familiarize students with story content, sentence structures
and vocabulary so that at a later stage they can more easily read
and work independently on parts of the story.
Life in the Indus Valley 
by
Joyce and David MolletToday, the Indus Valley is a barren desert,
broken only by the winding River Indus. A long time ago, when the land
was first settled, the Indus Valley was a lush and fertile jungle. It
was the home of all manner of wild beasts.
This story tells of that time, many years ago, when the Indus Valley was fertile
and prosperous.
Indatri, had been born and raised in the town of Mohenjo-Daro. When she was
12 her father,who was a trader, moved his family to the coastal city of Balakot.
Balakot was a port on the main trade route. Boats arrived there daily. They
brought goods to the city from far afield. Once unloaded the boats would be
quickly filled with a new cargo and were ready to continue their journey.
A New Beginning
Indatri awoke and opened her eyes. For a moment she didn't know where she was.
She then remembered, she was in her new bed, in her new room. Her first thought
was that she was glad the long journey was over.
It was several weeks since she and her family had said good-bye to their home
town of Mohenjo-Daro. Together they had started the 250 mile journey down to
the coast.
It had been a slow journey for they had with them everything they owned. Their
possessions were packed into bullock carts, and they could travel only as fast
as the slowest cart.
The Decision Explained
Although a beautiful new house awaited them in the coastal town of Balakot,
Indatri could not shake off the sadness of leaving her friends and everything
that was familiar.
She did not blame her father for moving. It had all made perfect sense when
he had talked to them some months ago.
"Your grandfather has become too old to oversee the coastal trade
route," Avara explained to Indatri. "I must move to the coast
and take over that part of the family business."
"Your brother, Datri, will stay here in Mohenjo-Daro to take care
of the land routes, and your uncle will stay in Harappa to deal with
the inland trade."
Thoughts of Home
Trade was very important in the Indus Valley. It was second only to the farming
that thrived around Mohenjo-Daro.
Indatri would often escape with her pet dog into the fields around her home.
She had to keep him close to her because he loved to nip the camels' ankles
or chase the cattle into the wheat fields.
Fields of wheat and barley stretched as far as the eye could see, and melons,
sesame, field-peas and dates grew in abundance.
"Will I ever stop longing for my home land?" Indatri thought
to herself.
Just then she heard the heavy rumbling of bullock carts passing the house.
"This is a very early hour for street traffic," she said to
herself.
Houses in the Valley
Indatri could not peer out of a window to check on what was happening, for
the house had no windows facing onto the street.
Her new house was much the same as the one she had left in Mohenjo-Daro and
similar to her uncle's house in Harappa.
It was quite large, and in the center was an open courtyard. Stairs led up
to a flat roof. With a bucket and long rope the family brought up water from
a well in the courtyard and in the bathroom there was a drain into an underground
sewer system.
Running through the silent house in her bare feet, Indatri made her way up
to the flat roof. She peered over the low wall to the street below. There she
saw a string of bullock carts. In the soft light of dawn she could see that
wicker baskets filled the carts and hung from every side.
What she saw inside the baskets made her gasp with horror. There were birds
in every basket, mainly black crows and all pecking and struggling to get free.
She had never seen anything like this in Mohenjo-Daro.
"Those poor birds," she thought, "This is an awful place.
I shall never get used to it."
Mohenjo-Daro
At that moment she felt an overwhelming urge to be back in her home city. In
her imagination she was there, climbing the thirty foot mound to the great
citadel.
She remembered the first time her father had taken her to the public buildings
and they had looked down on the huge, surrounding, brick wall.
The citadel was the center of religion and government for Mohenjo-Daro's 35,000
people.
In the middle of the citadel was the Great Bath. It was a huge, deep bath with
steps leading into it. The people used it for religious purposes because they
believed water to be a great purifier.
Indatri remembered the great granary in Mohenjo-Daro where the grain was stored.
It was a huge building made of thousands of fired bricks and could hold enough
food to feed the entire city for a long time.
Closing her eyes, Indatri could see herself running through the wide main streets
of Mohenjo-Daro.
The main streets ran from north to south. There were smaller streets that ran
from east to west and even narrower lanes that divided the houses.
A Common Plan
"All our cities are alike, Indatri," her father had once told
her. "Our valley has a strong central government that rules all
the cities. When the cities were first built, they were all planned
by the same people," he explained.
"Could it be then, that Balakot will be familiar?" she wondered.
At that moment the squawking of the birds brought her back to the present.
Racing down the stairs and out of the house, she decided to find out what was
to happen to the poor creatures.
Following the carts she found herself heading towards the seashore. She passed
the many craft workshops not yet open for business and soon reached the waterfront.
A Discovery
Sadly she watched as the bird catcher loaded the baskets on to the various
ships that were tied up along the front.
"You poor birds," she whispered to herself. "So that's
what happens to you. Served up for meals on board ship during the
long voyages."
Although Indatri was used to a meal of chicken, the thought of these birds
of the air caught and kept captive upset her. With tears in her eyes she turned
for home.
In the light of the morning she had to admit that the sight of her new house
did feel comforting.
The house, like nearly every building in the cities of the Valley, was made
of baked clay bricks with strong wooden beams to support the flat roof. It
was a familiar sight. It could almost have been her old home.
Beautiful Possessions
"Where have you been?" Yamuru, her mother, called, hardly
stopping from the task of unpacking. Yamuru was safely storing her
most precious possessions.
She was carefully unpacking her best pottery. She was so pleased that the fine
pots with their beautiful designs had not been broken on the journey.
Arranged on a colorful cotton cloth were all sorts of bright and beautiful
beads and a beautiful necklace made of turquoise and lapis lazuli. She would
pack these into little wooden boxes.
All the women wore jingling bangles, sparkling earrings, and brightly beaded
necklaces. Yamuru would often wear her hair in braids, or, if it was a special
occasion, she would put it up in a fancy headdress and look as beautiful as
the richest lady.
"I have seen such a sad thing," said Indatri and she poured
out her story.To her surprise her father threw back his head and
laughed heartily.
Returning to the Waterfront
"Come," he said to his daughter. "Get yourself something to eat and
come with me. I have to meet with the captains of some of the ships down at
the waterfront."
Avara went in search of his seal and carefully arranged it around his neck.
Every trader had to have one. It was like a signature.
Avara's seal, a horned bull, looked very fine resting against his colorful
cotton robe. It showed his importance in the community and Indatri walked proudly
beside her father.
The waterfront was even more crowded than earlier."The ships are quite different
to the flat-bottomed boats we used to see on the river in Mohenjo-Daro, father," said
Indatri."You are right, child. That is because these ships go
out to sea," her
father replied."Some of these ships have traveled west along the
coast collecting copper from Afghanistan; others further south to India
for gold.
These are the ships that have traded timber, ivory and pottery in
Mesopotamia and silver and turquoise in Persia. Many have come from
the port of Lothal and are calling in at Balakot before heading further
west."
Indatri Learns the Truth
Avara stopped to talk to one of the captains. Indatri knew her father had repeated
her story to the captain because he came over, laughing, just as her father
had.
"The last thing you should do, young lady, is to fret over these birds," the
captain said to her. "We treat them with the utmost care for there are times
when these creatures are our lifeline."
Indatri looked at him questioningly.
"We never sail without our birds on board," continued the captain. "When
a mist comes down at sea, or we lose sight of land, it can be frightening.
We release one of our birds and it immediately flies towards the nearest land.
If we follow the path of the bird we will always head safely home."
Indatri smiled with relief. She now knew that these birds would eventually
fly free.
Things Look Brighter
"Come, my daughter, we must return home," Avara said. "My
work is finished for today."
Indatri began to see Balakot in a new light.
"Maybe this will not be such a bad place to live," she thought. "It might
even prove to be more interesting than Mohenjo-Daro."
A
terracotta amulet discovered by archaeologists in Mohenjo-Daro shows
a representation of a ship together with "compass birds."
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2. Cognitive - the effectiveness of stories
to transmit knowledge
I believe that if we can format content so that it relates to the mindset of
the student, the student will learn more easily and quickly than if otherwise
had been the case. If it is possible work with a partner and create a story
web similar to the one below - create other titles if they are more appropriate
for your story. If you decide to use the above story use the story web below
or something similar. Fill out the cells with facts and content from the story.
As an adult put on hold for the moment all that you know already about the
civilization and imagine that listening to the story is your first contact
with this civilization. Take 5-10 minutes to do this then come together and
discuss whether you think your students would learn and retain more with this
method rather than learning through a more stricter cognitive approach
.
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3. Including Language Arts
When stories are used as an integral part of the history lesson
it becomes far easier to bring the language arts into the lesson.
Far easier to teach the language arts including reading skills
and the language skills that are essential to social studies.For
example, the ability to:
* compare and contrast
* see different viewpoints
* hypothesize, and so on.Three examples of assignments where the language arts
are incorporated into social study lessons.
3a. Ask the students to create a travel brochure for
the region they are studying. This is an ideal language arts project
for the students are asked to use the information they gained from
literal recall of the text (and organized in the story web). They
can then progress to sorting the information into categories, using that
information creatively and with imagination and also they can carry
out research to increase their knowledge.
| Travel Brochure |
Introduction
- Imagine that you are a resident of Mohenjo-Daro.
- You have been employed by the central government
to promote tourism as an industry.
- One of your first tasks is to design a travel brochure.
- These will be distributed along the trade-route linking
the Indus Valley with Sumer in Mesopotamia.
- They will be distributed in large numbers in Ur.
- This is what you do
- Prepare a letter-size sheet of paper by folding twice.
- This will give you three areas to work on for the
outside of the brochure, and one large area inside.
 Prepare your information
1. Review the story on the Indus Valley Civilization.
2.
Carry
out research to extend your knowledge of this culture.
3. Divide your information
into the groups found in the next column.
|
Divide information into:
-
the accommodations (that is the type
of housing) visitors to Mohenjo-Daro can expect, and
what things are available for their comfort; - the route that will take them from Ur to Mohenjo-Daro
and the kind of terrain they can expect to pass through;
- the mode of transportation;
- what gifts tourists can expect to buy in the city;
- what there is to see and do in Mohenjo-Daro.
|
| Design your brochure Create a colorful and eye-catching cover for your brochure.
Present the information on accommodation on the inside
cover.
Assemble your information on transportation and route
on the back of the brochure.
Remember that you want to attract visitors so you
will want to present hardship and danger on the journey
as excitement and adventure.
Use the inside of the brochure to present the information
on "what to do," "what to see," and "what to buy."
Make it as attractive, appealing and informative
as you can. Balance the text with illustrations and
use plenty of color. |
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3b. A second example would be a Guided Reading assignment.
An important comprehension skills that should be developed in students is the
ability to make inferences, namely to read between the lines of the text.
Working with an historical text is an ideal way to develop this skill. The
Guided Reading contains questions that require students to go beyond the
literal recall of the text. This is a more demanding assignment and requires
students to work with selections from the text, making inferences about the
civilization that are not overtly stated in the story
.
The following are suggested answers to the questions.
1. Ship's compass
A device used to determine geographic direction, usually consisting of a magnetic
needle or needles horizontally mounted or suspended and free to pivot until
aligned with the magnetic field of the earth.
2. "A well in the courtyard supplied the family's water and the bathroom
drained into an underground sewer system."
3. Making Inferences
Students' answers will vary but evidence of the following should be looked
for.
(a) Since the religious buildings were at the heart of the city, and there
is evidence of many resources given to religious structures, then it can be
inferred that religion played an important part in the lives of the people.
(b) The construction of such a large building, with the storage of enough grain
for a city, suggests a very strong central government.
(c) Well-planned cities suggest strong and central control, and a well-developed
system of organization that could carry out overall planning.
(d) The society had many skilled people producing high quality wares. It can,
therefore, be inferred that there was a large food surplus produced that could
support people engaged in work other than food production. The quality of the
wares suggests that there was a long tradition of craft production.
(e) The crops that the people produced included cotton and they had the skills
to spin and weave it into cloth. They also had the skill and knowledge to dye
the cloth with bright colors.
3c. As an introduction to other subject areas.
The story introduces students to seals in the Indus Valley civilization.
The use of seals was very important in this culture, over 1,200 were
found in Mohenjo-Daro and more than 2,000 in the area as a whole.
The subject could be used in various ways to introduce a balance
in learning between the "head, heart and hands".
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4. Introduction
of different concepts.
There are many concepts in social studies that are difficult for students to
learn and understand. For example such concepts as:
,* change *continuity *culture *justice *technologyas well as thematic concepts
such as:
*civilization *human-environment interaction *religion *society
5. Scaffolding/Sequential
Learning
Scaffolding of assignments is far easier from the teachers'
viewpoint if the assignments are built around a story. For
example in the above three assignments have been suggested.
Each one is a little more demanding than the last, and each
utilizes the knowledge of the previous assignment.
The Story
Web
This assignment calls for literal recall of the text and requires students
to recall facts about the society that they have absorbed while listening
to the story.
Travel Brochure
This is a more demanding task. In order to complete this assignment,
students will need to use the information gathered in the story web
and use it imaginatively and in a creative way.
Guided Reading
The Guided Reading contains questions that require students to go beyond
the literal recall of the text. This is a more demanding assignment
than the last one in as much as it requires students to work with selections
from the text, making inferences about the civilization that are not
overtly stated in the story.
We have seen how a story can be an important and appropriate way
to introduce to students content of an ancient civilization. We will
now examine the structure of a story.
Structure of a Story
This structure will include:
Theme, Setting, Characters and Plot.1. Theme: What the
material is about - Overview.
2. Setting: Where?
3: Characters: Who?
4. Plot: What the material is about - to include: opening, conflict,
resolution.
Use the example from the Student
Information Sheet Egyptianization
of Kush, or material chosen by yourself
.
Alternatively, if you have a particular interest in
Egypt, Greece or Rome you could use one of the following as
your outline.
Decide
whether you want to work alone or find a partner (recommended)
or in a small group. Write the story in your own words. The
following is obvious but do check and see that you have a
theme, setting, characters and plot. Find a partner or work
in a small group. Each one of you draw a table like, or similar
to, the one below.
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Story Presentation - Tools and Techniques
If you wish to have other details on the ingredients of communication,
and tables for monitoring and assessing your presentation,
please see below. Read your story to your partner or
other members of your group. The greatest gift you have
in telling your story is your voice. Invite your partner(s)
to constructively comment on your presentation. Good
luck with your teaching - do think seriously of telling
stories as an important way of reaching your students.
Take care.
Overview of Storytelling for Presentation
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Overview of Storytelling - Original Version
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The following is not part of the
presentation but is added in case teachers need assessment
rubrics for the assignments.
Assessment Rubric
Evidence of the following skills and knowledge should
be looked for in the student's completed assignment.
Assessment Rubric for Question 1
The student's correct answer:
a)
reflects his/her understanding of
the purpose of having birds aboard ship in ancient times;
b)
links
past and present through a common feature;
c)
if comprehensive, shows
evidence of research.
Assessment Rubric for Question 2
A relevant quotation reflects:
a) an ability to select relevant information from the given text;
b) an
ability to select evidence to support a given view.
Assessment Rubric for Question 3
The student's answers:
a) contain at least one inference for
each of the five quotations;
b) give
reasons for the inferences made;
c) reflect the student's ability to go beyond
the literal level of the text and read between the lines.
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(Five main points)
