcoatl
Tezcatlipoca
Tula
Huitzilopochtli
Obsidian

Warm up:  Journal writing:  Do you have a legend or a story that was told to you by a family member that told you something about the old days? What do you learn by reading a myth? 

Motivational Activity:  Present pictures of figures from a variety of oral traditions some folk tales, fairy tales, myths and legends (Hercules, Cinderella, etc.) from other cultures and ask students if they can identify the character and give a short version of it.

Scope and Sequence:

Discuss the definition and characteristics of myths and why they are important to a culture.   Students offer examples from our own and other cultures.

Present examples or illustrations of an Aztec codex. Discuss the main characteristics of this style of art and how it was used to record information about the Aztec culture and the historical events. It is an Aztec picture book made from tree bark, cloth, or deerskin, which was then folded back and forth in a zigzag manner.  Scribes attached thin pieces of wood at the ends of the strip, which formed covers that protected the pages.  Most codices were read from top to bottom, some were read around the page.  The whole codex was read from left to right.  Model the direction of reading pages in a snakelike fashion (from right to left side of the paper and from top to bottom of each column). Notice the way the Aztecs drew people. The head and feet were shown from the side, while the body was shown from the front.

Present a graphic organizer for examination/reading of Aztec myths.

Divide students into 5 cooperative groups.  Each group is given an Aztec myth to read and discuss: 
Assign reciprocal reading roles using stance questions (see attached model by Mark Lynch, AACPS.) 
Each group creates a codex that retells the story of the myth.
Captions are written for each page of the codex.
One member of the group summarizes the myth to the class
Another member explains the codex as it relates to the myth.
All students complete a listening graphic organizer as the myths are presented. 

Extension:  Each group discusses a script for an improvisational skit/play that retells the myth. Students create appropriate costumes and props from construction paper and present the scripts to the class. All students complete a graphic organizer as the skits are presented.

Homework:  You live in a village in southeast Mexico that was conquered by and ruled by the powerful Aztec Empire.  Each year your village must contribute to the AE by sending the emperor many baskets of corn.  You have to dig gold for him too.  Your sister may be sent to him as a slave soon. One day some pale, bearded strangers arrive by sea.  They want to overthrow the emperor and they ask for your help.  Should you help the strangers?  Why or why not?

 Closure/Reflection:  Return to the Anticipation Guide.   Students review their original answers on the Anticipation guide

Assessment:

Students motion Thumbs up/Thumbs down in response to true and false statements about the myths.
Graphic organizers
Listening Graphic organizer
Presentations are assessed using a rubric
Homework response

Art criteria

10 glyphs or symbols
Series of five drawings
Captions for each of the drawings
Use of color
Use of two dimensional drawing style
Format
Creativity

Writing criteria (Spanish or English) 

Organization and presentation of material pertinent to myth
Accurate content
Comprehensibility of expression
Language accuracy/CUPSS
Language appropriate for audience and purpose
Richness of vocabulary

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Sponsored by the the Maryland Humanities Council
and the Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies