高中生出國留學英語班- learning 'Mesopotamia'

Syllabus of Learning 'Mesopotamia'

This page puts together the materials and my plan of teaching the 'Mesopotamia' chapter in H. Van Loon's book. Dr. Simon Shauming, ESL/Math Tutor

Objects 

• Increase listening ability for ancient history contents. 
• Increase word power.
• Learn how to describe events, places, and time.
• See the parallel and contrast structures of the text.
• Become curious how human civilizations began.
• Expand geographical knowledge of West Asia. 
• Appreciate the relevance of the lesson to current news events.

Class Time   3 hours

I. Pre-class activity
The students listen to the audio track and read the text at least once before coming to the class.

MESOPOTAMIA
THE SECOND CENTRE OF EASTERN CIVILISATION

I AM going to take you to the top of the highest pyramid and I am going to ask that you imagine yourself possessed of the eyes of a hawk.

Way, way off, in the distance, far beyond the yellow sands of the desert, you will see something green and shimmering.

It is a valley situated between two rivers.

It is the Paradise of the Old Testament.

It is the land of mystery and wonder which the Greeks called Mesopotamia the "country between the rivers."

The names of the two rivers are the Euphrates (which the Babylonians called the Purattu) and the Tigris (which was known as the Diklat).

They begin their course amidst the snows of the mountains of Armenia where Noah's Ark found a resting place and slowly they flow through the southern plain until they reach the muddy banks of the Persian gulf.

They perform a very useful service.

They turn the arid regions of western Asia into a fertile garden.

The valley of the Nile had attracted people because it had offered them food upon fairly easy terms.

The "land between the rivers" was popular for the same reason.

It was a country full of promise and both the inhabitants of the northern mountains and the tribes which roamed through the southern deserts tried to claim this territory as their own and most exclusive possession.

The constant rivalry between the mountaineers and the desert-nomads led to endless warfare.

Only the strongest and the bravest could hope to survive and that will explain why Mesopotamia became the home of a very strong race of men who were capable of creating a civilization which was in every respect as important as that of Egypt.

II. Classroom activities

Listening
Audio echoing exercise.
Notice speech pattern, emphasis, and so on.

Reading
List proper names, such as Old Testament, the Greeks.
List words and phrases that you are not familiar with.

• First, guess what the strange words mean from the context.
• Don't write Chinese translation next to them.
• Look the unfamiliar words up in an English-English dictionary, such as Longman Dictionary.
• After that, explain them in your own words.
• Finally, create sentences with your favorite strange words.

Text analysis
Condition of nature vs human activity.
Two parts separated by the sentence containing 'fertile garden'.
What rhetoric purpose does this structure intend to serve?
What conflicts can you detect in this article?
Break down a few very long sentences into clause trees.

Discussion
Imagine a desert. Describe what it is like. What does it have? How does it feel to you?
Have you ever been to an arid area?
Have you ever been to a fertile farmland?
What differences between them have you noticed?

III. After class

review the following words and phrases:
centre (Br) = center (Am)
civilisation (Br) = civilization (Am)

imagine yourself
possess, possessed of, possessed by, possession
the eyes of a hawk
Way, way off in the distance
shimmer, shimmering
situated between

amidst (lit.) = amid
turn ... into ...
arid regions
fertile garden

it had offered them ...
roamed through the southern deserts
claim this territory as their own
exclusive possession
rivalry between
desert-nomads

... lead to ...
lead, led, led (verb)
lead (noun)
LED light

endless warfare
that will explain why ...
in every respect

IV. Extension Learning

A) Cradles of Civilization - The First Cities l Lessons of Dr. David Neiman

B) Biblical account of Adam created in charge of the Garden of Eden
Genesis 2:7-15

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one which skirts the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. And the gold of that land is good. Bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one which goes around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it is the one which goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.