Judgement scene in the Hall of Osiris, Thoth weighing heart
Hieroglyphics
Grade: Eighth Grade
Unit: Ancient Egypt
Lesson: Hieroglyphics
Content: In this lesson the students will be studying the pictographic writing system of the Ancient Egyptians known as Hieroglyphics. The majority of this lesson will be a creative exercise for the students. This will allow the students a more kinesthetic method of understanding quite a complicated system of writing.
Process:
- Short Lecture (15 min)
- Instructions for project (5 min)
- Project (23 min)
The first step of the lesson will be a short lecture on the origins of the hieroglyphic system of writing. This will also cover a discussion of pictographs and their importance as an early form of writing. This will take the first 15 minutes of class. After this lecture I will present the instructions for today’s assignment. The assignment of the day is to create a cartouche that contains their name in the form of hieroglyphics. The rest of the class will be spent actually completing the assignment. The students will only have until the end of the class to complete the assignment. They will not be allowed to take the assignment home for completion.
Product: The students will be creating a cartouche containing their name.
Evaluation: The students will be graded on the completeness and quality of the assignment. Typical in class assignments for this class are worth 10 pts; however, I will probably count this assignment as half a typical assignment because it is not the most difficult of projects. Points will be taken away from the student if it is apparent that the student did not take their time in the creation of their cartouche. Full points will be awarded to those who complete the assignment in a neat manner.