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History, Civics & Social Studies · Grade 6

Compare Civilizations with Sources and Arguments

In this capstone, learners carry out a complete comparative inquiry: they choose a strong comparison question, source a small set of primary documents and artifacts, build a thesis with evidence and counterevidence, and write and revise an argument comparing two ancient civilizations.

  • 4 lessons
  • About 120 minutes
  • Comparative inquiry check: 8 questions
  • Ways to answer: fill in the blanks, choose an answer, highlight a text, match pairs, put in order and sort into groups
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What learners will discover

  • Write a focused comparative question that evidence can answer, naming two civilizations and a category of comparison.
  • Source primary documents and artifacts (author or maker, date, purpose) and explain what each can and cannot show.
  • Build a comparative argument with a thesis, evidence, reasoning and counterevidence.
  • Write and revise a comparison of two civilizations using sources accurately and fairly.

Lessons

  1. Ask a comparison question 6 steps4 practiceabout 25 min
  2. Source the evidence 6 steps4 practiceabout 30 min
  3. Build the argument 6 steps4 practiceabout 30 min
  4. Write and revise 4 steps2 practiceabout 35 min
  5. Comparative inquiry check 8 questions at the end

Keep exploring

More 6th grade social studies

Guide for grown-ups