The Ancient Mesopotamians: The City of Ur

Earlier this week we learned that ancient hunter-gatherers were nomadic and lived in small groups, whereas people who lived in the first civilizations (like Mesopotamia) began to live in much larger groups.

He lived in ancient Ur.
Was he similar to us,
or was he different?

These permanent settlements -- with houses, shops, streets, and organized systems of government -- were (and are) known as cities (notice that the word "civilization" has the same root as the word "city").

One of the great cities of ancient Mesopotamia was Ur, which Mr. Richmond likes to pronounce as "Urrrr". Tomorrow in class, we will talk about ways that Ur was similar to -- and different from -- Charlottesville.

Today, the students practiced their close reading skills. Then, they worked in small groups to answer questions about Ur and the famous Mesopotamian leader Sargon.

I noticed several excellent interactions and behaviors during our group work. Here are just a few:

• Whitley refocused her group when their conversation got a little sidetracked.
• Max politely asked Diego to slow down so that he could finish completing an answer.
• Grace listened carefully and deliberately while JP shared his ideas about Mesopotamia. Then, Grace responded to JP's ideas and expressed her own. 
• Spreading the positive vibe in his group, JP complimented Cameron's handwriting.
• Carter L., Carter V., and Wynter took their time. Rather than rushing to write down the first idea that came to mind, they studied the text and tried to come up with more complex responses.
• Ellen, Kalani, Eloise and Liam took turns sharing their ideas. In their group, no one dominated the discussion, and each student remained focused when not speaking.