Amplify Grade 1 Knowledge Unit 5: Early American Civilizations Celebration Ideas

Now we are up to Unit 5 in our Amplify Knowledge series, Early American Civilizations! This unit closely examines the Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations.

My students always enjoy learning about these 3 civilizations. It ties in so well with Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, so they don't have to switch their train of thinking too much. 

I tried 2 new things last year: making our own chinampas and Inca weaving. The chinampas were a success - but the weaving was a bit tricky. I am looking forward to trying both again this year, and I'll add updates when we do!

Civilization Chart

I love using the image cards to create a growing civilization chart throughout this unit. 

They are a great reference tool when my students are writing, and creating their own civilization books!

This year my students will be making a civilization book along with me, and this wall is a great reference tool for them.

The Civilization book comes with 3 styles, to allow for more writing space if your students are ready. 

I also included Venn diagrams to help analyze 2, or all 3, of the civilizations, as well as writing templates for daily writing.

Click here for a closer look at this resource!

Google Earth and Ambience

Click here to download a copy of this pdf, which includes Google Earth locations, music, website and more for all 3 civilizations.

I also hung up this gorgeous Machu Picchu backdrop throughout the unit - my students and I love this one!

Click here to see all the backdrops I use throughout the year to add some fun to our Knowledge units!

Chinampas

My students are always fascinated by the concept of the floating gardens, so we tried to create our own last year. I couldn't find any samples online, so this was our first attempt - and it was fairly successful!

Each table had a tray to hold their chinampas. They made the raft with a partner using popsicle sticks, and tacky glue. 

 

We didn't have a clear plan, so it was interesting seeing how they decided to create their raft. We did google a lot of pictures of rafts to help them understand how they float. 

 

Then they placed some soil on their raft, added a sprinkle of radish seeds and we were done!

                  

We are fortunate enough to have a 4 big windows and a lot of light, so they grew nicely! We kept them out for about a month, and my class loved watching them grow. 

                      

The best part is since this unit takes place in January for us, and NH is lacking in plant life then. These added some lovely life to our room!

Each table would take turns watering the trays each day. They were amazed at how they really floated, and that you never had to water the tops, as they water moves through the bottom as intended!

    

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Maya Sculptures

First we made our own salt dough:

Ingredients

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

They loved measuring the ingredients, adding the water and kneading it. The gallon baggies helped cut down on the mess a lot. It also helped us store the dough easily.

Creating the sculptures was a lot of fun! 

Some of them used toothpicks to add details to their creations.

 

After they were done, we let them dry for a few days before painting.

 

We used washable paints, but they went on a bit too heavy, and darker than we liked.

This year, I want to try water colors, to see if they can add more details and get more of an aged look.

Inca Weaving

We also tried Inca weaving this year, but unfortunately I don' t have any pictures. The downside to being alone with your class on a celebration day. Check back later for an update to this part!

I made my own looms, but the cardboard was too wiggly for my students. The yarn and needles were perfect, but I think I will be purchasing these looms this year to make it a bit easier. 

Books

My students love the photos in all of these books, and they make wonderful afternoon read alouds too!

Ancient Civilizations for Kids

Aztec History for Kids

Archaeology for Kids

DK Eyewitness Aztec, Inca and Maya

The Inca Empire for Kids

Maya History for Kids

Aztecs, Incas & Mayans

Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas!

Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans for Children

DK Find Out! Maya, Incas, and Aztecs

The Inca Empire A True Book: Ancient Civilizations

Finding coloring pages was hard for this unit, but this book has some amazing pictures that my students loved!

Aztec Designs Coloring Book

Machu Picchu Site

My class loved exploring this website that has an interactive tour of all the places on Machu Picchu.

It even has live cameras, which they found so interesting! 

We used it again on our celebration day - I had it up on our ClearTouch screen and they could explore wherever they liked!

Build a Temple

I always like to have a hands on celebration station, so they can get their creative side on! I put out all our building materials so they could create temples, Machu Picchu, palaces and more!

They really loved all of these activities, and I am looking forward to trying them all again this year!

Don't miss the other posts in this series!

• Amplify Grade 1 Knowledge Unit 1: Fables and Stories - Celebration Ideas
• Amplify Grade 1 Knowledge Unit 2: The Human Body - Celebration Ideas
• Amplify Grade 1 Knowledge Unit 3: Different Lands, Similar Stories
• Amplify Grade 1 Knowledge Unit 4: Early World Civilizations