Grade Levels: 3-5, 6-8

*Click to open and customize your own copy of the Maya Civilization Lesson Plan.

This lesson accompanies the BrainPOP topic Maya Civilization, and supports the standard of evaluating the cultural contributions of a society. Students demonstrate understanding through a variety of creative projects.

Step 1: ACTIVATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Display images related to Maya Civilization, like those shown in this article.  Ask students:

  • What do you see?
  • What does it make you think about? 

Step 2: BUILD KNOWLEDGE

  • Read the description on the Maya Civilization topic page.
  • Play the Movie, pausing to check for understanding.
  • Assign Related Reading. Have students read one of the following articles: “Sports,” “Dates and Times,” or “In Practice.” Partner them with someone who read a different article to share what they learned with each other.

Step 3: APPLY and ASSESS 

Assign the Maya Civilization Quiz, prompting students to apply essential literacy skills while demonstrating what they learned about this topic.

Step 4: DEEPEN and EXTEND

Students express what they learned about Maya Civilization while practicing essential literacy skills with one or more of the following activities. Differentiate by assigning ones that meet individual student needs.  

  • Make-a-Movie: Create a video diary from the perspective of a person living in Maya society that describes a day in your life. 
  • Make-a-Map: Make a concept map identifying key features and contributions of Maya society and culture. 
  • Creative Coding: Code a museum with artifacts that represent key elements of Maya civilization. 

More to Explore

Time Zone X: Maya: Challenge students to put historical events in chronological order in this interactive timeline game.

Related BrainPOP Topics: Deepen understanding of ancient Western civilizations with these topics: Inca Civilization and Aztec Civilization

Teacher Support Resources:

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments