We are now fully immersed in our exploration of ancient Egypt, and every day brings a new opportunity for learning. In book groups we reading about mummies using the "Magic Tree House" Research Guide. We have also enjoyed many other wonderful picture books. Seeker of Knowledge, by James Rumford, gave us a chance to learn more about the Frenchman who finally deciphered the ancient Egyptian writing called hieroglyphs. Pepi and the Secret Names, by Jill Paton Walsh and Fiona French, gave us a chance to practice our own understanding of this ancient writing as we deciphered parts of this story. This week we will also read Senefer, by Beatrice Lumpkin, and will learn how to write the hieroglyphs for numbers. As the students add to their growing knowledge of life in ancient Egypt, they periodically stop to record their new discoveries in their "Explorer's Notebook". This small notebook is a place for them to collect interesting facts and make sketches of artifacts.
Recently, in scribe school, the second graders have been learning about and creating cartouches. A cartouche is an oval shaped frame of rope which contains a royal name and can often be found carved into statues and tombs. The students learned that very few ancient Egyptians could read or write. It was the job of the scribes, who trained as young men in "The House of Life", to record information. Last week, each second grader became a scribe and created a cartouche with his/her name in it. Stop in soon and see their great work on display outside of our classroom and see if you can decipher each "royal" name in second grade.
No comments:
Post a Comment