Designing Instruction on the Persian Wars
“Go tell the Spartans, thou who passeth
by,
That here in obedience to her laws we lie.”
[Inscription on the grave of the 300 Spartans who died at
defending
Here's
the strategy.
1.
Using your own knowledge of history, the State standard course of
study, your district’s course of study, texts you are supposed to use, and
internet resources, think of the strands of knowledge that you
will weave together to help your students to GET and to retell the story. Here
are some internet resources. They include expository text, pictures, and maps.
Selections from The Histories, Herodotus.
http://historynet.com/mhq/bldspartans/
http://monolith.dnsalias.org/~marsares/warfare/index.html#greeks
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/GREECE/PERSIAN.HTM
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Mediterranean/PersianWars.html
http://campus.northpark.edu/history/WebChron/Mediterranean/Salamis.html
http://history.boisestate.edu/westciv/persian/
http://lilt.ilstu.edu/drjclassics/lectures/history/PersianWars/persianwars.shtm
http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/CLASS_110/Persian.Wars.html
http://www.metrum.org/perwars/
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/bl_time_persianwars.htm
http://www.ualberta.ca/~csmackay/CLASS_110/Arch.Greece.html
http://ccwf.cc.utexas.edu/~warfare/Lectures/lect04.html
http://www.classics.und.ac.za/projects/democracy/armour.htm
Following are examples of strands.
***Timeline of events.
***Persons: Xerxes, Darius, Leonidas, Miltiades,
Pausanias, Mardonius, Themistocles
***Groups: Athenians,
Spartans, Plataeans, Thebans, hoplites
***Social institutions: religion,
military, tribal, political
***Technology: weapons, armor,
ships, battle strategies and tactics
***Geography and demography:
mountainous, plains, ocean, relative isolation of city states.
***Culture: the role of gods in
human affairs, duty, definition of man, cohesion of city states/tribes and
hoplite armies.
***Big ideas that guide and conclude
instruction:
Certain virtues
(bravery, steadfastness) are necessary for weapons to be effective.
The roots of these virtues can be found Greek culture--revealed in poetry,
grave markers, plays, speeches.
The
importance of totally defeating an enemy.
The importance of public support and participation.
Soldiers and combat
units that fight to protect land, family, and culture are braver, more
ferocious, and more tenacious than soldiers who fight for money or who fight
under compulsion.
These lessons are relevant to today’s war with the ideas and world-domination
strategy of Islamic jihad.
2. Create a general
objective. “Students describe the background, main stages/battles, and
outcomes of the Persian Wars, including important persons, groups, technology,
cultural influences, and lessons." This objective will guide further
examination of your resources.
3. Re-examine your
resources. Then
a. Create chunks: smaller units--one or
more daily lessons, for example.
b. Identify specific things to teach in
each chunk.
Here are examples.
(1) Background of the Persian Wars.
Expansion of Persian Empire; mainland Greece assisting revolt of Greek colonies
in Asia Minor (part of Persian Empire); desire of Darius to teach Greeks a
lesson; fierce attachment of Greeks (as farmers) to their land and city-state;
loyalty of hoplites to the phalanx.
(2) Using maps. Identify extent of
(3) Comparison and contrast of Greek
and Persian
(a) panoply (armor,
weapons), battles strategies and tactics (e.g., Greek phalanx shock combat:
compact mass smashes into enemy ranks; stabs; pushes; breaks enemy line)
(b) Greek training to fight (face to
face combat)
(c) Greek armor (e.g., helmet) making
it virtually impossible to hear commands of strategos
(general) which therefore required phalanx members to act as a unit without a
great deal of direction.
(4) The first invasion (490 BC).
(5) The second invasion (480 BC).
(a)
(b) Sea battle at Atemisium:
location, forces, strategy and tactics, commanders, outcome.
(c) Sea battle at
(d)
4. Arrange the chunks and the
items within each chunk into a LOGICAL and COHERENT sequence that tells a
story. Logical means that students must know some things before
others, and that the sequence "moves" fluently from one thing learned
to the next. [Number 3 is logical sequence, I think.]
5. Create
DO-objectives for each THING you want students to learn. Do NOT use
words such as “understand,” “appreciate,” or “know.” State exactly what
students do under specific task conditions.
“When
given a map of
"When asked to describe the panoply of the Greek hoplite, students list
armor and weapons (hoplon, spear, cuirass...),
describe the main features of each (size, weight, composition), and use in
battle."
Here
are additional things to teach--each of which must be turned into a
do-objective.
Whom did the Greeks fight?
How many major land battles were there?
Where was the first land battle?
What was the date of the first land
battle?
Who was the Persian king during the
first invasion?
What did the Persian king expect to
gain from the first invasion?
Was
Was
What were the approximate numbers of
troops on each side?
In what formation did the Greek
infantries fight? Explain its operating characteristics and effectiveness.
What were Greek infantry called?
What weapons did the Greek infantryman
carry?
What was the Greek shield called?
What are four features of the Greek
shield?
In addition to infantry, what other
fighting forces did the Persians use?
Describe combat methods of the Greeks.
How do certain features of the phalanx
foster bravery?
How do certain features of the phalanx
foster density and force?
Who won the first major land battle?
How far was the first battle field from
Did the Persians have a navy involved
in the first land battle?
What was the date of the second major
land battle?
Where was the second land battle?
Who was the Persian king during the
second invasion?
What did the Persian king expect to
gain from the second invasion?
Was
Describe the Greek forces in the second
land battle.
What is the English translation for the
location of the second land battle?
What did the Greeks expect to gain by
fighting the Persians at the location of the second land battle?
What was the approximate number of
troops on each side at
Did the Greeks accomplish what they
came to do in the second land battle?
How were the Greeks defeated in the
second land battle?
In brief, what came next after the
second land battle?
What
rules (as big ideas) are revealed (and can guide future study) in the Greek’s
responses to the Persian invasions?
Locate on a map the places of the three main land battles (
Trace on a map the route taken by the Persian invaders.
Identify on a map the locations of
Describe the forces, tactics, and outcome of the battle at
Describe the forces, tactics, and outcome of the battle at
State the lessons (rules) about: (1) the need for certain virtues (bravery,
steadfastness) for weapons to be effective; (2) the roots of these virtues in
Greek culture; (3) the importance of total defeat of an enemy; (4) the
necessity of public support and participation; (5) the effects of fighting to
protect land, family, and culture on the ferocity and tenacity of soldiers; (6)
the relevance of these lessons for today’s war with the ideas and
world-domination strategy of Islamic jihad. [The rules will be carried
forward to other historical periods.
Note that each objective you work on in
the sequence would be a task or exercise in the lessons.
6. Now write
scripts for exactly HOW you will get the knowledge (relevant to the objectives)
across. The kind of script/communication depends on the form of
knowledge you are teaching:
a.
Verbal association (e.g., names, dates).
b.
Concept: democracy, hoplite, panoply, virtue,
phalanx)
c.
Rule:
d.
Cognitive strategy: locating cities on a map; writing a paper
that synthesizes materials into a description of a war).
But the general format is frame,
model, lead, test/check, verification, presentation of examples/nonexamples, acquisition test on
all examples.
For example...
Boys and girls. New concept.
panoply. [write panoply on
the board]
Spell
panoply.
Get
ready to write the definition of panoply...
A panoply is the set of weapons and armor used by the Greek
hoplite. [hoplite has already been taught.]
I'll
say that definition again...A panoply is the set of
weapons and armor used by the Greek hoplite.
Everybody,
what's the definition of panoply.
Now,
get ready to make a list of weapons and armor in the panoply.
Weapons. [Show pictures of each one)
*Sword
*Spear
*Dagger
Armor
*Hoplon
*Cuirass
*Helmet
*Greaves
[Show
several examples of each one. Point out essential sameness (e.g., the arm strap
on the hoplon, or shield) and irrelevant differences
(e.g., the differing images representing their city state that soldiers painted
on the front of the hoplon)].
Then
have students...
Recite the items in the panoply.
State the essential features (composition and use)