Katie Oller

Tedu 591
VCU Lesson Plan
Ancient Egypt Inventions
I.

II.

III.

Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to teach students one of the contributions that
Ancient Egypt made with regards to inventions to todays society. Students will
learn about the invention of papyrus paper, how it is made, and how it impacted
some of todays inventions.
History 2.1: The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China and
Egypt have influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the
calendar, and written language.
Objectives
Given the materials and instructions to create papyrus paper, the student will
be able to describe similarities and differences between paper created in
Ancient Egypt and the paper used today with 100% accuracy.
Given information about papyrus paper and Ancient Egyptians, the student
will be able to identify how this invention made a contribution to todays
society.
Procedure:
A. Introduction:
o To introduce this lesson, I will go over a brief review of what the
students learned in their last unit on Ancient China, focusing on
inventions from Ancient China. I will ask the following question:
What inventions did Ancient China contribute to todays
society?
How did these inventions change or impact the way we live
today?
o Once the students answer these questions, I will tell them that not only
did Ancient China make contributions to todays society, but Ancient
Egypt did as well. I will begin describing that Ancient Egypt made
many contributions as well including the invention of papyrus paper,
which is similar to the paper created in Ancient China. On the
projector, I will pull up an image of what a piece of papyrus paper
looks like for students to see. After, I will prompt students to call out
adjectives to describe what the papyrus paper looks like. I will write
this information on the board in a Venn diagram, but leave other side
blank to fill in after the lesson. This compare and contrast activity will
be my interactive reading strategy because it involves students to use

their senses and use strong adjectives to describe what papyrus paper
looks like. After the lesson, they will be filling in the other side to
describe what paper today looks like. This will utilize their skills to
compare and contrast what they have learned about papyrus paper to
the paper that they use every day in school.
o To follow this, I will show students a short clip that will briefly explain
the process that Ancient Egyptians used to create papyrus paper. Since
this video has no sound, I will voice over and explain to students how
the paper was made.
B. Development:
o After the introduction of the lesson, I will further explain what papyrus
is and what the process is to make it. I will explain that papyrus is
made from reedy stems of the papyrus plant. The Ancient Egyptians
cut the stems into long pieces and laid them out together in layers with
the first layer being vertical and the second being horizontal. While
explaining this to the students, I will have provided strips of
construction paper for them to recreate this pattern with themselves to
make their own papyrus. During this step, I will prompt students with
more reflective questions such as:
Why are the Ancient Egyptians creating the paper from a
papyrus plant and not something else?
Since the process to make this paper takes a long time, how do
you think this affected the amount of paper that Ancient
Egyptians used on a daily basis?
How did this invention contribute to todays society?
o After laying the papyrus out, I will explain that the students will then
next give the papers to me to lie out in a pan of water to help the paper
stick together. I will describe that the Ancient Egyptians did not have
to do this step because papyrus naturally sticks together once it is
pounded out. After the papers have soaked, they will lay out on
newspaper to dry. While the paper is drying, I will ask students a series
of questions about different forms of communication including writing
such as:
How do you think the Ancient Egyptians communicated with
one another?
Do you think they spoke the same language?
How do you think they communicated in writing?
o After asking these questions, I will explain that Egyptians write with
Hieroglyphics. I will explain that hieroglyphics are written
phonetically, meaning they are written as they sound. I will pull up an
online reference, and encourage that once the papyrus paper is dried

IV.

V.

that students will write their name in hieroglyphics on the papyrus

paper just made.
C. Summary
o To close this lesson, I will return to the Venn Diagram written on the
board. I will ask students to describe how the Egyptian paper is
different from the paper used today, and how it is similar. I will
encourage students to describe the differences and similarities of the
process it takes to make the paper (if it is known by them). Once
students have shared their answers, I will once more review the entire
Venn Diagram. I will then ask students to share how their life would be
different if the Ancient Egyptians did not contribute this invention.
o Differentiation: For advanced students, I will ask them to create their
own Venn Diagram to compare the differences between the Egyptian
paper and paper that we Ancient China invented. Students can also
write a few short sentences about what their life would be like if this
form of paper was not invented. For students that are struggling, they
can work with their peers at their tables to answer the questions that I
will be asking throughout the lesson.
Materials
o Strips of paper for students (about 12 per student) made out of
construction paper
o Pan large enough to fit strips woven together
o Water
o Newspaper
o http://www.ngkids.co.uk/did-you-know/Hieroglyphics-uncovered
o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zHLUUQS6mY
Evaluation
A. After teaching the lesson and looking at the students work and the Venn
Diagram, I do believe that all of my students met the objectives for this lesson.
A good majority of the students participated in answering the questions for the
Venn Diagram and correctly answered my questions about the differences and
similarities between the two different kinds of paper. Students also correctly
added to the discussion what a critical role paper plays in our society and
identified papyrus paper as a key contribution to our society. The lesson did
accommodate all learners because it targeted multiple intelligences by
engaging students that were visual learners, kinesthetic and auditory learners.
B. This lesson turned out to be great because students were able to do hands on
activities in order to learn about papyrus paper. I was able to manage my time
well by making the paper ahead of time, and had all of the materials I needed
prepared ahead of time so there were smooth transitions. Some of the
weaknesses that I encountered were behavioral issues regarding classroom
management. I had to tell the class repeatedly to pay attention and focus on

the lesson. Another problem that I encountered is that I knew only half of the
names of the students in class, which made the lesson not as personable. In the
future, I will be more alert and learn the names of all of the students in the
class instead of just some. I will also have multiple methods of using
classroom management to ensure that students are paying attention and
focusing on the lesson. Overall, I am very pleased with how the lesson turned
out and would love to do it again for a 4th grade class!

Rubric for Ancient Egypt Lesson

Good

Fair

Poor

Accuracy

Student
accurately
wrote their
name in
hieroglyphics
.
Participatio
Student
n
actively
participated
and
accurately
compared
papyrus
paper from
paper used
today.
Presentation
Students
work is neat
and
organized.

Student
wrote most
of their name
accurately in
hieroglyphics
.
Student
participated
and compare
papyrus
paper from
paper used
today.

Student did
not write any
of name
accurately in
hieroglyphics
.
Student did
not
participate/di
d not
accurately
compare
papyrus
paper from
paper used
today.
Students
Students
work is
work is not
partially neat
neat and
and
organized.
organized.

Reflection

Student fully
understands
how this
contribution
made an
impact on
todays
society.

Student
understands
how this
contribution
made an
impact on
todays
society.

Student does
not
understand
how this
contribution
made an
impact on
todays
society.