Comparing Democracies Drama Circle | Paper

Compare direct democracy, representative democracy and consensus decision-making with this activity designed to give students insight how to learn about origins of democracy in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This was written for Alberta social studies but can work all across Canada.

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This engaging activity includes:

• direct democracy, representative democracy and consensus decision-making
• origins of democracy in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy
• understandings of majority, consensus, voting, social classes, The Great Law of Peace, Clan Mothers, Chiefs (Hoyaneh), magistrates, citizens, Parliament, Prime Minister, riding
• relating origins of democracy to modern Canada
• directions on how to run a drama circle.
• a teacher quick guide.
• a set of 40 cards (in colour and ink-saving versions).
• a set of discussion questions to do after the drama activity.
• a variety of reading difficulties and amounts of text on the cards so you can differentiate easily for your students.
• a few blank cards if you need to change the language on a card.

Ninja Note: If you teach in Alberta, this resource has been written for the new social studies curriculum. Learn more about how we're writing and adjusting resources for the new curriculum. https://brainninjas.ca/social-studies-in-alberta/

This activity aligns with:

• the Alberta Social Studies Curriculum Grade 6 ©2025
  

This activity supports:

• learning about the origins of democracies
• comparing different democracies
  

Looking for more social studies for Alberta teachers? Our unit plans include extra vocabulary supports and assessments.

• Time and Place Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6 COMING SOON!
• Systems Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6 COMING SOON!
• Citizenship Unit for Alberta Social Studies Grade 6 COMING SOON!

COMING SOON! Save $$$ with the a whole year of Alberta Grade 6 Social Studies!

Ninja Note: This resource requires downloading the PDF, printing the cards, and cutting them apart before beginning the activity.

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