6.21 mayans preview - imlovinlit.com...©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com nonfiction article of the...

Terms of Use 2

Table of Contents 3

List of Activities, Difficulty Levels, Common Core Alignment, & TEKS 4

Digital Components/Google Classroom Guide 5

Teaching Guide, Rationale, Lesson Plans, Links, and Procedures: EVERYTHING 6-9

Articles: “The Mayans” 10-11

*Modified Articles: “The Mayans” 12-13

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice w/Key 14-15

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions w/Key 16-17

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article 18-20

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity & Answer Bank w/Key 21-23

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Skill Review RI.5.3 and RI.5.6 24-27

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – National Geographic Video & Questions w/Key 28-29

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key 30-33

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key 34-37

©2019 erin cobb imlovinlit.com

Nonfiction Article of the Week6-21: The Mayans

Table of Contents

RI.6.1

RI.6.1

RI.6.1

RI.6.1

RI.6.5, RI.6.6

RI.6.9

RI.6.8

RI.6.8

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Focus – Skill Review RI.6.5, RI.6.6

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – National Geographic Video & Activity

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.5(F)

ELAR.5(F), 6(C)(E)

ELAR.5(F), 6(C)(E)

ELAR.5(C), 8(D), 9BC

ELAR.6(B) 12(F)

ELAR.5(C)(F) 8(D) 9(B)(C)

ELAR.5(C)(F) 8(D) 9(B)(C)

List of Activities & Standards Difficulty Level: *Easy **Moderate ***Challenge

Activity 1: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Multiple Choice*

Activity 2: Basic Comprehension Quiz/Check – Open-Ended Questions*

Activity 3: Text Evidence Activity w/Annotation Guide for Article**

Activity 4: Text Evidence Activity w/Answer Bank**

Activity 5: Skill Review- RI.6.5, RI.6.6

Activity 6: Integrate Sources – National Geographic Video & Activity

Activity 7: Skills Test Regular w/Key**

Activity 8: Skills Test *Modified w/Key**



Teacher’s Guide

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and Common Core Alignment

Activities, Difficulty Levels, and TEKS Alignment



Teacher’s Guide

Instructions for Google Classroom Digital ComponentsAll student activities are available in digital format compatible with Google Classroom. They are available in two formats: Google Slides and Google Forms.

Google SlidesFirst, I have made all student pages (excluding assessments) in Google Slides format. Students can simply add text boxes to any area they wish to type on. To access the Google Slides for this article, copy and paste the link below into your browser. *Note that you’ll need to make a copy of the folder or slide before you can use it.*

link omitted in preview file

Google FormsI have made the assessments available in Google Forms. Here, they are self-grading, and I have set them all up with answer keys so they are ready to go for you. You’ll need to find these two files in your download folder to use Google Forms. The first file contains the links to the Forms, and the second file is explicit instructions for use. Look inside the Google Forms folder.



Teacher’s Guide

A Couple of Options for Teaching Article of the Week UnitsHere are my favorite suggestions for organizing these units with your schedule.*Please note that thumbnails show article 6-1 and activities.

Option A: Quickie UnitSimply complete all lesson activities in order OR pick and choose the activities you want to complete in order.

Time Needed: 2-3 fifty-minute class periodsPros: Super flexible; perfect filler around your other units; makes it easy to assign easier components for homework; ideal no prep sub plans if you have to be out for 2-3 days in a row.Cons: Fitting them all in around everything else you’ve got to do.

Option B: Daily ModelUse as a class starter or specific routine in yourclassroom everyday at the same time.

Time Needed: 15-20 minutes/day, 5 days/weekPros: IDEAL for block scheduling when you need to always change it up; Great way to fit nonfiction articles in with what you’re already doing.Cons: There are 25 total articles for each grade level, so some weeks you’ll need to skip the articles (I’d skip when doing projects, novels, during short weeks, and plan to finish up right before testing); May be difficult to commit to something rigid like this if you’re a type B teacher like myself ;)

Here’s how the daily model works:

Monday: Read article & complete basic comprehension activityTuesday: Text evidence activityWednesday: Skills focus activity (based on one key skill for each article)Thursday: Integrate information (other sources)Friday: Assessment

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday



Teacher’s Guide

WalkthroughI have discussed here how I use each activity and included hints and links to help you, too. Feel free to take or leave what you like. Even if you don’t plan to do every activity, I still recommend reading through this section to get the most out of these activities. Looking for a schedule to follow? Check the previous page for two suggested scheduling options.

These lessons and activities were designed to meet the needs of sixth graders during the second half the school year. The articles, activities, questions, and assessments will become increasingly rigorous and challenging as we progress through the year.

Activities 1-2• *There are no higher order thinking questions

included here – only basic, literal comprehension.• These activities are designed to be completed on

an either/or basis, meaning your students should only complete one of them, not both.

• Use Activity 1 for a quick cold-read assessment or after you’ve read the article together. I use these to hold students accountable for reading carefully. I recommend having students complete activity 1 without the article as long as they’ve just read the article (so not the next day), unless you’re providing a testing accommodation. Answer key included but not shown.

• Use Activity 2 for an open-ended option for the same exact questions. Students may have a harder time answering this one without the article, so choose this one if you want students to use the article but still prove that they’ve understood the content.

Article Modified Article

Article 1

Article 2



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 3-4• Again, these activities are either/or, so

choose one or the other but not both.• Activity 3 requires students to annotate

text evidence in the article and includes an article annotation key.

• Activity 4 requires students to choose text evidence from a bank at the bottom. This format prepares students to choose from and distinguish between pieces of text evidence on a state assessment. I recommend mixing it up and going back and forth between these among units until your students are proficient at both methods.

Activity 5• This activity is focused around the

main skills reviewed for this article: Skills RI.6.5 (text structure), RI.6.6 (POV). Complete answer keys included, as always.

Activity 6• This activity requires students to integrate

information from another source or media. • Here, students watch a video about the Ancient Maya

and answer questions about the video. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6eBJjdca14

• Backup: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oP5eLFvmItzdsR3_GGgEYTNsiO4psj14/view?usp=sharing

Activity 3

Activity 4

Activity 5

Activity 6



Teacher’s Guide

Activities 7-8• *Final assessments are always designed to be

taken with access to the article.• What’s the best way to make sure your students

are prepared for the state assessment? Assess them regularly with that format. I always let my students practice for the first few before I start counting them for a grade, and I always use the basic comprehension assessment (activity 1 or 2) as an easy grade so it levels the playing field.

• Activity 7 is the regular assessment.• Activity 8 is the modified assessment. The

modified assessment offer students only two answer choices instead of four. Note that only the multiple choice portion of the modified test is different from the original. Simply put, only page one is different. Complete keys included as always (not shown).

• In a hurry? I always include only multiple choice questions on the first page in case you’re in a hurry and need to skip the open-ended portion of the test. I don’t recommend skipping regularly but every now and then, I need a grading break. (On this test, the multiple choice questions are 1-6 and extended response 7-8.

Self-grading Google Forms assessment always included for: • Activity 1 (Comprehension Quiz)• Activity 7 (Skills Test)• Activity 8 (Modified Skills Test)

Google Forms assessments always included!

Activity 7

Activity 8


No one knows where they came from, but around 2000 BC, small farming villages began to develop in Central America’s rainforests. By 1000 BC, Mayans were creating larger communities. Around 600 BC, larger buildings and farmland were developed, allowing the communities to grow.

The word civilization comes from the Latin word civis which means someone who lives in a town. But a civilization is more than a town. It’s a group of people that live in an organized manner. They have a shared language and culture, laws, religious beliefs, and resources for food. They also share some form of writing so they can pass on their way of life to future generations.

During the Classic Period of Mayan civilization, AD 250 to AD 900, the Mayans developed many city-states. Today, those areas make up the countries of Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico.

Each city-state had its own ruler and remained separate from the others. All of the cities were built the same. There was a large palace for the ruler, a plaza for the marketplace, a ball court, and giant pyramids, or temples. The skilled Mayan architects used tools made of stone, wood, and shell.

While the ruler lived in the stone palace, most of the townspeople lived in one-room mud huts near their farms. Each city, about 40 of them, was connected with well-built roadways through the rainforests and jungles of the Yucatan Peninsula. Their populations ranged from around 5,000 to 50,000 people each. The cities were often at war with each other.

The Mayan people used bows and arrows to hunt for food on land and in water. They also fished using nets and harpoons. Their vast farms produced mostly corn, or maize. The Mayans also

Mayan Cities

Life as a Mayan

Mayan palace and watchtower in present-day Palenque, Mexico

the Mayans?Who Were

by Adrienne Zembower



Informational Text

For items 1-4, you’ll be citing textual evidence to support what the text says explicitly.

1. Find the sentence that tells where the word civilization comes from. Highlight it in blue.

2. Find two sentences that tell what farmers grew on their farmland.

Highlight them in green.

3. Find the sentence that tells which subjects Mayans were especially knowledgeable about.

Highlight it in purple.

4. Find the sentence that tells when the ch’ahb’ rituals were usually held.

Highlight it in gray.

Finding Text EvidenceFind each piece of text evidence in the article and highlight OR underline it with the color specified.

Skill: Text Evidence

For items 5-8, you’ll be citing one piece or multiple pieces of textual evidence to support

inferences drawn from the text.

5. Find one piece of evidence that tells you that descendants of Mayan people my still live

in Mexico today. Highlight it in orange.

6. Find one piece of evidence that tells you that each city probably kept mostly to

themselves and did not help other cities. Highlight it in yellow.

7. Find two pieces of evidence that support the idea that the Mayans were inventors.

Highlight them in pink.

8. Find three pieces of text evidence from the article that support this statement:

Ch’ahb’ consisted of different types of rituals to invoke the gods.

Highlight them in red.

Activity 3



Informational TextSkill: Text Evidence

Activity 3



Informational Text

B. Analyze Author’s Point of View Read each text excerpt from the article in the left column. Then, read the inferences made about the author’s point of view in the right column. Circle the two inferences for each excerpt that can be made about the author’s point of view based on the text excerpt in the left column only.

Skill: Analyze Point of View & Purpose

Activity 5

Text From Article Inferences Made About Author’s POV

1. The Mayans were gifted mathematicians and astronomers. With this knowledge, they created a complex calendar. It was made of two parts, a religious calendar, the Tzolk’in, and a solar calendar, the Haab’. The calendar cycles happened at the same time and would meet at the same point every 52 years. The Long Count calendar was used to measure time over 52 years.

A. The Mayans had one universal religion.

B. The Mayan people were very intelligent and invented tools to help their culture to record information over time.

C. The Mayan culture had to be taught about astronomy and mathematics from previous cultures.

D. The Mayans were happy with a simple system to measure time.

2. The Mayans also developed one of the most sophisticated forms of writing amongst ancient civilizations. The system contained more than 700 glyphs, or symbols. Each of them represented a word or sound. They recorded events on stone slabs called stelae and made books, or codices, using soft tree bark folded up like a fan. They used these to record rituals, calendars, and astronomy.

A. Stelae were probably not as sturdy as codices for recording history.

B. The history of the Mayans may have been discovered by archeologists finding relics that included codices.

C. Codices were invented by the Mayans, but were not a very effective tool in Mayan culture.

D. Mayans were sophisticated enough to create a whole system of written language to be used across the Mayan cities.

3. Reread the text excerpt from #2 above and think again about the author’s points of view that you identified in your answers. Now, identify how the author further helped you to understand the written system. Identify two text features from the article to support this.

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________________



Informational TextSkill: Analyze Text Structure

Activity 5

The Mayans were a civilization, or an organized group of people.

This paragraph explains the meaning of civilization, including the types of things that civilizations share like language, culture, laws, and resources. The rest of the article will elaborate on all of these ideas, one at a time.

2

5

7

8

A. Analyze Text StructureRe-read each paragraph number indicated below. In the left side of the space provided, identify the central idea of that paragraph. On the right, explain how that paragraph contributes to the structure of the entire article as a whole. The first one is done for you.

The Mayans hunted, fished, and farmed their food.

This paragraph explains the ways that the Mayans obtained their foods, including the specific types of food they ate. It is the only paragraph in the subsection “Life as a Mayan.”

The Mayans created a complex, two-part calendar.

This paragraph explains the significance and depth of the calendars created by the Mayans. It is one of four paragraphs in the subsection “The Mayan Mind” that describe cultural beliefs and rituals.

The Mayans had a sophisticated ancient writing form.

This paragraph explains the types of Mayan writings and how these writings were recorded. It is It is one of four paragraphs in the subsection “The Mayan Mind” that describe cultural beliefs and rituals.

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