Ancient Egypt

Hi there. I teach 6th gr. and we study ancient egypt each year. My students' all time favorite activity is stuffed animal mummies. They are in groups of three and one person brings in an old stuffed animal to "sacrifice". (preferably not their younger sibling's animal!) They then follow a step by step guide that details "what the ancient egyptians did" and "what we will do".

It's a lot of fun....they have to take out some of the stuffing and put it in canopic jars, sprinkle salt in the body and wrap the body in toilet paper, etc.
Good Luck!!

Here are a few ideas. Some may be too old for your students to read for themselves, however, so take a look at them in a library to see if you can use them.

Picture a Country: Egypt by Henry Pluckrose -- Nice easy photo book format

Ms. Frizzle's Andventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole -- The teacher of Magic School Bus Fame goes on summer vacation to Ancient Egypt! -- My daughter's current favorite book!

Senefer: A Young Genius in Old Egypt by Beatrice Lumpkin -- picture book

Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki -- neat picture book about mummies -- a reading rainbow book

Look What Came From Egypt by Miles Harvey

The Star-Bearer: A Creation Myth From Ancient Egypt by Dianne Hofmey

Vinnie in Egypt by Elizabeth Bott

The Shipwrecked Sailor: An Egyptian Tale of Heirogyphs by Tamara Bower

I am the Mummy HEb-Nefert by Eve Bunting

Croco'Nile: An Ancient Egyptian Legend by Jan Mike

The Hundredth Name by Shulamith Oppenheim

Temple Cat by Andrew Clements

Cleopatra by Diane Stanley

The Great Pyramid by Elizabeth Mann

The Winged Cat: A Tale of Ancient Egypt by Deborah Nourse Lattimore

Egypt by Ann Heinrichs

His Magjesty: Queen Hatshepsut by Dorothy Carter

The Egyptian News by Scott Steedman

I Wonder Why the Pyramids Were Built by Phillip Steele

The Egyptian Cinderella by Shirley Climo

The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt by Leonard Everett Fisher

Letters Home From Egypt by marcia S. Gresko

Mummies and Pryamids by Mary Pope Osborne

Tut's Mummy Lost and Found by Judy Donnelly

Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile by Tomie dePaola

Pyramid by David Macauley

The Day of Ahmed's Secret by Florence Heide

Pyramids by Anne Millard -- published by Kingfisher -- nice oversized book with pyramids from Egypt, Nubia, the ancient Mayan and Aztec cultures, and modern day pyramids

Cultural Atlas for Young People by Geraldine Harris -- nice photographic atlas

Growing Up in Ancient Egypt by Rosalie David -- nice picture book format

Pharoahs and Pyramids by Tony Allan -- an Usborne Time Traveller Book

The Usborne Book of Living Long Ago -- has sections on the daily lives of cultures of long ago -- has sections on Ancient Egyptian homes, clothes, food, etc.

The Kingfisher Book fo the Ancient World by Hazel Martel -- has a section on Ancient Egypt

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Elizabeth Payne -- a Landmark book

The Riddle of the Rosetta Stone: Key to ANcient Egypt by James Cross Giblin -- for very good readers

Novels:

Mara: Daughter of the Nile by Eloise McGraw

The Golden Goblet by Eloise McGraw

Pharoah's Daughter by Julius Lester

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

Cleopatra VII: Daughter of the Nile by Kristiana Gregory - a royal diary book

Escape From Egypt by Sonia Levitin

Tut Tut by Jon Scieska -- a Time Warp Trio Book

Mummies in the Morning by Mary Pope Osborne

Rotten Ralph Helps Out by Jack Gantos

Activity Books:

Pyramids: 50 hands-on activities to experience Ancient Egypt by Avery Hart and Paul Mantell

Make History: Ancient Egypt by Nancy Fister

Acient Egyptians and Their Neighbors -- Activity Guide by Mirian Broida

Science in Ancient Egypt by Geraldine Woods

I did an Ancient Egypt Unit with fifth graders. Here's something I thought worked well. In one of the older issues of Mailbox magazine for intermediate I found a page with an outline of a mummy coffin (like Tut's) that had lines on it. I ran a bunch of these off and had the kids cut them out to make pages for a booklet. They used one page as a pattern to cut a cover and back for their book out of manilla drawing paper. They decorated the cover and did some research to create a little book about Egypt. The books turned out really neat (one student used glitter on her cover). I hung them out in the hallway outside our classroom. Also, check the social studies section of your local teacher supply store. They sometime have unit books and would likely have one on Ancient Egypt.

When I taught Egypt last year, we mummified an apple in class to learn about that process. We also worked on a webquest and I found it by doing a google search. We found out some really "gross" stuff about mummies, but I doubt that my students will ever forget it!
Good luck!

I just finished a unit on Egypt where I used Egypt Game and Magnificent Mummy Maker. I teach 6th grade, and the two books provided a more challenging and easier to read option for the range of reading abilities in my room. I'm hoping to do a mini unit on Greek mythology, and have found two resource books from Scholastic, one that's a cartoon book and another that has plays of the different myths. Let me know if you'd like the names of these other resources.