Lesson Overview – March 8th to April 19th

1.   March 8th to 9th – What is direct democracy?

•   Direct democracy.
o   This lesson will use the concept attainment strategy to give students a
conceptual understanding of direct democracy. Students will compare
and contrast direct and representative democracy.
o   Students will complete an exit slip to demonstrate their understanding.
•   Periodization (i.e. BCE and CE) and ancient Athens.
o   Introduce periodization to students in a brief lecture.
o   Students will sort two sets of images from oldest to newest to further
explore and solidify their understanding of periodization. Their
conversations and class discussions will be used as formative
assessment.
o   Students will watch a video clip introduce them to ancient Athens.
o   As a class, we will complete the first two portions of a KWL chart.

2.   March 12th to 14th – How does direct democracy function?

•   The structure of government in ancient Athens.
o   Students will work through three stations with graphic organizers to
explore the structure of government in ancient Athens (the Assembly,
the Council of 500, and the law courts). Students’ graphic organizers
will be used as formative assessment.
o   The class will participate in a simulation: All students will be members
of the Assembly and vote on two or three issues that are relevant to
them.
o   Students will write a journal entry reflecting on the above simulation.
This will also be used as formative assessment.

3.   March 15th – Quiz

•   This formative and summative assessment will cover direct democracy and the
structure of government in ancient Athens.
o   The class will update the KWL chart to activate their prior knowledge.
o   A Kahoot! will be used to review the content that has been covered.
o   The class will work through the quiz together.

4.   March 16th to 21st – Who should be involved in a direct democracy? / Who should not be
involved in a direct democracy?
•   Ancient Athenian culture.
o   Students will work independently to become experts on an aspect of
ancient Athenian culture (i.e. clothing, recreation, food, and religion).
They will then form small groups and take turns teaching each other
about what they have learned.
o   A brief class discussion will take place to solidify students’
understanding.
o   Students’ conversations and the class discussion will be used as
formative assessment.
 •   Rights, freedoms, and responsibilities (children, men, women, metics, and slaves).
o   In groups, students will research and create a visual for each class of
people in ancient Athenian society. After completing their visuals,
students will post them, and the class will do a gallery walk. Their
visuals will be used as formative assessment.
•   Fairness and equity.
o   The class will participate in a simulation: All students will be assigned
role cards (i.e. children, men, women, metics, and slaves), and only
some students will be members of the Assembly. They will vote on two
or three issues that are relevant to the entire class.
o   Students will write a journal entry reflecting on the above simulation and
identify at least five ancient Athenian societal values. This will be used
as formative assessment.

5.   March 22nd – What are the benefits of direct democracy? / What are the drawbacks of
direct democracy?
•   Benefits and drawbacks.
o   In small groups, students will use the information that they have
gathered throughout the unit to have a debate on the benefits and the
drawbacks of direct democracy.
o   Students will participate in a snowball activity. This will give them the
opportunity to ask questions for clarification.
o   An exit slip will be used to formatively assess students’ understanding.

6.   March 26th – Quiz

•   This formative and summative assessment will cover ancient Athenian social
structure, and the benefits and drawbacks of direct democracy.
o   The class will update the KWL chart to activate their prior knowledge.

7.   March 27th to 28th – How is direct democracy an aspect of modern Canadian society?
•   Referenda, plebiscites, and recalls.
o   Students’ will work in groups to analyze primary sources documenting
examples of direct democracy in Canada’s history (e.g. news stories on
the Quebec referenda). They will then participate in a class discussion
on the effectiveness of direct democracy in Canada. Their conversations
and the class discussion will be used as formative assessment.
•   Ancient Athenian democracy versus Canada democracy.
o   Students will use a graphic organizer to compare and contrast ancient
Athenian democracy and Canadian democracy. They will use the
research that they have gathered throughout this unit and in previous
units to complete this activity. Students’ graphic organizers will be used
as formative assessment.
8.   March 29th – How is direct democracy an aspect of societies around the world?
•   Direct democracy around the world.
o   Students will watch the provided video clips and websites to complete
guided notes on direct democracy around the world.
o   The guided notes will be used as formative assessment.

9.   April 9th to 19th – Improving Canada’s Democracy