Objective: Students will be able to write a journal entry that might have been written by someone near Mt. Vesuvius when it erupted in 79 A.D.
There are some web sites that have copies (translations of the letters of Pliny the Younger concerning the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Older students might be able to read them or for younger children the teacher can use the letters as a shared reading opportunity.
See Living with a Volcano in your backyard- An Educator's Guide U.S. Geological Survey GIP 19, www.vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Outreach/Publications/GIP19/framework.html
Materials: copies of the two letters from Pliny the Younger to Tacitus,
This lesson would occur later in the unit concerning volcanoes when students should have a general understanding of volcanoes. This eruption would be studied as a historically significant eruption and the devastating affect it had on the people who lived near it.
Writing journal entries for characters is something most 2nd, 3rd and higher students will have experience for Connecticut's Mastery Tests.
Procedure:
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1. Students will be given a copy of the two letters of Pliny the Younger concerning the death of his uncle in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
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2. The teacher will read the accounts in a shared reading lesson, making sure to review
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vocabulary, and student's comprehension.
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3. Students will write a journal they might have written if they were one of the few survivors of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
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4. Students may also draw a picture to illustrate their entry and share both with their classmates.