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Citizenship in Ancient Rome

Politics Democracy Ancient Rome

Roman historians wrote extensively about Roman civilization and its decline, but much less has been written about Rome’s early years. In this audio story, author Anthony Everitt discusses the rise of Rome from a small city on the Tiber River to a massive Mediterranean empire. He shows how Romans built their empire in part by offering citizenship to the people they conquered. Listen to an historian explain the strategies Romans used to build their empire, and learn how American government draws on ideas dating to the Roman Republic.

?L LEXILE AUDIO MEASURE

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Story Length: 5:18

Listen to the Story:

Listening Comprehension Questions

  • In what ways did Andrew Carnegie’s libraries serve their communities?
  • How did Carnegie benefit from a library when he was growing up?
  • Which personality traits helped propel Carnegie from poverty to riches? Bring specific details from the story to support your ideas.
  • According to Carnegie, what should rich people do with their money and why? Why was Carnegie known as both generous and “brutal”?

Discussion Themes

  • In your opinion, what should really rich people do with their fortunes?
  • What does it take for a person to rise from “rags to riches”?

Socrative users can import these questions using the following code: SOC-1234

Listening Organizers

  • Fact, Question, Response

  • Language Identification Organizer

  • Deeper Meaning Chart

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U.S. Military Preserves Historic Sites in Ancient Mesopotamia

War time chaos often puts cultural heritage at risk with looting and pillaging of historic artifacts. This radio story tells of an unusual partnership between two groups: the military and archaeologists. They are working together to educate soldiers in order to help protect cultural heritage and artifacts in war zones in Iraq and other nearby countries. It’s a modern-day story of protecting artifacts in war zones and is tied to the many ancient artifacts that have been lost over the centuries.

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Citizenship in Athens

In ancient Greece, people were thrown out or ostracized from the city because they broke the rules. Anyone could get ostracized – kicked out of the city for 10 years – based on voting done by the citizens using broken pieces of pottery. This public radio story explores the nature of corruption and voter fraud in ancient Athens.

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What the U.S. Can Learn from Ancient Rome

America’s Founders borrowed from the ancient Roman Republic when they created the U.S. Government. The Senate, separation of powers, and checks and balances all came from the Romans. The Founders hoped that America would one day be as strong as the great Roman Republic had been. But every empire rises and then falls, and the author interviewed in this audio story says that Americans today can learn a lot about where the United States may be heading by studying the fall of Rome.

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Mesopotamian City Today

The ancient Mesopotamian citadel of Ur Bilum, located in Northern Iraq, sits atop a hill overlooking the modern day city of Erbil. Ur Bilum was originally built by a group of ancient peoples known as the Sumerians but was also home to a variety of civilizations including the Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, and Ottomans. More recently, the citadel was home to hundreds of families of Kurdish refugees until 2007 when it was evacuated. This was an effort by Kurdish authorities to gain the necessary approval of the United Nations for the citadel to become a World Heritage Site. Listen to learn more about Ur Bilum’s rich history and the hardships faced by its last inhabitants.

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Lexile Audio Measure

The Lexile Audio Measure is an indicator of the complexity of an audio passage. It is based on a scientifically developed scale with a maximum score of 2000L.

How to Use Lexile Audio Measures

Find stories at the right level of complexity for your students, so that they will be challenged without being frustrated. The measures are categorized into low, medium, or high in order to aid teachers in story selection when they do not know students’ Lexile listening levels.

Listening Level Lexile Audio Measures
0L -1250L
1251L -1555L
1556L-2000L
Recommended Lexile Audio Measures by Grade Level

These recommended ranges are for instructional use of Listenwise audio content in combination with supports such as the interactive transcript, etc.

Grade Lexile Audio Measures (Recommended Ranges)
1 215L - 610L
2 490L - 855L
3 725L - 1060L
4 945L - 1250L
5 1045L - 1350L
6 1125L - 1430L
7 1190L - 1500L
8 1250L - 1555L
9 1300L - 1610L
10 1345L - 1655L
11/12 1385L - 1695L
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