Lesson on the Mongol Empire with Tabletop Twitter activity; specific focus on Genghis Khan

1. 10/23/15 Bell Ringer
You are a farmer in northern China in 1212. As you pull weeds from
a wheat field, you hear a sound like thunder. Looking toward the
sound, you see hundreds – no, thousands – of armed horsemen on
the horizon, riding straight toward you. You are frozen with fear.
Only one thought fills your mind – the dreaded Mongols are
coming!
What can you do to
save yourself?
**Think about both PASSIVE
and AGGRESSIVE options**
CHALLENGE!! Where were
the Mongols from?

2. Objectives and Standards
• I can evaluate how and why the
Mongols were successful in creating
a great land empire.
• 7.24 Describe and locate the Mongol
conquest of China including Genghis
Khan, Kublai Khan.

3. Knowledge Throwback!
• What’s the largest empire in history?
• How much land did it cover?

4. Making Predictions…
Look at the map on page 425
• With your partner, make a prediction about the
following:
1. How was Genghis Khan able to control such a
large empire?
1. What are some difficulties an army of nomadic
people would have in creating an empire of this
size?
**What did you come up with??

7. Backstory...
The Mongols were nomadic peoples
from the northern plains of China. In
1206, a powerful leader, or khan,
united them.
His name was Temüjin and he
became…
Genghis Khan = “Universal
Ruler”
He was able to unite a vast group
of people that were scattered over
hundreds of miles.
What does that tell you about
his leadership?
Video Clip

8. Map of the Mongol Empire
Turn to page R11 in the back of your book.
• Using the map in the book and the handout:
– Compare the historical map and the modern map
– Answer the following questions with your partner:
1. How many modern day countries did the Mongol
Empire occupy?
2. What are some difficulties an army of nomadic
people would have in creating an empire of this
size?
3. What challenges would the leader face? How did
the leader deal with difficulty?

10. Today’s task
• Each one of you will be reading about
the following topics to discover at a
deeper level!
–Uniting Tribes
–Stamping out Defiance
–The Bow
–The Horse

11. Table top twitter!
• Each group will be assigned 4 articles on the strength of the
Mongol Empire.
• Step 1: You will complete the reading individually. Every person
will end up reading every article
• Step 2: Each person will tweet on every article you read. You will
then comment on the other group member’s comments.
– You must write a ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY TWEET
followed by at least ONE HASHTAG that emphasizes
the main idea of the article.
• YOU MUST BE SILENT DURING THIS
PART OF THE ASSIGNMENT!

12. POWTIDE ASSESSMENT
• Choose ONE of the 4 strengths from the articles.
• Write a paragraph that identifies and analyzes
how the Mongols were successful in creating a
great land empire due to that one strength.
10 minutes
End

13. Exit Ticket
Our objective today was to evaluate the Mongols ability
and success in creating a great land empire.
In our lesson we looked at 4 ways they achieved this.
On your sticky note, tell me what had the greatest
impact in bringing the Mongols success in your opinion.
Next, put down one of the symbols below about how
you feel about your knowledge of today’s material.
+I am confident that I understood all of today’s lesson
- I do not feel confident about today’s lesson
~ I am confident on some things but still need some help
on others