Ancient Egypt : Teaching Activities for Fifth Grade

See also: Ancient Egypt; A Teaching Unit

Lesson A:
Begin the lesson by doing a K-W-L chart.
Read and discuss pages 64-69 in the textbook, Eastern Hemisphere; The World Around Us. Ancient Egyp prospered because of good use of the environment. Use worksheets from the text on map skills and farming. (See lesson plans).

Lesson B:
View the video, Ancient Egypt which gives an overview of the time. Read and discuss pages 70-76 in the textbook. Ancient Egyptians were able to accomplish great works because of their organization and unity. Follow-up with the worksheet and time-line of ancient Egypt.

Lesson C:
Read The Egyptian Cinderella and Cinderella. Complete a Venn diagram with the students. Do a lesson on comparison writing. Assign the writing of a comparison paragraph based on the two versions of Cinderella.

Lesson D:
Read and discuss pages 77-81 in the textbook. The world's first civilization was established by the ancient Egyptians. Assign worksheets on Egyptian writing, hieroglyphics.

Lesson E:
Student will understand the process of mummification. They will create "Mummy Books" explaining the mummification process and other burial rituals. (See lesson plans)

Lesson F:
Students will learn about Egyptian drawing and will create crayon resist pictures using the drawing techniques they learned.

Lesson G:
View the first part of the King Tut video. Students will create their own cartouches using what they have learned about hieroglyphics.

Lesson H:
In the reading anthology, East of the Sun, students will read "The Return to Egypt" excerpted from The Egypt Game by Zilpha K. Snyder. After discussing the reading and the facts the children in the story know about ancient Egypt, the students will complete the assignment in the book.

Lesson I:
View the second part of the King Tut video. Complete worksheets 31-33 from Ancient Egypt; Independent Learning Unit.

Lesson J:
View Cindy Ellie. Compare this version of Cinderella with the previous versions discussed. List the components found in all the versions. Students will write their own versions of the story incorporating all of the components listed. Students will be given several days to complete this assignment.

Lesson K:
The video Pyramid based on David Macaulay's book will be viewed in three parts. Each part will be followed by worksheets included in the kit.

Lesson L:
Read An Egyptian Craftsman. Brainstorm what artifacts archaeologists might find in a dig from the time of ancient Egypt. Have the students pick an item or items from the list to make models for the "archaeological dig" display in the hall.

Lesson M:
Conduct an "Eye-search" to review what has been learned during the study of Egypt and to review information skills needed for research. (See lesson plans).

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES