Date: July 5, 1999 

Grade Level(s): 6, 7, 8

Subject(s):

• Language Arts/Writing (composition)
• Social Studies/World History/Ancient History

Description: A class or individual lesson using the guiding question: What can we discover about Ancient Egypt?

Goals: Students will integrate the knowledge and skills acquired from Social Studies and Language Arts through literature and written language. Grammatical focus will be on possessive nouns and commas.

Objectives: Students will:

1. enhance their vocabulary through knowledge of other cultures
2. use narrative writing skills to retell stories of the ancient past
3. use expository writing skills to organize a written report

• Printed materials on world cultures
• Magazines
• Non-fiction books
• Research reports
• Instruction manuals

1. Complete the daily oral reading segment " Mummies in Ancient Egypt ".
2. Have students write a diary entry about the discovery of a mummy. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for this activity.
3. Explain expository writing and cite previous examples that the students have read as related to Ancient Egypt.
4. Explain to students that they will write a research report on Ancient Egypt by coosing a topic.
5. Display a collection of samples to study ie; magazines, nonfiction books, research reports,and instruction manuals.
6. Ask students to list characteristics of good expository writing that may be useful in research.
7. List these on the board.
8. Brainstorm with students for a list of topics on Ancient Egypt.
9. Assist students with planning to research by assigning a mapping activity on the selected topic.
10. Have students map what they want to know about the topic and what they would like their readers to know. These questions can be used as a rough outline.
11. Reinforce the logical steps of an outline taught in a previous lesson and assign a date for a rough draft.

Assessment: Teacher feedback and self evaluation for clarity. Use of possessive nouns and commas. Use of new vocabulary.