Ancient Civilizations
The Grade 2 students have been avidly studying and researching all aspects of life in Ancient Egypt and are now experts. Two students did a particularly good job on a homework task where they were asked to imagine that they were children living in Ancient Egypt. They used information learned in class as well as personal research to create their stories, which follow.
My Egyptian Childhood
Hi, my name is Nefret. It means pretty. I am eight years old. You probably don’t know a lot about the children’s life, so I will give you a tour and maybe a story in between.
I was born in 700BC. I was lucky to survive, because most babies don’t make it and moms sometimes don’t survive either. But I have a mom, a dad and three brothers and two sisters. I also have many pets: a dog, a cat, a monkey, a turtle and a pigeon.
Every morning I wash myself in the Nile. I put my eye makeup on, because it has magical powers. I don’t have to put clothes on until I am 10 or 11, because it is so hot, and I put my hair in pigtails. I also put my jewelry on, such as bracelets, armlets, anklets and my amulet which protects me from bad spirits. Afterwards I help my mother in the house: we bake bread, clean the dishes and sometimes I help in the fields. Afterwards I like to play with my friends. We sometimes play with our dolls, or with balls, sometimes with our pets. We also like board games like Senet or Hounds and Jackals. We sometimes make our own toys, like clay elephants and crocodiles. My brothers like to go hunting, fishing and work on the fields too.
My house is made from mud bricks and we made it ourselves. It has one storey. My family and I sleep on the roof because it is too hot at night. I love being an Egyptian child. My childhood is short, however, because I will get married when I am 10 or 11, so I better go out and play. Bye! (Alicia Martinez, 2G)
A Day in my Life as an Egyptian Child
My name is Max and I am Egyptian. I go to school every day. In my free time I sometimes play “temple writers.” It is a game where there are five to eight players. Then three people write clues in made-up hieroglyphic writing. Next, the people that are trying to find you look for all the clues and find someone right away if they are lucky! Early in the morning I get water from the Nile. Sometimes when there is no school, my friends and I work on our miniature pyramid. I have to walk two miles to school because my dad is a farmer and we live right at the edge of the Nile. If I’m lucky I might get to ride to school with my dad in our cart. Sometimes my dad and I talk about whom I should marry because I am already eight years old! (Max Boeckle, 2G)
On Friday April 8, the Grade 2 classrooms were packed with gods, goddesses, pharaohs, queens, gladiators, a Caesar and even an Aztec warrior! This much-anticipated event was an opportunity for the students to share and celebrate all they have learned about how different ancient civilizations have many common features. Here are some of their reflections on the day. Huge thanks to our incredible Grade 2 room parents who created, served, and cleared up after our wonderful feast!
On Ancient Civilizations Day I ate chips, tortillas, nuts and I drank apple juice. I liked everything I ate. I didn’t pick anything else because I didn’t like the other things. My costume was a Caesar. I liked my costume because every gladiator had to keep me safe. I wish I was wearing Julian’s costume because it was cool. The activities were good. I liked the Aztec activities because it was making a fan and it was in Ms. Cook’s class. The other activities were making a bookmark and a clay item like the Sphinx. In the German class we made mosaics. I made a robot out of paper squares. (Alexander John, 2G)
On Friday we had Ancient Civilizations Day. I made a sign of life and a scarab beetle out of paper clay. I made an Aztec fan. I colored a bookmark and a sign. I made a mosaic out of paper. I dressed up as a pharaoh. Everyone said it was excellent. Everyone else’s costume was good. I tried cucumber dipped in hummus. It was yum! It was fun! (Hayden Bartsch, 2G)
On Friday April 8, it was Ancient Civilizations Day and I was Cleopatra. My mom made my dress. I really liked Tessa’s dress because she was a wealthy little girl. I really liked the grapes in honey, the black and green olives and the chips. (Jessica Hartz, 2F)
On Friday I woke up at 6:30 a.m. Right when I woke up then I was in a hurry because it was the Ancient Civilizations Day. That means that you have to go to school with a costume of Ancient Egypt, Ancient Rome or Ancient Aztec. I dressed up very quickly like an Ancient Egyptian and went to school. When I entered my class then everyone said “Wow!” or some people said “Johana, you really look like an Egyptian.” We started doing some activities. My first activity was to do the Aztec. We had to do a fan with feathers and if you were finished with your fan then you got to color a piece of paper. My next activity was the Roman one. We had to do a mosaic on a piece of paper. (Johana Verbeeck, 2F)
On ancient civilizations day I was Queen Adora. On that day we did many different activities. We made feathered fans and colored pictures in the Aztec room, made Egyptian bookmarks and amulets out of clay in the Egypt room, and mosaics in the Roman room. After all the activities we had food! We had food from Egyptian times, Roman times and Aztec times. The food was so good I can’t describe it! (Sabrina Clarke, 2F)
I was dressed as a wealthy Egyptian girl. My mom did my Egyptian-styled eyes. In the English class we made amulets out of clay. I made a sacred scarab beetle. I also colored an Egyptian bookmark of the god Horus. In the French class there were foods of ancient civilizations. In the Aztec class we made feathered fans out of paper plates. We also colored an Aztec picture. It was fun! In the Roman class we made mosaics, a Roman kind of art. We also had our pictures made. It was a great day! (Sophia Jactel, 2F)
Hi! I’m Sarah, and on April 8 I went to school as a wealthy Egyptian girl. I had golden hair, and my costume was really an angel, but we cut off the sleeves. We did many activities, but my favorite was the Aztec fan. I did make three mosaic snakes because the Romans thought snakes were lucky! The feast was great. My favorite thing was the Pita bread that Amy and I brought, but I enjoyed my other foods too. I hope you enjoyed my story. (Sarah Cook, 2F)