Elementary Egypt

Greetings everyone.






So for the past several weeks my students have been learning all about Ancient Egypt. I find everything from this time period so fascinating and it would seem my students do as well. They are full of insightful questions and numerous students have brought in Egyptian books, statues etc from home to share with me!

Anyways at the start of this unit I decided I wanted to dress up the front of the room to fit the theme. I looked at my twelve windows that connect with the hall and was struck with the idea to put a mural in those windows. I mean how long could it possibly take? Two weeks later I finally got around to finishing the mural and hanging it the windows, plus sprucing up Rib's tank and table area with Egyptian items. Overall I was pretty pleased and the kids really dig the                                                                                             area.



Now for a glimpse at one of the many cool Egyptian projects done by my students. The fourth graders were introduced to the drawing style of the Ancient Egyptians. We learned that the Egyptian artists followed certain rules when drawing the human figure. They were taught to draw using a grid system that led to the figures always having what Egyptians deemed the right proportions. They also chose to draw different parts of the body from different angels. Students then used grid paper to draw the way Ancient Egyptians did  including animal heads. Once students completed their drawings we transferred the images to Styrofoam plates for printmaking.

The following class was spent reviewing printmaking. We talked about the tools used and the procedures we needed to follow in order to make the printing go smoothly. . . as smoothly as it can with 25 fourth graders.  Students then got to work making two practice prints. On this first day of printing I only let the students use black ink.

The last two classes were spent making colored prints. Some using only one color and then eventually using two colors on one print. The students really enjoyed getting to choose what two colors they wanted to use together. Once all the printing was finished I had students choose his/her two best prints and mat them. They all came out super awesome.