Research ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and tell a wall story with an interesting crayon resist technique.

• 1.

  Wall paintings are an important aspect of ancient Egyptian art. They feature 2-dimensional drawings of gods and spirits that frequently decorated the walls of tombs. The simple shapes and lines were engraved in the stone walls and then painted with brilliant colors!

• 2.

  Through smaller symbols and images called hieroglyphics, ancient Egyptians told stories on these wall paintings. Research hieroglyphics with your classmates. Find commonly used symbols and their meanings.

• 3.

  Use the symbols you find to illustrate a story of your own in a crayon resist drawing. Create your own symbols as needed to represent characters and events in your story. Start by drawing the hieroglyphics with Crayola® Classic Crayons on a sheet of heavy paper. Press firmly as you draw to create thick, solid lines.

• 4.

  Cover your work area with recycled newspaper and have a bowl with water handy to rinse paintbrushes. Younger students may wish to wear a Crayola Art Smock. Fill the drawing with bright colors, by painting over the crayon with Crayola Washable Watercolors. The waxy crayon will “pop” through the painted surface! Experiment with different amounts of water and paint for interesting effects.

Standards

• LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• LA: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge through investigation of aspects of a topic.
• LA: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
• LA: Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace.
• SCI: Ask questions about the natural and human-built worlds.
• SCI: Construct drawings or diagrams as representations of events or systems.
• SS: Describe ways in which language, stories, folktales, music, and artistic creations serve as expressions of culture and influence behavior of people living in a particular culture.
• SS: Identify and use various sources for reconstructing the past, such as documents, letters, diaries, maps, textbooks, photos, and others.
• VA: Intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques, and processes to enhance communication of experiences and ideas.
• VA: Select and use the qualities of structures and functions of art to improve communication of ideas.
• VA: Describe and place a variety of art objects in historical and cultural contexts.

Adaptations

• Possible classroom resources include: The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale with Hieroglyphs by Tamara Bower; Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Hieroglyphs by James Rumford; The Mystery of the Hieroglyphs by Carol Donoughue
• Possible electronic resource: Egyptian Hieroglyphs located at http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/egypt/literature/hieroglyphs.htm.
• In small groups, students compose an original story using hieroglyphic symbols. Members of the group also sketch a scene from the story to accompany the reading of their ideas. Provide space in the classroom to pose these stories and sketches.