In this curriculum unit I will set forth a literature-based program which focuses on Egyptian mythology. To better appreciate the background of Egyptian myths, we will explore some aspects of the ancient Egyptian civilization and the role that the Nile River played in the people’s view of life, death, and the afterlife. We will examine adapted versions of three types of myths: cosmological, order, and life-crisis, and we will look at particular mythological symbols in the case of each myth. The introduction of such symbols will help my young students make initial associations and distinctions between stories, and from such a concrete study we can more easily move into exploration and experimentation with hieroglyphic writing to develop a greater appreciation of ancient Egyptian art (in preparation for a trip to the Yale Art Gallery). Throughout our study of myths, my students will be asked to keep a literature-response log in which they can think more about the myths they have read or heard, document their feelings, digest new thoughts and draw new connections. Penny Strube in Getting the Most from Literature Groups suggests giving students a list of possible prompts from which I have borrowed the following:
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Tell about the story.
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Describe the characters.
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Give your opinion of a character.
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Compare a character in this story to another you remember in another story.
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How has the main character changed as the story progresses?
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How has the author drawn you into the story?
To bring further clarity and meaning to the myths examined, I have chosen relevant interdisciplinary extension activities to accompany each component.
The objectives for this curriculum unit include:
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to introduce students to adapted versions of some ancient Egyptian myths.
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to spark enthusiasm in students to read, write, and retell.
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to facilitate the study of myths through storytelling, read-aloud, shared reading, role-playing, keeping a literature-response log, and creative writing activities.
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to introduce symbols and pictorial drawings while presenting each myth to facilitate retelling and in preparation for practice in using hieroglyphic writing.
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––to develop an appreciation of the ancient Egyptian culture as a kind of heritage to which students can relate.
I teach second-grade in a self-contained classroom at Lincoln-Bassett Community School in New Haven. My students are primarily of African-American descent, a homogeneous group with varying abilities in the seven-to-nine age range. Although I have designed this unit with them in mind, I am confident that it could easily be adapted by teachers of K-5, if not older.
The lessons in this unit will be introduced two to three times a week for a period of 45-60 minutes over a four month period. My curriculum unit is divided into four sections:
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I. Introduction to the principal gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt
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II. Cosmological myths
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III. Order myths
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IV. Life-Crisis myths
