Teacher's Guide for CALLIOPE: The History of Writing

• to develop understanding of the development of writing from ancient civilizations to the present day
• to practice map skills
• to increase historical perspective
• to improve comprehension skills (particularly by utilizing scanning techniques)
• to practice writing skills through a variety of activities, both practical and creative
• to participate in small group collaboration
• to participate in presentation to entire classroom

Because this issue is densely packed with lots of closely-related information, it is suggested that members of the class be divided into groups. After the Introductory Activity, each group will be assigned one aspect of the history of writing.

Give students an opportunity to illustrate a concept by drawing pictures. For example, you want to communicate that you are walking home from school and need to stop on the way home at the grocery store to buy carrots, eggs, and apples (remind students not to use written labels).

Discuss the concept that communicating about concrete ideas is fairly simple with pictures; however, illustrating abstract ideas is much more difficult. For example, ask students to draw something indicating a person who is lonesome and worried.

• the chart on page 3. Ask where English fits into the chart.
• the time line on page 4-5. Point out why certain items on the time are placed below the line and others are above.
• cuneiform script. (As a concluding activity for the unit, students might like to develop their own codes and try some cuneiform writing using the codes they have developed.) Present the concept that language and script are not the same.

Include in presentation:

1. Kind of writing
2. The names of the people (or peoples) who used this writing
3. When, or over what time period, this writing method existed
4. Where this writing was used
5. A sample (on a large sheet of construction paper) of what this writing looks like

GROUP A: "Egyptian Hieroglyphs" (pages 7-10)

• Explain why scholars had such a difficult time when they first tried to decipher hieroglyphs.
• Explain how people finally deciphered hieroglyphics; be sure to include the following names: Rosetta, Ptolemaios, Thomas Young, Jean-François Champollion, and Cleopatra.
• Explain, basically, how hieroglyphics work.
• Ask classmates to write "like an Egyptian" (from page 11).

GROUP B: "Were the Phoenicians the First?" (pages 15-23)

• Tell in what language family the Phoenician language belongs and what other languages are in that family.
• Talk about the absence of vowels and give classmates the example of "D y wnt sm mlk" to explain that it is possible to get along without vowels in English as well in some cases.
• Explain the origins of the word "cursive."
• From page 23, explain how writing might come into being from languages that are unwritten.

GROUP C: "The Greek Contribution" (pages 24-26)

• Explain one reason why the Greeks decided writing would be an important skill for them to have.
• Tell about the Greeks' "ingenious solution." (page 25)
• Show the chain from the Greek language to English.
• Help your classmates memorize the first five letters in the Greek alphabet.

GROUP D: "The Chinese Writing System" (pages 30-33)

• Explain that Chinese symbols are called one of two names. Also explain the two elements of Chinese symbols: radical and phonetic.
• Tell what material the first characters were scratched into. Look at the top of page 32 to find the answer and to also find what these were called.
• Explain why people in Japan, Korea, or China all communicate through writing even though they speak different languages.
• Explain how a computer is used to "write" Chinese and why the author of the article says " . . . in a way this is sad."

As a final activity, here are some creative choices based on the last four articles of the magazine.

• After reading "Alphabet Inventors" pages 34-36, invent your own alphabet by using a combination of letter signs, symbols, pictographs, etc. Then, write a short message using your alphabet.
• After reading "Writing It Down" pages 37-39, invent a new writing implement. Make a poster advertising your invention with a drawing and explanation; on your poster also draw at least five older implements showing how writing implements have progressed over the years.
• Choose five facts from "Ancient Lettering, Alive and Well" pages 42-44. Type each of these up in calligraphy-looking fonts and print out.
• After reading "Still Indecipherable" pages 47-49, write a newspaper "help wanted" ad looking for someone to "crack the code" of Meriotic, an ancient language of the Meroë. Be sure to include what tactics have been tried already. Explain that neither of the two things needed by translators are available (tell what they are).

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Updated: 11/21/09 12:37 am
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