Michelle Watson

Professor Cliver
Hist 311
30 October 2017
Lesson Plan 2
Length of class period/lesson plan: A 60-minute lesson

Topic: The Silk Road

Organizing theme: What makes the Silk Road experience?
State Standards Addressed: This lesson is on the Silk Road and it covers standards for 6th and
7th grade: Analysis Skills: Chronological and Spatial Thinking 3; Research, Evidence, and Point
of View 1; content standards: 6.6.7 and 7.2.5.
Resources needed:
 Map print out of the Silk Road (for notes)
 Computers
 Colored pencil/pen/markers
 Lined paper to write notes (optional)
Introductory “Hook”: “Before the internet, telephones, computers, and before people paid
money for goods, it wasn’t easy to get things to and from other countries. There was trade.”
Have a class discussion about how they think people get ideas and material goods. (5-10
minutes)
Transition: Tell the students that the Silk Road was the early way to spread goods, ideas, and
beliefs (religions) that connected China to the West.
Lesson content:
 In-class activities:
- Hand out the Silk Road map copies to each student
- Students will research the different aspects of the Silk Road:
o Trade items (who, what, where)
 E.g. silk, jade, gold, silver, religion (Buddhism), etc.…
o Travel forms (e.g. camel, caravan, etc...)
o Types of people (how they contributed to this process)

1
  Merchants
 Travelers
 Missionaries
 Thieves
- Notes must be taken either on the printout of the Silk Road map
o drawings may be included or used as the notes
o other choice of notetaking is on a piece of lined piece of paper
- This activity should take about 30-45 minutes
 This lesson teaches the students about the inner workings of the Silk Road. It allows
students to be creative, cultivate their writing skills, and for them to put themselves into
someone else’s shoes.
Conclusion: At the end of the lesson, a class discussion will be had about what the students
learned that day. This will help the students to review what they have learned and maybe add
more to their lists of information to help with their assignment. (5-10 minutes)
Assessment: To assess the students’ knowledge, a homework assignment will be given requiring
the students to write a journal entry (at least one page long on college-ruled line paper). This
journal entry should be written in a first-person perspective as if the student was a traveler, a
merchant, or a missionary on the Silk Road. Students should write about their “experience” on
the Silk Road, mentioning what they are trading, their form of travel, where they are from, and
where they are heading to. A description of their surroundings and encounters must also be
documented (Art Institute of Chicago). This is to be due the following class period.
*Journal Entry Assignment:
In this assignment, you will write a journal entry in first-person as if you are one of the people
traveling the Silk Road. You can choose to be a merchant, missionary, or a traveler (as long as
you have information to back up what you talk about). This entry should be at least one page on
a college-rule lined paper. If you would like to write more that is welcome too. Write about your
“experience” on the Silk Road. Mention what you are trading, how you are traveling, where you
are from, where you are heading, and a description of your surroundings and encounters for
anyone who reads this to get the full experience of the Silk Road. Be as descriptive as you’d like.

2
Criteria Ratings Pts

Discussion participation Full Marks No Marks

5.0 pts
5.0 pts 0 pts

Journal Entry Meets Room for Significant No Marks

expectations improvement issues 10.0
pts
10.0 pts 7.5 pts 4.5 pts 0 pts

Notes taken Meets Room for Significant No Marks 5.0 pts

expectations improvement issues
0.0 pts
5.0 pts 3.0 pts 1.5 pts

Total Points: 20.0

pts

Bibliography:
Bing Search, http://geography.name/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Silk-Road.jpg
California State Board of Education. “History-Social Science Content Standards for California
Public Schools K-12.” www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/histsocscistnd.pdf.
Duiker, William J., and Jackson J. Spielvogel. “Chapter 1 Early Humans and the First
Civilizations P.18-23.” World History: Volume 1: to 1800, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2010.
The Art Institute of Chicago Department of Museum Education. “Lesson Plan: The Silk Road”,
www.artic.edu/aic/collections/citi/resources/Rsrc_001878.pdf.