LANGUAGE ARTS/HIEROGLYPHICS SPELLING LESSON March 2014

TEACHER: Greg Lee

DATE: 3/5/14
UNIT OF STUDY: Hieroglyphics and Spelling
SUBJECT AREA/COURSE/GRADE LEVEL: Language Arts/History/Science
Objective: Students will have a clear understanding of the use of Egyptian hieroglyphics and how to interpret
the symbols.
They will have an understanding of the Rosetta Stone and how it helped to decipher the Egyptians
symbols by the use of two other languages on the stone.
Unique way to review spelling words for the week by interpreting the signs around the room.
STANDARDS:
MT.1. Reading: Students construct meaning as they comprehend, interpret, and respond to what they read.
1.1. Students will make predictions and connections between new material and previous information/
experiences.
1.2. Students will incorporate new print/non print information into existing knowledge to draw conclusions and
make application.
1.4. Students will demonstrate basic understanding of main ideas and some supporting details.
1.5. Students will accurately retell key elements of appropriate reading material.
MT.2. Reading: Students apply a range of skills and strategies to read.
2.4. Students will use features and organization of fiction and nonfiction material to comprehend complex
material (e.g., paragraphs, chapters, titles, indexes, tables of contents, graphs, charts, visuals).
MT.4. Reading: Students select, read, and respond to print and non print material for a variety of purposes.
4.2. Students will solve a problem or answer a question through reading (e.g., signs, labels, instruction).
4.3. Students will perform tasks for a variety of purposes (e.g., recipes, directions, schedules, maps, tables,
charts).
4.4. Students will read and provide oral, written, and/or artistic responses to diverse perspectives, cultures, and
issues in traditional and contemporary literature.
4.6. Students will read and interpret information from a variety of documents and sources (e.g., memos,
directories, maps, tables, schedules, as well as other technological material).
3.5. Students will distinguish new from familiar material, significant from insignificant information, fact from
opinion, and fantasy from reality.
3.6. Students will draw connections between ones experiences, information, and insights, and experiences
communicated by others.
3.7. Students will identify characteristics of enjoyable listening experiences by examining rhythm in music and
visualization of images.
MT.6. Writing: Students use the inquiry process, problem-solving strategies, and resources to synthesize and
communicate information.
6.3. Students will identify explanations or solutions, and draw a conclusion based on the information.
6.4. Students will share information in appropriate ways for intended audiences.
MT.R.GLE. Communication Arts: Reading Grade Level Expectations
R.GLE.1. Makes predictions and connections between new material and previous information/experiences.
R.GLE.2. Demonstrates a basic understanding of main ideas and supporting details.
R.GLE.6. Applies, articulates, and self-monitors decoding and comprehension strategies-not measurable on
statewide assessment.
R.GLE.8. Selects and uses appropriate print and non-print materials to meet a variety of purposes at grade-level
(e.g., signs, labels, instructions, recipes, directions, schedules, maps, tables, charts).
R.GLE.11. Compares and integrates information from more than two sources.
Materials: 10 - 8-1/2 x 11 signs around the room
25 pages with hieroglyphic symbols and meaning on one side and information about the Rosetta Stone
on the other side.
Introduction:
Quickly tell students the objectives of the lesson.
Have diferent students read story out loud about Jean-Francois and how he finally was able to be successful in
learning what the hieroglyphics meant.
Have a couple of the students read the history of the Rosetta Stone and show image of it.
Have students draw from a box a name to make teams.
Students break up into groups of two and go around room figuring out the meanings of the signs.
They will have to go to the Rosetta Stone to find certain meaning of words not on their hieroglyphics page.
Student Assessment: Observe students to see if any are having trouble and encourage them when needed.
Extension: After finishing up the interpreting of the signs, then have students go back to their desks and discuss
what they have learned with a quick review.
Follow-up questions: What is a dead language?
Why would it be important to understand a language from the past?
What are some ways to find the meanings of dead languages?
Final Review: Have student go back to their desk after this activity and they must write their spelling words in
their agendas before completing pages 70-71 in their Spelling Workbooks.

SCHOOL WROTE PHONE KNEW SIGN KNOTS WRONG
WRECK WRAP KNOCK ROUGH LAUGH ELEPHANT KNEE
WRITE GRAPH TRACK KNIT WRINKLE TOUGH KNIFE
COUGH WREN CRICKET ANCHOR I A ON
HAD GOOD IN
History of the Rosetta Stone
The Discovery
After the Roman Empire took control of Egypt in about 30 BC, the art of reading
and writing hieroglyphics was ultimately lost. Actually, unknown to many, Egyptian
hieroglyphics was considered a dead language for over 1,500 years.
Then, in 1798, Napoleon landed his French flotilla near Alexandria, Egypt, and marched
his troops south to fight the British near Cairo. The French won the ground battle, but
while on land, the British Navy under Lord Horratio Nelson sailed-up and sank the
French flotilla. Napoleon and his troops had no way to return to France, so they ended
up spending the next three years in Egypt.
In 1799, while digging in and building defensive positions near Rashid (ancient
Rosetta), a small city outside Alexandria, a soldier in Napoleons army discovered a
black basalt stone, 3 9 long by 2 4 wide, with three distinct bands of engraving.
Although the soldier didnt recognize the Egyptian hieroglyphics at the top, or the
Demotic script in the middle, he did recognize the ancient Greek at the bottom. Rather
than use the stone as part of his barricade, he gave it to scholars travelling with
Napoleons army. They realized that the stone was some sort of ancient royal decree
written three times in three diferent languages. They named it the Rosetta Stone and
commenced some study.
Shortly thereafter, in 1801, the British defeated the French, and the Rosetta Stone
became a British possession as part of the treaty at Alexandria. It was transported to
London in 1802, where its been on display at the British Museum ever since. To this
day, the Rosetta Stone is the most-visited object in the British Museum.
In 1820, after a couple decades of political intrigue and academic shenanigans,
Jean Francois Champollion (a French linguist and historian) and Thomas Young (a
British linguist and physicist) combined talents to finally decipher the Demotic script
and Egyptian hieroglyphics on the Rosetta Stone by comparing them to the known
Greek text. While the process was complicated and not without controversy, this
was the all-important Ah-Ha moment for Egyptologists, archaeologists, linguists,
and historians. In short, the Rosetta Stone was the code that unlocked the mystery
of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was the Rosetta Stone that allowed scholars to read the
inscriptions and reliefsthe texts, tablets, and tombsthat finally provided a modern
understanding of the ancient Egyptian civilization.
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