Oklahoma Social Studies MWH.C.1.1.B

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Content Standards

The Standard

MWH.C.1: Analyze the impact of the patterns of ancient political, economic, and cultural development.
MWH.C.1.1: Analyze the influence of religious, political, and philosophical ideas on society.

Describe ancient Mesopotamia’s Code of Hammurabi as one of the earliest legal codes.

Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026) · MWH.C.1.1

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students read short translated laws from ancient Babylon. They identify what each law addresses and explain why a surviving written collection tells us about life at the time.
What Mastery Looks Like: Given a law, students can name the offense and penalty. They can explain that Hammurabi's laws are among the earliest surviving written law collections, not the first laws people ever used.
Common Misconceptions: Students may think Hammurabi invented laws or that everyone received the same penalty. They may assume every rule followed “an eye for an eye,” though the laws also covered property, work, and family matters.
How to Assess It: Give students this prompt: “A law says a builder whose unsafe house collapses and kills its owner must be put to death. Name the offense and penalty, then explain why this written law matters to historians.”

Lesson moves

Give pairs printed law cards about theft, building, and wages; have them sort the cards by offense and write each penalty on a sticky note.
Ask, “Did everyone receive the same penalty for the same injury?” Have students support their answers with two translated laws.
Read three short cases aloud; teams hold up the matching law card and explain which detail fits.
Put a printed parking fine notice beside a translated Babylonian law; students underline each rule and penalty, then name one difference.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to MWH.C.1.1.B, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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