Lesson Plan - Secrets of the Mummy's Tomb

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Learning Objective

Students will understand why the discovery of King Tut’s tomb 100 years ago this fall was a historic event.

Text Structure

Description, Chronology

Content-Area Connections

Ancient Civilizations

Standards Correlations

CCSS: RI.4.1, RI.4.2, RI.4.3, RI.4.4, RI.4.5, RI.4.7, RI.4.8, RI.4.10, L.4.4, SL.4.1

NCSS: Culture

TEKS: Social Studies 4.21

1. Preparing to Read

Watch a Video: The Life and Death of the Boy King

Discuss: According to the video, what are some ways that experts have learned details about King Tut’s life and death?

The Life and Death of the Boy King
Meet an archaeologist and learn how scientists study mummies.

Preview Words to Know

Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

  • pharaoh 
  • preserved


Set a Purpose for Reading

Point out the As You Read question. Have students look for details explaining why many people are interested in King Tut.

2. Close-Reading Questions

1. What do you think an archaeologist does? What clues in the text help you know?
The phrases “had spent years digging” and “searching for the lost tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Tutankhamen” help show that an archaeologist studies the past by looking for objects from long ago.
(RI.4.4 VOCABULARY)

2. Why were ancient Egyptian rulers buried with many items, according to the article?
The article explains that ancient Egyptians believed in life after death and buried their rulers with items they thought the rulers might need in the afterlife.
(RI.4.5 CAUSE AND EFFECT)

3. What is the purpose of the diagram, “Buried Treasures”?
The purpose is to show the four parts of King Tut’s tomb and some items found in each.
(RI.4.7 TEXT FEATURES)

3. Skill Building

FEATURED SKILL: Reading a Chart

Use the Skill Builder “Tut’s Treasures” to have students learn more about some of the artifacts buried with Tut. 

(RI.4.7 TEXT FEATURES)

Differentiate & Extend

Multilingual Learners
Explain that the expression “time was running out” means that there was little time left to do or complete something.

 

Striving Readers
The suffix -ing shows that a word names an action or process. Example: When a person runs, the action is running. Explain this as students decode the words running, digging, searching, paying, and leading.

 

Map Skill Builder
Have students practice identifying relative location with Tour the Tombs, an interactive slideshow mapping the Valley of the Kings. Find it online under Teaching Resources.

Text-to-Speech