Lesson Plan - Where Does She Belong?

Learning Objective

Students will learn why Egypt wants museums in other countries to return ancient artifacts.

Content-Area Connections

Social Studies

Standards Correlations

CCSS: R.1, R.2, R.3, R.4, R.5, R.6, R.7, R.8, R.9, R.10

NCSS: Culture

TEKS: Social Studies 5.23, 6.13

Text Structure

Description

1. Preparing to Read

Preview the Text
Preview the article’s headline and photos before reading. Have students predict what the article is about.


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

  • artifacts
  • petition


Set a Purpose for Reading
As students read, have them think about who truly owns the ancient artifacts in museums.

2. Close-Reading Questions

1. According to the article, why is what happened after Ludwig Borchardt saw the statue of Queen Nefertiti still being debated?
The article states that what happened after Ludwig Borchardt saw the statue of Queen Nefertiti is still being debated because people disagree on whether Borchardt had permission to bring the statue to Germany. The article explains, “Borchardt had permission to take some items he found back to Germany. But Egyptian officials say the Nefertiti statue wasn’t one of them.”
R.8 Reasons and Evidence

2. Based on the article, what does Zahi Hawass hope to accomplish with his online petitions?
By circulating petitions online, Zahi Hawass probably hopes to show that there is widespread public support for returning Egyptian artifacts to Egypt. He likely believes that if each petition can get 1 million signatures, museums in other countries will feel pressured to return the artifacts.
R.5 Cause and Effect

3. What do you think Hawass means when he says that the Rosetta Stone is an important part of Egyptians’ identity?
When Hawass says that the Rosetta Stone is an important part of Egyptians’ identity, he means that the artifact played an important role in Egyptian cultural history. According to the article, “The carvings on the stone helped experts understand hieroglyphs—the pictures and symbols that ancient Egyptians used to represent words.” 
R.1 Make Inferences

3. Skill Building

Featured Skill: Fact and Opinion
Use the skill builder “Is That a Fact?” to review the differences between facts and opinions and to identify fact and opinion statements related to the article.
R.6 Point of View

Text-to-Speech