A Month of Mummies

1. A Month of Mummies! Jessica Petree Master of Arts in Teaching Concentration in Art Education Coastal Carolina University Conway, South Carolina

2. Why study about Egypt in an Art classroom? The goal of this unit is to educate students about the history of ancient Egypt, its people, practices, and beliefs. This unit will appeal to many student interests by bringing a country thousands of miles away into their classroom in South Carolina. Each content area offers an interesting way of exploring and learning about Egypt. This unit has activities that are hands-on, activities involving design and personal expression, and activities for music lovers and history buffs. Through completing the following lessons and projects within this unit almost every standard listed in the South Carolina Visual Arts Curriculum Standards Guide is met. Both the state and national Visual Arts Standards contain a specific standard for exploring and understanding various cultures and the part they play within the world of art. The following slides contain the specific state and national standard mentioned in the previous sentence and all of South Carolina Visual Arts Curriculum Standards for 9th-12th grade.

6. Project OneMummy Making and Make Your Own Sarcophagus

7. Making Your Mummy! Cut 6" wide plaster gauze into 1/2" strips, dip in water, and apply wet to foil armature. Complete mummy by wrapping each arm individually, bending at the elbows and crossing arms at the chest. Re-tape wet mummy on scrap cardboard and allow to air dry.

8. Project One (Continued)Beginning the Sarcophagus

10. Sculpting the Clay (Continued) Flattened coils of paper clay are used to cover the surface of the plastic box lid; paper clay will stick to plastic and a bead of white glue must be added where one section of paper clay joins another. Students then form the head, headdress, arms, feet, etc. with paper clay and join additional parts with glue. Impression tools are used to sharpen details such as the eyes, nose, incised decorative patterns, and lines.

11. Completion of Sarcophagus Students will complete the decoration of the sarcophagus and complete the project by putting their dried mummies in the tomb.

13. Project Two Write Like An Egyptian and Egyptian Web Quest Activity: Students will use visuals and knowledge of Egyptian writing and language to create an Egyptian cartouche of their own name. Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, study of the Rosetta stone and Hieroglyphics Time Requirements: (2) 90 minute classes Source of Lesson: Wassynger, R. A. (1996). Grades 4-8: Ancient Egypt: Background information, activities, projects, literature links, and poster. New York, NY. Scholastic, Inc.

18. Project ThreeEgyptian Tomb Paintings Activity: Students will select a scene of Egyptian culture that is of interest to them and complete a tomb painting of their own. After completion of project, students will research the issue of Egyptian culture their tomb painting deals with and will write a two page paper on their findings. Curriculum Connections: Social Studies, studying the history and everyday life of the Egyptian people Time Requirement: (4) 90 minute classes Source of Lesson: Haslam, A. (1997). Make it work! Ancient Egypt: The hands-on approach to history. Chicago, IL. Two-Can Publishing Ltd.

21. Project FourEgyptian Instruments Activity: Students will make the Egyptian rattle called a sistrum and use Egyptian symbols to decorate their instrument. Curriculum Connections: Music, students will explore the different musical traditions of the Egyptian culture Source of Lesson: Bartok, M., Ronan, C. (1995). Stencils: ancient Egypt and Nubia. Glenview, IL. Good Year Books, Inc. Time Requirement: (2) 90 minute class periods

22. Making an Egyptian Sistrum Toilet paper or half of a paper towel roll is used as the handle Poster board is cut and fit around the top of the roll and decorated A strip of poster board is cut and decorated, and three slits are cut into each side for the wire to go through 4-5 bottle tops are strung onto each wire, and the ends of the wire are taped down to the cardboard Sistrums can be completed before the play if you want to use them in the production

23. Project FiveDress Like An Egyptian Activity: Students will study an Egyptian character, research the character’s dress and participate in the creation of the dress to later use during a production of an Egyptian tale. Time Requirement: (10) 90 minute class periods Curriculum Connection: Social Studies, studying the different pharaohs and people of the Egyptian past, also studying the everyday life of the Egyptian culture Source of Lesson: Haslam, A. (1997). Make it work! Ancient Egypt: The hands-on approach to history. Chicago, IL. Two-Can Publishing Ltd.

24. Making Costumes: Cooperative Learning Each student is assigned an Egyptian character Students research their characters 2-3 sketches of Egyptian dress are produced Students making similar attire will be grouped together Costumes will be used in the production of an Egyptian tale called “Death and Afterlife on the Nile” Refer to the source of this lesson on how to assemble the different costumes

25. Civic Engagement Project A civic engagement project is a free family fun day where students merge with a local library or museum and invite members of the community to come and explore what the students have learned about ancient Egypt. Egyptian decoration, food, art, music and technologies will be present as well as other various elements of the Egyptian culture. With this civic engagement project, we hope to unite the community and educate others about a deeper, more meaningful aspect of the Egyptian culture. This project will explore Egypt beyond the typical information associated with Egyptians. All activities will be organized and conducted by students. Student Art work will be displayed from throughout the unit, and students will perform the Egyptian play dressed in their hand-made Egyptian attire. A civic engagement project will be held on the Saturday after the completion of the Egyptian unit so all Art work can have a chance to be shown, and the Egyptian costumes will be completed for the play. This project is a way for the students to unite with their community, work together in organization of the event and share with others what they have learned during the unit.

26. Assessments  Sarcophagus (production and decoration) Checklist for craftsmanship and use of materials Mummy Making Yes/no completion Checklist Tomb Paintings Art Production and Daily Participation Checklist Rubric for research paper on tomb painting Dress Like An Egyptian Art Production Checklist Character Analysis Handout Yes/No checklist for completion of costume sketches Group observation checklist Individual rubric for group participation Write Like An Egyptian Art Production Checklist Yes/no checklist for print out of name Yes/no checklist for completion of vocabulary and summary Egyptian Musical Instrument Art Production Checklist