Horrible Histories: The Rotten Romans

Horrible Histories: The Rotten Romans is an anthology of various fascinating facts about the Romans that do not put them in the best light. The book is interesting because it allows students to see how textbooks can sometimes sugarcoat or skip over the negative parts of a civilization. This compendium of facts is not laid out completely arbitrarily. The book is divided into chapters that categorize various cultural facets of Ancient Rome, such as the Roman army or Roman childhood.

The use of humor in this book makes it very age-appropriate for 6th graders, because they are able to amuse themselves and learn at the same time. It also makes for some great light reading for students who are more intimidated by long form formats such as chapter books or textbooks, but the information is intellectually stimulating enough to make it a worthwhile read.

Potential Lesson Plan:

Standard: Standard 6-2, Indicator 6-2.3

Objective: The student will research a topic in Roman history that interests them and compose a one page paper to show what they have learned.

Materials: Access to the library, Computer with word processing software, flash drive, and access to printer.

Outline: Students will find one fact which they find the most interesting, and then research more about it. After researching this fact, students will write a one page paper to give this fact a context. For example, if it is a game, they will explain why games were important during the Roman Empire and how Roman games are different from ours today.