Ancient Maya Intro

Grade Level: 3rd Grade

Duration: 45 minutes

Class Size: 4 students

Unit: Exploring the Ancient Maya (Lesson 1 of 15)

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Identify key features of the Maya civilization, including their culture, achievements, and daily life.
• Describe important aspects of the Maya way of life using simple words and visuals.
• Engage in discussions to build vocabulary related to history and geography relevant to the Maya.
• Use visual and tactile learning tools to reinforce comprehension, aligned with varied learning needs and modalities.

Common Core State Standards Alignment

Though Social Studies is not directly covered in CCSS, this lesson connects deeply with English Language Arts (ELA) Literacy standards for informational texts and speaking/listening:

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.1 - Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for answers.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3 - Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas, or concepts. (Adapted for describing cultural achievements)
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1 - Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.6 - Acquire and use accurately grade-appropriate conversational, general academic, and domain-specific words and phrases, including those that signal spatial and temporal