Kat Treweeke, Liz Light, and Gabbie Henwood

Text Set
Virginia Standard
2.1 The student will explain how the contributions of ancient China and Egypt have
influenced the present world in terms of architecture, inventions, the calendar, and
written language.

Essential Questions
1. What have you seen or read about that relates or reminds you of China or
Egypt?
2. What gods and or goddesses have you heard of or read about?
3. What types of inventions do you think came from ancient China or Egypt
4. What contributions did the people of ancient China and Egypt make to the
development of written language
5. What examples of architecture from ancient China and Egypt still exist
today?
Essential Knowledge
Terms:
Pyramid
Hieroglyphic
Ancient: long, long ago
Architecture: the design of buildings
Contribution: the act of giving or doing something
Contributions to ancient Egypt and China

Many inventions of ancient China and Egypt are still used today
Text set
Read Alouds
Mahy, M., & Tseng, J. (1990). The seven Chinese
brothers. New York: Scholastic.
This is a story about seven brothers living in ancient
China and they each have an amazing special power
that they use to defeat the first evil emperor of China.

Kat Treweeke, Liz Light, and Gabbie Henwood

Climo, S., & Heller, R. (1989). The Egyptian Cinderella. New

York: Crowell.
Rhodopis is an orphan from Greece living in Egypt. She is a
slave with nothing in the world except her ruby slippers.
One day a falcon steals her slippers from her and she in
heartbroken. Little does she know that the slippers have
landed in the lap of a Pharaoh who has promised to make
the owner the queen of Egypt.

Books for all children to explore (independent reading)

Tanaka, S., & Ruhl, G. (1999). Secrets of the
mummies: Uncovering the bodies of ancient
Egyptians. New York: Hyperion/Madison Press.
This book contains lots of useful information about
mummies and the mummification process. There
are also several short stories providing information
about famous Pharaohs. In addition there are also
many interesting facts about Ancient Egypt.

Louie, A., & Young, E. (1982). Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella story

from China. New York: Philomel Books.
This story is about a young girl Yeh-Shen who is a pooroverworked girl who has to earn her wishes through
kindness to a magic fish. This story is similar to the
traditional Cinderella, but puts an ethnic spin on the story
and makes Yeh-Shen seem to deserve every bit of good
fortune she gets.

Connor, J. (2002). The emperor's silent army: Terracotta

warriors of Ancient China. New York: Viking.
This book is about the archaeological discovery of
thousands of life-sized terracotta warrior statues that
were placed near an old emperors tomb from ancient
China.

Kat Treweeke, Liz Light, and Gabbie Henwood

Small group
Roome, D., & Daly, J. (2003). The elephant's pillow. New
York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
This story is about a spoiled young boy Sing Lo, who
wants to see the immense imperial elephant that has
not slept a wink since the old emperor died. Sing Lo is
sure that he can cure the animals insomnia by
showering the elephant with gifts, but the elephant still
cant sleep. Can Sing Lo find a way to help this elephant
sleep? (Below grade level read)
Would, N., & Balit, C. (2006). The scarab's secret. New
York: Walker.
This book talks about how in the days of ancient Egypt
the god Ra was made to be the creator of all things. This
interesting story about a Scarab Beetle spins the magic of
tombs and temples into a web of mystery and intrigue.
(At grade level read)

Boyer, C. (2012). National Geographic Kids

Everything Ancient Egypt Dig into a Treasure Trove of
Facts, Photos, and Fun. National Geographic
Children's Books.
This is a book that includes lots of fun facts and is
split in sections including the Rise of the Pharaohs,
Death and the Afterlife, Life in Ancient Egypt, and
Fun with Ancient Egypt. There are great photos and
an interactive glossary for the children to discover
what they want to know about the mysteries of
ancient Egypt. (Above grade level read)

Kat Treweeke, Liz Light, and Gabbie Henwood

China

Artifact

Architecture

Written Language

Egypt

Kat Treweeke, Liz Light, and Gabbie Henwood

Interesting Fact