Lesson Plan - The Roaming Ruler

About the Article

Learning Objective

Students will read about the Roman emperor Hadrian and analyze a historical map of the Roman Empire.

Curriculum Connections

• The Roman Empire

• Ancient Civilizations

• Europe, Asia, and Africa

• Infrastructure

• Judaism

Key Skills

Social Studies:

• Study patterns of continuity and change

• Examine consequences of global connections

• Explore the development of cultures across time and place

English Language Arts:

• Learn and use domain-specific vocabulary

• Identify central ideas and key details

• Integrate information presented in multiple formats

Key CCSS Standards

RH.6-8.1, RH.6-8.2, RH.6-8.4, RH.6-8.7, WHST.6-8.4, RI.6-8.1, RI.6-8.2, RI.6-8.4, RI.6-8.7, W.6-8.4, SL.6-8.1

Essential Questions

  • What makes someone a good leader?
  • How have empires expanded and contracted?
  • What can we learn by studying ancient civilizations?

1. Preparing to Read

Assess Knowledge and Build Vocabulary

Tell students that the Roman Empire existed from 27 B.C. to 476 A.D. and at its height stretched across Europe into Asia and Africa. Then assign the Skill Builder Charting Your Knowledge from the Graphic Organizer Library at junior.scholastic.com/library. Have students complete the first two columns of the KWL chart with what they know about the Roman Empire and what they want to know. Then use the Skill Builder Words to Know to preteach domain-specific terms from the article.

2. Reading and Discussing

Read the Article

Read the article aloud or have students read it independently or in pairs. Have students complete the last column of Charting Your Knowledge as they read.

Answer Close-Reading Questions

Have students write their responses, or use the Close-Reading Questions to guide a discussion.

• Who was Hadrian? What was he known for? (Key Details)
Hadrian was the leader of the Roman Empire from 117 A.D. until his death in 138 A.D. The ruler was known for traveling through his vast empire by foot or on horseback to explore almost every part of it and to inspect and train the military. A wall Hadrian had built still stands near the present-day border of England and Scotland.

• Summarize the section “Exploring His Empire.” (Summarizing)
Soon after becoming emperor, Hadrian gave up some of the eastern provinces of the empire. He began his first tour of his lands in 121 A.D. Hadrian ordered the construction of a huge wall to separate Britannia from tribes in the north in 122 A.D. On later travels, he visited Hispania, Syria, and Greece. Hadrian also founded a city in Egypt and a city in what is now known as Türkiye. On his trips, he was known for observing local architecture and climbing mountains to watch sunrises.

3. Skill Building

Practice Reading Historical Maps

Have students answer the questions about the map on pages 18-19 independently or in groups. Use the Historical Map lesson from our Map Skills Boot Camp to give students more practice. The full curriculum of 13 lessons is at junior.scholastic.com/mapskills.

Assess Comprehension

Assign the 10-question Know the News quiz, available in PDF and interactive forms.

Differentiate and Customize

For Struggling Readers: Use the lower-Lexile version of the article at junior.scholastlc.com. Students can adjust the reading level using the toolbar on the left side of the article’s webpage. Or you can download a printer-friendly PDF.

For Social and Life Skills: Ask students to write a list of 5 to 10 adjectives that best describe Hadrian. Then have students share one of their words and provide evidence from the article to support their choice.

Printable Lesson Plan

Interactive Slide Deck

Text-to-Speech