Second Grade Time Travel

The second grade students have embarked on their trip back in time to ancient Egypt!  We started by asking what the students might think they already know about this amazing civilization, and it was wonderful to note that many of them shared things they had learned from last year's second grade class when they gave "Egypt Tours!"  Next we generated a list of questions they want to try to answer throughout the study.

 There was much curiosity about mummies:

"Are mummies alive?"
"Do mummies walk?"
"Who came up with the idea of making mummies?"

And the sphinx:

"How long ago was the sphinx made?"
"How tall is the sphinx?"

(This led to the a quick conversation about the fact that there is more than one sphinx!)

Reading parts of Egypt in the Past and Present aloud last week, provided an overview of the big ideas that we will be covering in the next few months.  Each student then received a new "Explorer's Notebook." This little book will give them a place to collect information and sketch when they learn something new!  In addition, they discussed how long ago  ancient Egypt was a civilization, and each student picked an "artifact" to learn more about.  Our study will  culminate just before Spring Break with "Egypt Night", an evening when families are invited to come visit our "museum" and learn from our "Egyptologists'!