Explorers and Empires: A Journey Through Time · 4th Class

Active learning ideas

Roman Leisure and Daily Life

Active learning works for this topic because it helps students grasp the stark contrasts in Roman society by engaging with artifacts and experiences firsthand. Moving through stations, role-playing, and building models makes abstract social hierarchies and daily routines tangible and memorable for students.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Early people and ancient societies
• NCCA: Primary - Change and continuity

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 35 min · Small Groups

Artifact Stations: Mosaics and Pottery

Prepare stations with replica images or prints of Roman mosaics and pottery. Students rotate in groups, sketch designs, note patterns like animals or games, and infer daily hobbies. Conclude with a class share-out linking artifacts to leisure.

Differentiate the experiences of a wealthy Roman from those of an enslaved person.

Facilitation Tip

During Artifact Stations, have students rotate in small groups to prevent overcrowding and ensure everyone handles the mosaics and pottery closely.

What to look for

Provide students with images of a Roman villa and an insula. Ask them to write two sentences comparing the living conditions and one sentence explaining who might have lived in each.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 45 min · Pairs

Role-Play: Rich vs Poor Day

Assign roles as wealthy villa owner or enslaved worker. Pairs act out morning routines, meals, and bath visits using props like fabric scraps for togas. Debrief on inequalities through peer questions.

Analyze what Roman mosaics and pottery tell us about their hobbies and interests.

Facilitation Tip

For Role-Play, assign specific roles in advance so students prepare their characters’ daily routines and limitations beforehand.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Why do you think the Romans spent so much time at public baths?' Encourage students to refer to the text and discuss hygiene, exercise, and social interaction as reasons.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Pairs

Model Housing: Villa and Insula

Provide cardboard, clay, and markers for students to build simple models of a villa and insula. Label features like atriums or shared latrines, then compare in pairs how space reflects status.

Explain why public baths and games were so important to Roman social life.

Facilitation Tip

In Model Housing, provide a mix of materials (e.g., cardboard, clay) to accommodate different skill levels and creativity.

What to look for

Students draw a simple Roman mosaic depicting a hobby (e.g., a ball, a lyre, a game board) and label it. They then write one sentence explaining what the mosaic tells us about Roman interests.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Whole Class

Baths Debate: Whole Class Forum

Pose: 'Why were baths essential?' Divide class into groups to argue hygiene, social, or entertainment roles using evidence cards. Vote and summarize key points on chart paper.

Differentiate the experiences of a wealthy Roman from those of an enslaved person.

Facilitation Tip

During the Baths Debate, assign roles like bather, merchant, or athlete to structure the discussion and keep it focused.

What to look for

Provide students with images of a Roman villa and an insula. Ask them to write two sentences comparing the living conditions and one sentence explaining who might have lived in each.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should frame this topic by emphasizing primary sources and lived experiences to counteract romanticized views of Roman life. Avoid presenting leisure as universal—use comparisons to modern inequalities to help students recognize patterns in resource distribution. Research suggests that hands-on modeling and role-play deepen empathy and historical understanding, especially when students articulate the constraints of different social positions.

Successful learning looks like students confidently explaining the differences between wealthy and poor Romans using evidence from artifacts and role-play. They should analyze how public spaces like baths served multiple purposes and how leisure activities varied by social class, supported by clear examples from their activities.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Role-Play: Rich vs Poor Day, watch for students generalizing that all wealthy Romans lived in villas and ate lavishly without considering exceptions or regional differences.

  Use the role-play debrief to ask students to consider why some wealthy Romans might have lived differently or why poor Romans sometimes ate better than expected. Have them reference specific artifacts from the mosaic and pottery stations to justify their points.

• During Baths Debate: Whole Class Forum, watch for students describing public baths as mere hygiene spaces without acknowledging their social or economic roles.

  During the debate, provide station rotation cards that list bath activities (e.g., exercise, gossip, business) and require students to cite evidence from their station work to support their claims about the baths’ functions.

• During Artifact Stations: Mosaics and Pottery, watch for students assuming gladiator games were the only leisure activity depicted in Roman art.

  Direct students to categorize images of mosaics or pottery by activity type (e.g., music, games, hunting) and create a class tally chart to visualize the variety of hobbies represented.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk