Battle of the Ancients: More Highlights!

When writing about history, one of the challenges for middle school students is finding their own, original voice. It can be tempting to simply change a few words from another person's writing, rather than taking the time to express ideas and information in a new, unique way.

While working on her informative poster about China, Cabria rose to the challenge. She thought deeply about the material and then used her own words -- her own, authentic voice -- to present the information in an engaging way. Here is a sample:

Being the only leader of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shi Huangdi was a smart one. In this dynasty they created paper, kites, seismographs, and so many more things you use today! Shi Huangdi was not as “scary” or “powerful” as you might think. He lived in fear everyday because several attacks were made on him during his lifetime. He never trusted anybody, and even after death he was still doubtful about trusting his advisors.

Courtney used a software program called Tinkercad to build a three-dimensional model of the ancient Egyptians' irrigation system. Then, he printed and painted the model. It looks absolutely amazing!! Here is an excerpt from Courtney's explanation of Egyptian irrigation:

The design that I created was a model of an irrigation system, which was an extremely valuable and important technology in Ancient Egypt. This technology was important because without irrigation, the Egyptians' crops would flood and die, which could cause some lack of food in Egypt. Irrigation could also be an easier way to get water without having to walk over to the Nile to refill your family’s supply of water.  

In the design I made, I included wheat, barley, and vegetables, because they are some of the crops that the Egyptians farmers grew using irrigation. Most crops grown in Egyptian farms were either given to the city or traded to other countries for gold, ivory, slaves, stone, incense, and myrrh.

While Courtney used twenty-first century technology to build his model, James was kickin' it old school. He cooked up a homemade (!) sand/clay recipe to build replicas of the Giza pyramids, then he used modeling clay to craft a beautiful model of the Sphinx (or, as James and Caspar have taught me to pronounce it, the "Shphinx"!). I love the way that the lion's nose (or lack thereof) looks so similar to the real thing. 

Layla and Parker collaborated to write a brilliant narrative about King Tut's daughter (their character, Leona, must be forgotten to history, because I'd never heard about her before!). 

As you read this excerpt from their story, notice the vivid words and descriptions that draw you into the action. This is fantastic creative writing, and I love that Layla and Parker used a twenty first technology (GoogleDocs) to combine their efforts and produce such a gem of a story.

"LEONA TUTANKHAMUN!" 

I ran downstairs and grabbed my jug. I forgot that I had water duty today and I had a long walk to the irrigation canal. 

"Sorry Mut, I forgot I had water duty."

I heard my mother sigh as I ran out of the door and into the scorching heat. I saw the small glint of water behind the mounds of hot sand. I made my steps quick, so that way the heat didn’t burn holes through the papyrus sandals. 

"I hate this season." 

It was the hottest week of the year and everyone knew not to go outside during the burn week. I made it to the canal, dunked my jug under the water and quickly dabbed my feet into the water. 

As I lifted up the jug again, the extra weight of the water was heavy. As I went back to the house I saw a lump in the sand. I decided I would check it out once I put the jug in the house. 

The slave was at the door. 

"Jentica, bring this to the kitchen." 

The weight released felt so nice. As I turned to head out of the door a raging scent went through my nose. It smelled like the fish when they are not taken out of the river for a while. 

I went back into the boiling sand to the destination of the lump on the ground. As I got closer I could see that it was a longer shape and looked almost human like ...