Lesson Plan # 1 - Brandon Hartman

Silk Road (Left Brain/Right Brain Format)

Introduction

This lesson (and unit) will introduce students to the basic concepts of three of theinterconnected major influences in Ancient Indochina: Hinduism, Buddhism, and the Silk Road.

Of special focus for the rest of the unit will be the links between the unifications of India andChina and the tenets of each religion, along with their conflicts with the values made popular by

the Silk Road. This initial lesson lays the foundation for explaining Buddhism and Hinduism,once the Silk Road has been learned about.

Time Allotment: About 84 minutes of instruction.

Objectives

Content/Knowledge (Head)

1. Students will be able to analyze the factors leading to India becoming a hub in world trade.

2. Students will be able to explain the importance of the Silk Road to its relevant nations and their religions and economies.

Process/Skills (Hands)

1. Students will be able to work cooperatively (with a partner) to agree on economic trading decisions.

2. Students will be able to negotiate effectively and communicate effectively with other “cities” (pairs of students).

3. Students will be able to create a transaction log and formulate their personal value for each “product” (candy).

Values/Dispositions (Heart)

1. Students will be able to create connections between their “Silk Road” experience and the real Silk Road.

2. Students will understand that the value we put on products influences our economy, religion wealth, and livelihood.

3. Students will be able to compromise in their trading for economic success.

4. Students will communicate effectively, respectfully, and appropriately to enact trades.

Standards

State – Illinois Learning Standards

16.A.3b - Make inferences about historical events and eras using historical mapsand other historical sources.

18.A.3 - Explain how language, literature, the arts, architecture and traditions contribute to the development and transmission of culture.

18.C.4a - Analyze major cultural exchanges of the past (e.g., Colombian exchange, the Silk Road, the Crusades).

State – Illinois Revised Social Science Standards (2015)

SS.EC.3.6-8.MdC. - Explain barriers to trade and how those barriers influence trade among nations.

SS.EC.10.9-12. - Explain how globalization trends and policies affect social, political, and economic conditions in different nations.

SS.G.2.K. - Identify and explain how people and goods move from place to place.

State – Common Core State Standards: Grades 6-12 Literacy in History/SocialStudies

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.4 - Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

National – Align with National Standards Germane to Lesson Plan Content Focus

NCSS

Culture 1.a - explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies, and cultures address similar human needs and concerns;

Culture 1.e - give examples and describe the importance of cultural unity and diversity within and across groups.

Individuals, Groups, and Institutions 5.b - give examples of and explain group and institutional influences such as religious beliefs, laws, and peer pressure, on people, events, and elements of culture

Production, Distribution, & Consumption 7.a - give examples that show how scarcity and choice govern our economic decisions

Science, Technology, & Society 8.a - identify and describe examples in which science and technology have changed the lives of people, such as in homemaking, childcare, work, transportation, and communication

Global Connections 9.b - give examples of conflict, cooperation, and interdependence among individuals, groups, and nations

Syntax – Procedures

1. Experiencing:a. Teacher Instructions

1. Teacher will hand out Document 1 – A Merchant's Tale Excerpt to all students to begin reading out loud with a partner.

2. Teacher will instruct students to discuss their discussion questions (provided in Resources) with their partner as they read. The text has some difficult vocabulary, so reading support may be needed on the part of the teacher. Depending on the reading abilities of students in the class,it may be beneficial to create a vocabulary glossary of sorts on the board.

3. After reading is finished, teacher will go over the trading map (Resource 3) with students to show students some examples of what would be traded along the Silk Road. It would be a good idea to do a “walk-through” with students of how silk could make it from China to Rome, to show the vastness (and versatility) of the trade network.

b. Resource1. Left Brain: Resource 1 – A Merchant's Tale Excerpt. 2. Left Brain: Resource 2 – A Merchant's Tale Discussion Questions3. Right Brain: Resource 3 – Silk Road Trading Map

c. Student Activity

1. Students will pair up and read (out loud) A Merchant's Tale Excerpt. As they read, students should be discussing their discussion questions (provided) with their partner verbally.

2. Students will analyze the trading map to gain a sense of what was traded on the Silk Road, where it came from (and went), and why. A good example would be silk going from China to Rome, and being produced (not very well, though) in Damascus.

2. Conceptualizing: a. Teacher Instructions

1. Teacher will discuss with students the tale of Nanaivandak and the value of items on the Silk Road. Specifically, Silk, Gems, and Spices should be mentioned as their weight-to-value ratio is very high, and they are small itemsthat large amounts of can be carried easily.2. Teacher will show Resource 3 (Traders Image) and discuss how it would be easy to carry a large value of Silk on a camel, but not of iron, alcohol, etc. Students will also use Resource 2 – Trading Map to discuss why it would be difficult logistically to trade things from one end of the Road to the other.

b. Resource1. Left Brain: Resource 2 – A Merchant's Tale Discussion Questions2. Right Brain: Resource 4 – Silk Road Traders Image

c. Student Activity1. Students will discuss with the whole class their pair's answers to the

discussion questions, as well as the teacher-led discussions listed above.2. Students will be prompted to discuss “Why would spices be more

valuable and worthwhile to trade on the Silk Road than iron?” - The answer to look for will be “You can carry much more in spices than in iron.” or something similar.

3. Applyinga. Teacher Instructions

1. Each group will be given 2 items from a selection of candies; not all candies will be “popular” candies such as Snickers, etc. Some should be obscure or not-candy-like to create a discrepancy in values. Students should already be in pairs from earlier in the lesson.

2. Teacher will instruct students to not eat their candy until after class.3. Teacher will display Resource 5 – Activity Setup Visual on SMARTBoard.4. Students will be given a city from the visual (Resource 5) based on their

location in the classroom.5. Teacher will display Resource 8 – Silk Road Trade Routes on the board to

show students how the Silk Road route went, and where their respective cities are on the route.

b. Resources1. Left Brain: Resource 6 - Transaction Log Sheet2. Right Brain: Resource 5 – Activity Setup Visual

3. Right Brain: Resource 8 – Silk Road Trade Routesc. Student Activity

1. Students will be given 3-4 minutes per round to make trades. They will log each trade in their “Transaction Log” (Resource 6) with a partner.

2. Students may only trade with an adjacent city (one that they are connected with by an arrow on the visual). This means that Cities 1 and 6 will only be able to trade with 2 and 5, respectively.

3. Students must make at least one trade per round. There is no maximum amount of trades per round.

4. After each round, students will discuss with the class what their experience was that round.

5. After five rounds, the trading will end and the class will come back together for part 4.

4. Creatinga. Teacher Instructions

1. Teacher will instruct students to put a star next to each transaction that they feel as if they got a “good deal” on.

2. Teacher will instruct students to finish filling their transaction log before class ends. This log will be the formal assessment for the teacher to take at the end.

3. Teacher will instruct students to fill out the diagram of cities that they traded with, and how many trades with each city, as well as their opinion as to whether the city was a good city to trade with or not, and why or why they said yes or no. A template has been provided as Resource 7 – Trading Diagram that the teacher can put on the SMARTBoard to help fill out as an example.

b. Resource1. Left Brain: Creating and Finishing Transaction Log – Resource 62. Right Brain: Creating Trading Diagram – Resource 7 as template

c. Student Activity1. Students will analyze their transaction log and “star” each transaction for

which they feel they got a good deal.2. Students will finish up transaction logs to turn in for formal assessment based

as a validation of their effort and accuracy of instruction following during the activity.

3. Students will create a diagram (Resource 7) of what cities they traded with and how many trades they made, also to be turned in for formal assessment.

Resources (Source Citations & Bookmarks)

Document 1 - The Merchant's Tale: Nanaivandak, 730-751."Life Along the Silk Road." Holy Cross. June 1, 2004. Accessed October 2, 2015.

http://college.holycross.edu/projects/himalayan_cultures/2004_plans/atouhey/silk_road.pdf

Resource 2 – A Merchant's Tale Discussion QuestionsCreated by Brandon Hartman

Resource 3 – Silk Road Trading Map“Silk Road Map.” Silk Road Encyclopedia. January, 2010. Accessed October 3, 2015.

http://www.silkroutes.net/SilkRoadMaps/PictureMapRoutes.jpg

Resource 4 – Silk Road Traders Image

“Untitled.” Silk Road Cultural Resources. 2015. Accessed October 3, 2015.http://www.the-silk-road.com/catalog/view/theme/silkroad/images/Culture123.jpg

Resource 5 – Activity Setup VisualCreated by Brandon Hartman

Resource 6 – Transaction Log TemplateCreated by Brandon Hartman

Resource 7 – Trading Diagram TemplateCreated by Brandon Hartman

Resource 8 – Silk Road Trade Routes“Untitled.” Awesome Stories: Story-Driven Teaching. 2015. Accessed October 17, 2015.

https://www.awesomestories.com/images/user/0f9575861fa34ca92b71241a44706eef.png

Resource 1 – A Merchant's Tale Excerpt

Nanaivandak was from Samarkand. It had taken him several months to travel fromSamarkand to Chang'an. There were scores of caravans, providing shelter for

itinerant(moving) merchants and warehouse space for their animals and goods. Hisdress and heavily bearded face distinguished him from the Chinese, Turks, and

Tibetans and his language was the lingua franca (common language)of the Silk Road.

Although Nanaivandak paid heavy bribes to customs officers at the Chinese frontier, hisprofits from the sale of wool, jade, and gems was considerable. . He bought silk which was valued by his countrymen and by the Turks who lived on the northern borders of Sogdiana. Although silk was now made in Damascus by captured Chinese prisoners-of-war, the finest silks were still from China.

Nanaivanda's father took him on short trading trips when he was young and he immediately loved the journey itself, especially the mountains. He remembered his first trip to China in 730 AD. They had traveled the northern route because of rumors of Tibetan troops along the southern route of Kashgar. They traded goods along the way but the brass, amber, and coral were destined for Chang'an. The Chinese officials used the brass for ornaments for the girdles of officials and the Buddhists needed brass for statues. They brought golden ornaments worked by the artisans of Samarkand in the Persian style. It was a hard journey with freezing temperatures on the mountain passes.They had to be constantly watchful for bandits. By the summer they reached the region where the recently sheared sheep offered them another product for trade.

They traveled along the western stretch of the Tarim Basin to China - a difficult route in winter and dangerous in spring when the melting snows caused avalanches and ice falls. They collected fresh horses and yaks although they would change to camels whenthey reached the desert to the south. When they changed to the camels - an expensive fee since on camel could cost up to 14 bolts of silk - they were responsible for the injuryor death of any camel during the period of hire. They had to also provide for food, fodder, and fuel. The caravan owners were unhelpful and the road changed at every stage.

Whenever possible, Nanaivandak and his uncle traveled with other merchants. There were horror stories that circulated among the travelers - few wells, sudden winds sweeping down from the north, sandstorms. They would sometimes encounter the bones of small groups who had broken away or decided to take less well trodden routes. The greatest risk was bandits. His uncle told of one experience when a small group of merchants had left the caravan early to try to get a head start on business in the next town. They were ambushed and killed by bandits on the road and all their goods were taken. Nanaivandak saw evidence along the route: ruined and abandoned towns, carcasses in varying stages of decay, petrified trees, human, and animal bones. And when they reached Chang'an where over 200 merchants' guilds were represented in the market area, there were willow trees, a lake, and blossoming fruit trees. Anything could be had in Chang'an.

Resource 2 – A Merchant's Tale Discussion Questions

Answer the following prompts with your partner as you read 'A Merchant's Tale.' It is notnecessary to write these down. Read through these prior to reading your text, then

discuss them verbally as you read through the text.

1. What items did Nanaivandak trade on the Silk Road?

2. What inspired Nanaivandaks passion for trading?

3. What made the trip through the Tarim Basin difficult for merchants?.

4. Nanaivandak heard horror stories about less-traveled routes due totheir danger, but also about bandits on the more-traveled routes. If you were a Silk Road merchant, which routes would you take? Why?

5. Resource 3 – Silk Road Trading Map

Resource 4 – Silk Road Traders Image

Resource 5 – Activity Setup Visual

Resource 6

Resource 7 – Trading Diagram Template

Resource 8 – Silk Road Trade Routes