Egypt In The Eye Of The Kindergartner

Passover is a Jewish holiday which is celebrated in the spring. The Jews were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and God, through Moses led them back to Israel. This unit should be taught before and during the Passover period so the children can understand the setting of the holiday story. Because this unit does not include any religious activities it can be taught as a separate unit any time of the year. This unit incorporate the concept of a cross curriculum unit. Ideas for activities in all different subject: visual art, writing, math, drama in addition to the religious story will give a complete picture to the children of a different culture.

Objectives and Goals After completing this unit, the students should be able to Explain what a desert is Compare kings to a slaves Use calligraphy Understand the pyramid shape and how to make one Understand what is archeology and why we need it To be able to relate the information from this unit to the Passover holiday story.

State standards for the unit Science 3.1 participate in simple investigation to answer a question or to test a prediction 3.1 Use five senses and simple equipment to gather data 3.2 sort and describe objects according to size, shape, color and texture Geography 7.1 explain how a map is a representation of places a Region : An area with one or more common characteristics or features that gives it a measure of consistency and makes it different from surrounding areas. A place : An area with distinctive human and physical characteristics; these characteristics give it meaning and character and distinguish it from other areas curiosity and initiative Demonstrate an eagerness to discover and discuss a growing range of topics, ideas and tasks Ask questions and seek meaningful information about a topic or idea Show interest and ask questions about others’ work or stories Use play to demonstrate new skills and knowledge risk taking Demonstrate a willingness to participate in an increasing variety of diverse experiences task analysis Classify, contrast and compare objects, events and experiences Complete multi-step tasks with independence creativity, flexibility and invention observe and imitate both adults and peers to gain understanding of specific tasks and skills combine unique materials to make a new (real or pretend) object or result

A Desert Country In order for the children to understand the whole story you (the teacher) need to first understand what the children already know and what needs to be taught. Leading questions may help the children to see the whole picture. Egypt is a desert What are the characteristics of a desert Animals Plants Temperature Clothes Sources of water: wells, the Nile river

Visual Art: Desert Mural A group activity where the children work together to create a big class mural. Material: Big butcher paper Paint (mixed with glue) Brushes Sand Green (collage material) Blue (collage material) Brown (collage material) Yellow paint (collage material) Or any other collage things that the child want to glue.

Kings and slaves Circle time is a good time to talk about the differences between the king and the slaves.

Theater: Kings and slaves You can see yourself as a …… In the dress-up area you can put 2 mirrors and draw on the mirrors empty circles for the childs head. On one mirror you can draw a kings headdress and on the other mirror slaves clothing. The children can see themselves as kings and slaves and act as one. The dress-up corner is a place where children can use the clothes and the mirror for a few weeks. Every day the children learn one more thing in this unit, more information that they can add in their play (especially after we do the math activity).

Pyramids What is a pyramid? How were they made? What was it constructed from? Is there something inside? All these questions lead to a math activity and “cooking” activity.

Math: Pyramids The children can explore the shape of the pyramids and try to duplicate it from different materials: Lego Blocks Paper/cardboard Clay/play dough-the children can go to a nearby river and get clay or make playdough with the children.

Acting out a story Now that the children know the Passover story they can act it out. Pharaoh ruled in Egypt and the slaves built the pyramids. Making paper clothes and mud clay can be part of the show. You can also collect boxes and paint them (to simulate bricks) and use themto build the pyramid. To make this show complete the children should do it outside in the sun and singing “slaves” (holiday song) songs.

Egyptian Calligraphy What is calligraphy? Show the children how to use it Ask the children to write their name with it. Because it is not easy to draw the picture you should make copies of the pictures so the children can use it.

Science: Archaeology So how do we know everything….. At the end of the unit the teacher should ask the children “How do you think we know today what happened so many years ago?” In order to understand this concept hands on activity is the best to explain. The teacher should break a plate and hide the pieces in a sand box/table. The children will look for the pieces and when they find everything they will glue it back to the original shape.

Books to read the children How to Make a Mud Pie" by Rozanne Lanczak Williams "Mrs. Wishy Washy" by Joy Cowley, Egyptian pyramid by Elizabeth Longly Egypt in pictures by Zuehlke Jeffrey Step inside: Egypt by Inc, Sterling Your life as Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt by Jessica Gunderson

Unit assessment ExcellentGood Need improvement Poor Understanding of the unit The student can understand each activity and is able to see how each activity is connected to the main subject the student is able to draw conclusion from one activity to the other. The student needs help understanding how each activity is related to the big topic even though he/she were able to perform each assignment to the fullest. The student can’t perform each activity as is and can’t draw connections between the activities. The student can’t understand why this unit is taught, does not participate in the activities and can’t draw conclusion from it. Basic skills The student can perform in all activities: *Participate in a group project *Can act as a king/slave *Build a pyramid *Dig and find pieces of plate and put it together The student can performs on many of the activities” Or group activity, or act as a king/slave or build a pyramid or dig and find pieces of plates and put it together. The student can only complete one activity from the unit. The student can’t complete any of the activities that are done in this unit. Students will demonstrate originality and creativity In each activity the student demonstrated his/her originality and creativity by making new ideas In each activity the students follow the directions and only in some areas was able to think “outside the box”. In each activity the student follow direction without making effort doing something different. In each activity the student could not follow directions in order to complete the activity.

This unit ends with a traditional holiday meal where the parents are invited to see all the work and celebrate the holiday with us. I see it as an opportunity to self-critique my work and the children’s knowledge in this unit. Throughout the unit I stop after every unit to see if the children understood the activity itself and how it is relate to the holiday. The whole goal of the unit is to help the children understand the holiday story and its setting (in a Jewish school). This cross curriculum unit explains many different aspects about Egypt as a country and how people use to live then