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4 worksheets · 2 answer keysPlan only

Grade 6 · Quarter 2 · Week 11

Greek Dark Age & the Rise of the Polis

Phoenicians and the alphabet; how the city-state emerged.

Standards this week

  • · 6.NS.C.6
  • · 6.NS.C.7
  • · RI.6.2
  • · W.6.2
  • · MS-LS1-4
  • · C3 D2.His.2.6-8

Packet contents

  1. Daily lesson plans (Mon–Fri)
  2. Friday weekly review
  3. Parent digest summary
  4. Worksheets (4)
  5. Teacher answer keys (2)

Materials to gather before Monday

Sharpened pencil & eraser

Day's notebook (one section per subject)

Timeline strip

Graph paper

Anchor text or passage handout

Lab notebook

Graph paper for data

Vocabulary notebook

Outline map & colored pencils

Lined paper

Sketching pencils & ruler

SixthGrade · Binder packetPrint once Monday morning — file in the week's tab

Daily plans

Monday

After the Collapse

Social StudiesGreek Dark Age (1100–800 BCE); loss of writing, depopulation.
MathPlot points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane (6.NS.C.6).
ELARead on the Greek Dark Age; central idea (RI.6.2).
ScienceContinue germination observation; record day-1 measurements.

Today's worksheets

  • · [1B] Passage: Reading Passage: Mesopotamian Scribal Culture (with comprehension)
  • · [Q1] Assessment: Q1 ELA Assessment

Tuesday

Phoenicians & the Alphabet

Social StudiesTyre and Sidon; trade across the Mediterranean; the alphabet spreads.
MathReflect points across axes; identify ordered-pair patterns.
ELAVocabulary: alphabet, polis, citizen, oligarchy.
ScienceInherited vs. acquired traits — pea-plant Punnett intro.

Today's worksheets

    Wednesday

    The Polis Emerges

    Social StudiesGeography of mountains and seas; why Greece formed many small city-states.
    MathOrder rational numbers on a number line (6.NS.C.7).
    ELACompare two short accounts of the polis; whose voice dominates?
    ScienceInvestigation: dominant vs. recessive traits in a class survey.

    Today's worksheets

      Thursday

      Citizens, Tyrants & Hoplites

      Social StudiesCitizenship in early Greece; the rise of tyrants and hoplite armies.
      MathAbsolute value and ordering with negative rationals.
      ELAPlan informative paragraph: 'What made the polis new?' (W.6.2).
      SciencePunnett-square practice; model monohybrid crosses.

      Today's worksheets

      • · [Writing 1] Writing prompt: Informative Essay
      • · [Q1] Assessment: Q1 ELA Assessment
      • · [Writing 2B] Writing prompt: Theme Analysis

      Friday

      Olympics & Pan-Hellenic Identity

      Social StudiesFirst Olympics 776 BCE; oracles at Delphi; what unified the Greeks.
      MathMixed practice: coordinate plane, integers, ordering rationals.
      ELADraft & publish the informative paragraph.
      ScienceBean-seed week-1 measurement; sketch growth so far.

      Today's worksheets

        Friday weekly review

        Theme: River-valley civilizations & ratios

        Social Studies
        Name one geographic feature studied this week and explain how it shaped the people who lived there.
        Math
        Show one worked example from this week's standard and write a one-sentence rule in your own words.
        ELA
        Pull one sentence from the anchor text that surprised you. Explain why in 2–3 sentences.
        Science
        Describe one observation from a model, lab, or diagram and the question it raised.

        Big question

        How did this week's science or math concept change how you understand the civilization or text we studied?

        For the family

        Short summary of this week to share with your child and the rest of the household. Print and post on the fridge.

        ELA

        "Ask: "Who is the main character or speaker in what you read today, and what do they want?" Then have your child read aloud one favorite sentence from "Read on the Greek Dark Age"."

        Vocab to use at dinner: alphabet, polis, citizen, oligarchy

        Math

        "Ask your child to teach you tonight's idea in 60 seconds: "Show me one example of plot points in all four quadrants of the coordinate plane (6." Teaching it back is the fastest way to lock it in."

        Vocab to use at dinner: coordinate plane, integers, ordering rationals

        Science

        "Ask: "What did you observe today, and what do you think it means?" Encourage your child to draw a labeled sketch of "Continue germination observation" on a sticky note."

        Social Studies

        "At home, ask: "Where on a map would you find what you studied today?" Have your child point it out and tell you one cause and one effect from "Greek Dark Age (1100–800 BCE)"."

        Worksheets (4)

        1. [1B] ELA · Reading Passage: Mesopotamian Scribal Culture (with comprehension)
        2. [Q1] ELA · Q1 ELA Assessment
        3. [Writing 1] ELA · Informative Essay
        4. [Writing 2B] ELA · Theme Analysis

        ELA · G6-ELA-PKG

        1B

        Reading Passage: Mesopotamian Scribal Culture (with comprehension)

        Standards: RI.6.1, RI.6.2, RI.6.6

        Name:  
        Date:  
        Score:  

        __________________

        Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions below in complete sentences. Use specific evidence from the text.

        ELA · G6-ELA-PKG

        Q1

        Q1 ELA Assessment

        Standards: RL.6.1, RL.6.2, RI.6.2, L.6.1, L.6.4, W.6.2

        Name:  
        Date:  
        Score:  

        __________________ Score: _____ / 20

        Part 1: Reading comprehension (5 points)

        Re-read this short excerpt before answering.

        ELA · G6-ELA-PKG

        Writing 1

        Informative Essay

        Standards: W.6.2·Time: 3–4 days

        Name:  
        Date:  
        Score:  

        __________________

        Prompt:

        Write a multi-paragraph informative essay (4--5 paragraphs) titled: "Three Things to Know About Mesopotamian Scribes."

        Requirements:

        • An introduction with a thesis statement that previews the three things you will discuss.

        • Three body paragraphs, each focused on one of the three things, with at least one specific fact per paragraph.

        • A conclusion that briefly summarizes and ends with a thought-provoking observation.

        • Use at least 2 facts from Reading Passage 1B ("Scribes of Mesopotamia") and cite them.

        • Smooth transitions between paragraphs.

        Use the 4-Point Writing Rubric from the front of this package. You will be scored on Ideas, Organization, Evidence, and Conventions.

        ELA · G6-ELA-PKG

        Writing 2B

        Theme Analysis

        Standards: W.6.2, RL.6.2·Time: 3–4 days

        Name:  
        Date:  
        Score:  

        __________________

        Prompt:

        Choose one major theme from Black Ships Before Troy (suggestions: the cost of glory, the power of fate, the limits of strength, the meaning of homecoming). Write a 3--4 paragraph informative essay explaining how Sutcliff develops this theme across the novel.

        Requirements:

        • Introduction that names the theme and previews two or three key episodes.

        • Body paragraphs each focused on one episode. Quote at least one passage per paragraph.

        • A conclusion that reflects on what the theme suggests about the ancient Greek world or about life today.

        Use the 4-Point Writing Rubric.

        Teacher section — remove before giving to student

        Answer keys

        2 of 4 items have keys on file.

        Answer key · ELA

        1B: Reading Passage: Mesopotamian Scribal Culture (with comprehension)

        Teacher copy

        1. Sample main ideas: (a) Mesopotamian scribes invented and developed cuneiform writing, the world's oldest writing system (supported by: "Cuneiform writing was invented in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago"). (b) Scribes preserved knowledge that shaped the modern world (supported by: "thousands of their clay tablets survive in museums around the world").

        2. Originally used for economic transactions (grain storage, sheep, taxes). Over centuries, it expanded to laws, hymns, letters, mathematical problems, and literature like the Epic of Gilgamesh.

        3. Young scribes began at six or seven, studied for ten years or more, copied lists of words, memorized hundreds of cuneiform signs, learned Sumerian and Akkadian, and faced severe discipline including caning for careless writing.

        4. "thousands of their clay tablets survive in museums around the world, baked hard by the fires that destroyed the cities they served" --- or any sentence about tablets surviving.

        5. The author admires scribes; phrases like "remarkable craft," "great rewards," and the closing about modern technology owing them a debt all reveal positive view.

        6. The passage argues that every modern alphabet and keyboard traces back to Mesopotamian scribes. The author's purpose is to show that ancient innovations still matter --- that we depend on what the scribes invented.

        Answer key · ELA

        Q1: Q1 ELA Assessment

        Teacher copy

        1. The Mesopotamian scribe held the city's memory; without him, the city could not function.

        2. "He recorded what grain came in, what went out, who owed what."

        3. Sample: The author respects scribes --- phrases like "the careful pressing of wedges into clay" and "the city's past into the future" show admiration.

        4. Sample theme: Honesty against power requires courage. Students should cite a passage showing Ranofer's moral dilemma about Gebu.

        5. Gebu's harsh treatment forces Ranofer to be careful, hide his ambitions, and learn to act in secret --- shaping his moral choices throughout the novel.

        6. Scripture = a sacred or important written text.

        7. Democracy = rule (kratos) by the people (demos).

        8. Student sentence; should correctly use a root-based word.

        9. My brother and I went home.

        10. Ranofer is the antecedent of "he."

        11. Sample: Both Mesopotamian and Egyptian scribes spent years learning a difficult writing system, were trained in temple schools, and could rise to powerful positions like royal advisor or treasurer. Both civilizations valued literacy and used scribes to record economic and religious life.

        Q2 --- Black Ships Before Troy and Ancient Greece

        SixthGrade · Quarter 2 · Week 11 · Binder packetsixthgrader.org

        Part of the K–6 Homeschool Curriculum series · Grade 6 · Eastern Hemisphere & Ancient Civilizations