11/26/08

Ancient Egypt Unit

Over the summer, I created my own World History Unit Study. I really like the classical approach of starting your study of history at the very beginning and covering World History over two years and then U.S. History over two years. I had looked at the curriculum available for World History and just couldn't find anything that was quite what I wanted, so I ended up creating my own. I picked two books to use for my World History spines and then added other books and activities to complement the first two books. I have also woven the study of the Bible into our study of World History. If you do not want to do this you can leave the Bible related books and activities out. After spending almost three months using my World History Unit Study, I am thrilled to say it is one of our favorite subjects this year and I am so happy that all those hours I put into creating it are paying off. We have added a few books and activities as we have gone along and also come across some books that weren't as wonderful as they originally sounded. Below I will share what I created for our study of Ancient Egypt. All of the books are available through Amazon.com from the Kids Love Learning Store except for A Child's History of the World which is available through Sonlight. We have gotten many of the books through inter-library loan from our library. You can click on the books listed below to learn more about them.

History Spines
The Usborne Book of World History (pgs. 14-23 & 33-39)
A Child's History of the World (pgs. 25-33 & 40-44)

These are the two books we always begin reading for each section of our World History Unit Study. The Usborne Book of World History gives a good overview of what happened in a chronological fashion for each major civilization. A Child's History of the World has wonderful narrative stories to complement the Usborne book. We then add other books to fill in more details or learn more about a particular subject. I ask oral questions during and after the reading of each book. I do not have a weekly schedule for my unit study because I prefer to move through the unit at a pace that works for our family and that changes from week to week. I add in crafts, activities, maps, timeline work, and movies throughout the week as we have time for them. Each day I check off what we have covered and record it in my weekly planner.

I want to add that the Usborne Book of World History has received some poor reviews because many of the drawings depict historically accurate nude figures. If this might be an issue for your family and you still want to buy the book, I recommend using a sharpie marker to draw simple clothing for the figures. I have not found a better World History spine to date.

Egypt BooksUsborne Time Traveler
Mummies, Pyramids, and Pharaohs: A Book About Ancient Egypt
Hieroglyphs From A to Z
Hieroglyphs
Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Mummies Made in Egypt
Tut's Mummy: Lost... and Found
Hatshepsut, Her Majesty, Himself
Pyramid (DK Eyewitness Book)


Egypt Books for Older ReadersThe Pharaoh's of Ancient Egypt
Mara, Daughter of the Nile
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaoh's

Bible Books Exodus
The Golden Children's Bible (pgs. 64-123)
This is a wonderful children's Bible and the one that was read to me when I was a child. During our study of ancient Egypt, we chose to read the related Bible stories about Joseph, Moses, and the Exodus. If you already have a good children's Bible then you could certainly use that instead.








Movies
Pyramid (PBS Home Video)
The Prince of Egypt










Crafts
Paper Pyramid Crafts (free printables) - 1. Easy 2. More Detailed

Make a Cartouche Using Hieroglyphs

Golden Egyptian Bracelets - 1. cut empty toilet paper tube lengthwise; 2. trim around to make two inch wide rings; 3. color or paint bracelets gold; 4. decorate with hieroglyph pictures; (you can see more detailed instructions for toilet paper tube bracelets here)

Ancient Egypt Coloring Pages


Activities
Play the Egyptian Game Seega (free printable)

Play Mehen Snake Board Game (free printable)

Prepare a Mummy for Burial

Make a Lego Step Pyramid

Make a Sledge (show how ancient Egyptians moved large stones) - 1. gather 4-6 unsharpened pencils, a small hardcover book, and small hand weight or other heavy object; 2. place the book on the floor with a hand weight on top and attempt to push the book with your pinkie finger; 3. next lay the pencils evenly in a row under the book and again attempt to push the book with your pinkie finger; 4. discuss how the ancient Egyptians might have used Sycamore logs and a sledge to move heavy stones (you can read more about this here)

Maps
Blackline Maps of World History (psg. 18, 19, 26, & 27)

We recently bought this set of maps covering world history from 5000 B.C. to the present. This was money well spent because the maps have added greatly to our study of world history. This map set includes simple activities and discussion questions for each map. Jacob loves these maps and is always asking when we can do the next one.



Timeline
This year we are using a timeline book from Sonlight called The Book of Time and some of their timeline sticker figures to go with it. Next year I will be making my own timeline figures using a fabulous clip art site I discovered here. Below I have listed free resources for making your own timeline book and more information about using time lines in your study of history. You could also make a mini timeline book or wall chart just for ancient Egypt using the free resources below.

Ancient Egypt Timeline and Egyptian Timeline Worksheet
Ancient Egypt Clip Art (click on Search Database and look under Egypt in the Subject category)




Timeline Book Instructions from Donna Young
Free Forms for Creating Timelines from Donna Young
Free Printable Timeline from Los Banos Homeschoolers
Free Book of Centuries from Simply Charlotte Mason
More information on making timelines on Squidoo

Copywork
I have come up with a number of copywork sentences for handwriting which go along with our study of ancient Egypt. We use writing paper with lines at the bottom and a space at the top so that Jacob can add his own illustrations to go along with the copywork. You can print off your own copywork paper with a box for illustrations here. You can also add interesting borders or print paper for intermediate writers here. The copywork sentences we have used for ancient Egypt are below.


1. Ancient Egyptians lived by the Nile River which provided water and good soil for crops.

2. King Narmer of Upper Egypt wore a double crown after he defeated the king of Lower Egypt.

3. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only wonder of the ancient world still in existence.

4. Hatshepsut was ancient Egypt's only successful female king or pharaoh.

5. Tutankhamen's tomb and magnificent treasure were found by archaeologist Howard Carter.

6. Joseph's father Jacob wove Joseph a coat of many colors which made his brothers jealous.

7. The name Moses means drawn out. Pharaoh's daughter drew baby Moses out of the river.

8. Pharaoh would not let the children of Israel go so God sent ten plagues.

More Fun Egypt Stuff Fun with Hieroglyphs Stamps
Exploring Ancient Egypt Fun Kit







Please leave a comment if you find my Ancient Egypt Unit helpful.

16 comments:

Lisa said...

This looks wonderful!! Thanks for sharing!!
Have a great day!!

Beth Hollmann said...

WOW - this is fantastic! We're studying Ancient Egypt this year and this will be the perfect addition to our curriculum. Thank you SO MUCH!

Anonymous said...

This looks great! I'm going to save this in my favorites to have as a resource when we cover this time period!

Thanks for sharing all your hard work with us all!
Karen
www.homeschoolblogger.com/salt

TracyC said...

Awesome! This must have taken a lot of hard work. Thank you for sharing.

Anonymous said...

THIS looks awesome!!! And we're just starting Egypt. Thank you soooo much!

Anonymous said...

I followed the link to your blog as I was putting everything together for the next Carnival of Cool Homeschoolers. This is great! We've just finished studying the Ancients (we follow a classical model as well), so I wish I'd found it sooner. You did a great job putting it together. Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us!

Cfuller said...

Thank you for this great post! We have started studying Egypt using The Story of the World curriculum. ALthough I haven't tried it yet- my friend has just finished making a real mummy with her children...with a chicken! Incredibly gross and incredibly real chicken mummy! You start with a small chicken from your grocery store- add baking soda and powder, salt and alcohol- and six weeks later- mummified chicken! Here is a link with similiar instructions..

http://www.ehow.com/how_2110290_chicken-mummy.html

Sweet Blessings said...

Hello:) I found you on facebook. i have a growing network for homeschoolers and one of the groups is freebies. Just trying to help anyone who needs it! May I link this study to the group? Feel free to check it out! http://www.classicallifeschooling.ning.com
and my blog is:
http://encouragementalongtheway.blogspot.com
I'll wait until i hear back from you-blessings! Amanda:)

Amy said...

Hi Amanda,
It is fine if you want to link this study to your group.
Amy

Gabriele said...

I am LOVING this! Thank you!! I found your link on HSS and plan to use some of your resources you shared here! THANK YOU!!

Unknown said...

Wonderful, This is going to be a huge help this year. I love it when creative people like yourself share there talent, Thank you

Inspiration Station said...

How do you line up CHOW with Usborne book of world history? Did you buy the Sonlight core IG or did you just figure it out as you go along? I would love to hear how you do it.

Carly said...

Great work, thanks for sharing!

The girl who painted trees said...

Thank you! I google ancient egypt units and your link came up. It's fabulous. I have a three year old and we are working through the Magic Tree House books as a fun way to learn a tiny little bit about different times in history. You can see what we did for medieval times here. http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/2010/08/mth-history-unit-medieval-times.html We are doing Ancient Egypt this week and next, so your ideas are wonderful.

Unknown said...

I would love to see what else you did for your world history subject for your first grader. History is just not my favorite subject by far but the Egypt section looks like fun even for me :)

Sara said...

Great post! Lots of wonderful inspiration! Thanks