Ancient  Egyptian  Afterlife  -­‐  6th  Grade  38  minutes  

 Behavioral  Objective:  Students  will  identify  how  the  Ancient  Egyptians  viewed  death  as  a  continuation  of  life  by  examining  a  selection  of  Egyptian  tomb  pictures  and  artifacts  and  explaining  how  items  found  in  Egyptian  tombs  were  carefully  chosen  to  reflect  important  aspects  of  a  person’s  life.    Materials:  21  notecards,  21  worksheets,  Smartboard  presentation    Element  of  Instruction  

Description  

Anticipatory  Set/Hook    (8  min)  

1. Teacher  will  ask  students  what  they  think  of  when  they  hear  the  term  “olam  habah.”  Teacher  will  entertain  several  suggestions,  and  then  will  conclude  with  point  that  basically  we  don’t  know.  It’s  a  mystery.  Teacher  will  then  ask  question:  what  do  we  know  about  the  Egyptian  afterlife?  Teacher  will  sum  up  with  point  that  we  actually  do  know  a  lot  about  how  the  ancient  Egyptians  viewed  their  afterlife  because  they  tell  us  through  their  art  and  artifacts.  

2. Why  do  we  care?  We  care  because  they  care!  To  study  a  civilization  means  to  study  it  through  the  eyes  of  those  who  lived  there,  through  what  was  important  to  them.    

 Objective  (what  you  will  tell  your  students)  

Today  we  will  be  studying  some  pieces  of  Egyptian  art  that  tell  us  about  the  Egyptian  view  of  the  afterlife.  We  will  have  a  chance  to  be  historians  and  to  examine  important  historical  artifacts  and  images  that  show  us  what  was  important  for  the  Egyptians  to  bring  to  their  afterlife.      

Purpose   By  learning  about  Egyptian  art  and  its  depictions  of  the  Egyptian  views  of  the  afterlife,  we  will  come  to  appreciate  how  historians  can  learn  about  a  culture  by  studying  its  art.      

Input/  Activities    (15  min)  

1.  Teacher  will  tell  students  the  story  of  the  “ka”  –  the  Egyptian  life  force,  or  the  spirit.  Teacher  will  emphasize:  Egyptians  viewed  the  afterlife  as  an  extension  of  their  lives  on  earth.  Looking  at  what  the  Egyptians  brought  into  their  tombs  shows  us  what  types  of  things  they  thought  were  important  to  bring  into  the  next  world.    3.  Teacher  will  inform  students  that  they  will  be  examining  a  series  of  images  on  the  board  to  look  for  some  themes  of  

*See below: 1. Worksheet about Egyptian tomb artifacts for guided practice/assessment

what  was  important  to  Egyptians  to  bring  with  them  to  the  afterlife.  Teacher  will  discuss  the  following  elements  for  three  different  images:  a)  What  is  depicted  in  the  image?  b)  Why  would  a  person  choose  to  include  this  image  in  his  or  her  tomb?  4.  Teacher  will  break  students  into  partners  and  give  them  worksheet  with  three  more  images  to  consider  and  a  series  of  questions  to  answer.  5.  Teacher  will  bring  students  back  together  and  review  their  worksheets  and  their  thoughts.    

Check  for  Understanding    

1.  Teacher  will  ask  several  students  to  give  a  brief  overview  of  the  role  of  the  ka  in  Egyptian  death  and  afterlife    2.  Teacher  will  ask  for  student  input  as  she  presents  image  examples  3.  Teacher  will  circulate  around  the  room  to  help  answer  questions  as  students  work  in  partners  on  the  worksheet  4.  Teacher  will  review  the  worksheet  with  students  frontally.    

Guided  Practice/  Assessment  (10  min)  

1.  Students  will  work  in  partners  to  review  images  and  artifacts  from  tombs  and  why  Egyptians  would  choose  to  put  those  items  in  their  tombs.*    

Name _______________ Ancient Egypt: The Afterlife

1. Who appears to be the focus of this picture? How do you know? __________________________________________ __________________________________________ 2. Where are the man and woman sitting? 3. What type of clothing is the man wearing and what does this tell us about his status in society? ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ 4. Why is the woman standing next to the man? What might their relationship be? ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ 5. What activity are the people at the bottom involved in? ___________________________________________ 6. Based on what you have described about this picture, what might be important to this man in his life that he wants to bring with him to the afterlife?

______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________

1. What items are in this image? _______________________________________ 2. Why might an Egyptian want these items in the afterlife? _______________________________________ _______________________________________ B. Tomb of Hatnefer

A. Tomb of a Theban Official

C. Tomb of Nefertari 1. How is the woman dressed in this picture? What does this tell us about her social status? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. What does she appear to be doing? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. What does this picture tell us about another general category of items Egyptians might have wanted to bring with them to the afterlife? __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ E. YOUR TURN! Describe, using words, a drawing, or any other creative representation, what other items you would expect to see in an Egyptian tomb and why.

Lesson  Reflection    

This  was  a  lesson  that  I  presented  as  part  of  an  interview  for  a  teaching  position.  It  

was  specific  to  the  topic  that  the  class  was  learning  at  the  time,  namely  the  history  of  

Ancient  Egypt.  I  enjoyed  preparing  and  presenting  this  lesson  because  it  called  upon  me  to  

move  outside  my  comfort  zone  and  research  and  prepare  a  topic  with  which  I  was  not  so  

familiar.  I  thought  this  was  good  practice  for  the  future  when  I  will  be  asked  to  work  with  

and  really  develop  a  curriculum  that  might  not  be  my  own.    

 

The  students  I  worked  with  for  this  lesson  were  by  and  large  very  much  engaged  in  

the  class  proceedings.  They  came  in  excited  to  learn  and,  though  they  were  a  class  of  

twenty  animated  6th  grade  boys,  were  eager  to  participate  and  stay  on  topic.  Because  this  

was  a  more  active  class  it  was  also  a  good  opportunity  for  me  to  practice  some  classroom  

management  techniques,  such  as  calling  on  students  by  name,  walking  around  the  

classroom  to  make  eye  contact  and  engage  with  each  student,  and  trying  to  incorporate  as  

much  active  and  group  learning  as  possible.    It  was  also  a  good  exercise  in  how  to  re-­‐

structure  a  lesson  on  the  spot  given  that  I  had  designed  a  shorter  lesson  than  the  time  I  was  

allotted.    

 

I  was  pleased  with  my  ability  to  circulate  throughout  the  room  and  really  interact  

with  the  students  as  they  were  doing  their  group  work.  I  felt  very  on  top  of  the  flow  of  the  

lesson  and  thought  that  the  students  noticed  and  appreciated  my  control  and  responded  

well  to  it.    

 

If  I  were  to  do  this  lesson  again  with  students  I  knew,  I  would  re-­‐assign  the  partners  

for  the  group  activity  differently.  I  think  this  is  a  lesson  that  lends  itself  to  creating  

heterogenous  groupings  where  students  of  mixed  levels,  interests,  and  abilities  could  work  

together  to  complete  the  cooperative  worksheet.  The  worksheet  involved  looking  at  

pictures  and  answering  scaffolded  questions  that  could  easily  have  been  completed  with  a  

mixed  group.    

Additionally,  I  would  prepare  other  exercises  that  students  could  complete  if  they  

were  finished  early  and/or  if  we  had  extra  time  as  a  class  at  the  end.  I  was  so  focused  on  

having  the  lesson  run  smoothly  that  I  did  not  account  so  well  for  different  learning  needs.  If  

this  was  my  class  on  a  regular  basis,  I  would  make  sure  to  have  tiered  activities  available  

for  brighter  students  and  would  also  be  more  on  top  of  monitoring  the  weaker  students.