Summer SAVY, Session 4 Day 1, Beyond the Pyramids (1st – 2nd)
We had a great first day in Beyond the Pyramids!
Read Aloud: Today’s book is an illustrated version of the Egyptian Cinderella story. While many cultures have versions of this tale, literary historians believe the original version is from ancient Egypt and was made famous by Aesop. In this version, Cinderella is a Greek slave living in ancient Egypt. The book introduces social classes and mythology from ancient Egyptian culture. We compared and contrasted this version with others.
Academic Vocabulary: Today students received a field notebook. They will take notes and add vocabulary related to our studies throughout the course. To begin, I introduced three careers associated with the content of this course: anthropologist, archaeologist, and Egyptologist. Students added these terms to their notebooks along with artifact.
Academic Content: Students created a life timeline in their field notes. We also created a timeline in the classroom. Several notable historical events are on the timeline. The ancient Egyptian civilization (3100-332 B.C.E.) was added to give students a visual representation of when the events we will study took place. The pyramids at Giza were built around 2500 B.C.E.
To help students understand the concept of civilizations, this curriculum includes a shipwreck problem-based learning scenario. Today, I introduced the challenge by asking students to pretend that the boat they were researching was wrecked on an island. Students listed the basic needs they have for survival and brainstormed ways to use the materials found on the boat to meet their needs. They used “pieces of the boat” to create a model of a shelter. Throughout the week, students will figure out how to make a micro-civilization for the fifty people stuck on the island. We will make connections between this challenge, our civilization, and the ancient Egyptian civilization.
Daily interdisciplinary learning centers provide students the opportunity for hands-on learning alongside a small group of their peers. Students will participate in each of four centers, with the opportunity to return to their center of choice on Friday. The four centers are research reading, the Nile ecosystem, the pyramids, and hieroglyphic stamp art.
STEM Challenge: Each day, students will work in a team to design a pyramid using a given set of building materials (wooden blocks, bamboo rods, Legos, or Magnatiles). Throughout the week, we will discuss the challenges in designing and constructing a pyramid-shaped building. Students will learn the most viable theories about how the pyramids at Giza were built.