Orchard Middle School Students Create Their Own Alphabet During Hands-On Social Studies Activity

"In sixth grade social studies, Orchard students learned about how the scribes of ancient Sumer went to school for 12 years in order to learn the symbols of their language. However, not only did the scribes memorize the thousands of symbols, they also had to learn to be proficient with the writing tools of the time, a clay tablet and a stylus. In addition to the scribes of Sumer, the sixth graders have studied the Phoenicians, who were famous for many endeavors – most notably, however, was the invention of the world’s first alphabet.
 
As a response to what has been expressed concerning the civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, each student took part in the following simulation activities:
  • Assist with his/her rotation’s invented set of symbols that correspond to the Roman alphabet that they all learned at a young age
  • Democratically choose a name for the “new” alphabets
  • Create a one-sentence record in English and translate it into the “new” class language
  • Carve his/her record into clay using a stylus 
After the tablet had been fired in the kiln and stained for the sake of a more “authentic look,” every student received a clay tablet from a student in a different rotation and played the roles of archaeologists by attempting to decode the script(s)."

Justin Burris | Sixth Grade Social Studies Teacher


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