World History · Week 2 · Foundations and Democratic Revolutions
Rule of Law, Not Rule of One
Students compare Plato and Aristotle on why tyranny is illegitimate and practice pausing strong feelings before deciding what is fair.
- Students will
- Students trace how Plato and Aristotle argued that rulers should be bound by law and explain why a tyrant's rule is considered illegitimate.
- SEL skill
- Pause a strong reaction before judging whether a ruler is fair
- What it looks like
- Students practice pausing a strong feeling before judging what is fair.
- Content focus
- Rule of law, not rule of one
- Format
- Structured discussion
Responsible decision-making
Responsible decision-making is choosing what to do by weighing what is right, what is safe, and what will happen next. More responsible decision-making activities
What you get
A teacher guide with what to say, step by step, plus student pages and a supports page for students with diverse learning needs, including those with IEPs. Print or Project it, or assign it in Google Forms and Google Docs for Google Classroom. Your first 10 activities are free.
Standards
- 10.1.2: CA History Social Science Content Standard, Grade 10: World History, Culture, and Geography: The Modern World (standard 10.1, item 2)
- CA HSS Analysis Skill: HREP1 Distinguish valid arguments from fallacious arguments in historical interpretations. (Historical Research, Evidence, and Point of View)
- C3 Framework (national): D2.Civ.8.9-12 Evaluate social and political systems in different times and places that promote civic virtues and democratic principles.
- Literacy in history: RH.9-10.2 Determine the central ideas of a primary or secondary source and summarize them accurately.
Fits these textbook chapters
Textbook names are used only to help you find activities that fit what you teach. RoseThread Connect is not affiliated with these publishers.
More responsible decision-making activities for World History
- Why England First Responsible decision-makingStudents map the coal, rivers, capital, and labor that let England industrialize first and take stock of the resources they bring to solving their own problems.
- Children at Work Responsible decision-makingStudents evaluate testimony from child factory workers given to the British Parliament in the 1830s and practice weighing a source's purpose while staying attuned to the people behind it.
- Capitalism and Its Critics Responsible decision-makingStudents compare capitalism with the responses of utopians, social democrats, socialists, and communists and practice listening to an economic view they disagree with before responding.
- Promises and Power in Russia Responsible decision-makingStudents examine why Russians welcomed promises of peace, land, and bread and how Lenin used totalitarian means to keep control, then weigh promises against actions in their own decisions.
Previous: Becoming a Historian · Next: Rights on Paper
RoseThread Connect activities are drafted with the help of AI and shaped by educators. Students never have to share anything personal. Our five SEL skills are informed by CASEL's SEL Framework; RoseThread Learning is not affiliated with or endorsed by CASEL.