I teach Ancient History to 6th graders. The way I teach this topic is that I stick very close to the textbook. There is not a lot of detail in the lessons. One way I am starting to better understand the topic of the Middle Ages and the Middle East are the intricacies and connections between religion and government. I do teach my students how religious leaders in the ancient civilizations had a lot of power but I don’t dive too deep into how.

I would like to revise my curriculum in many ways, one being more intentional with connecting to the past. The first way is to teach them history as a story. At this point in history, there are so many leaders that we have actual evidence and records of existing. There were battles, agreements, discussions that were recorded. I will use this information to show them history that is documented. I will then have them make connections between current events to what happened in the past. They will compare, contrast, will out graphic organizers, and answer a variety of essential questions focused on making connections to the past.