This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
My Students
Help Ancient Egyptian history come alive for my students! Aid their discovery through the creation of personalized sarcophagi.
My students are a challenging, dynamic, funny and engaging group of middle school students.
Yes, they fit into a lot of categories: they are high-needs, 40% of them are being raised by someone who is not a family member, 100% of them qualify for free or reduced lunch and they attend a public middle school that is small (400-450 students) in Brooklyn, New York. BUT when I get them going on a project that challenges them, allows for self-expression and piques their interest nothing can stop them.
My Project
What can be better than creating a life-sized self-portrait in paint? For a kid in middle school, not much. This project makes Ancient Egyptian history come alive as my students get to be artisans creating their own sarcophagi. They draw them out, we decide as a group, after looking at Egyptian artwork, what colors to use to make the work more realistic, and then using a "dictionary" of hieroglyphics, symbols and pattern from Egypt the students set out on their task. They figure out not only how to write their names but also how to communicate in this limited language and limited color palette, what is important in their lives.
My students lean about artwork from Ancient Egypt and about limited color palettes and how to paint but more importantly, they discover how artists throughout the ages told their stories and the stories of their time in pictures and symbols. This project allows students to enter the stream of history.
This is a project that the entire 6th grade will do: it makes for a great display in the school and the students are so proud of their work because even for students whose drawing skills are below others, they are still able to be successful with this project.
Hallways displaying the work of these kings and queens of Ancient Egypt decorate the school. Creating this work allows me to weave in history and art so successfully that students look forward to that part of every project after this.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Varoski and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.