The Greeks & Our Alphabet ? Home School Year

By Sofia on July 29, 2012

This lesson is built on themes introduced in my lesson about the Olympics.

Target Grade Level:?K-2

Introduction: The ancient Greeks not only gave us the Olympic games, they also gave us the foundation for our alphabet.

Background:?The ancient Greek education system was different in each city. For instance, the Spartans were known as good fighters so their education was based on sport and physical ability. In Athens, however, reading and writing were taught in addition to sport. We know a lot about the ancient Greeks because of their pottery and writings, which were a big part of their culture/life.

Map: Locate Greece on the map for reference (coloring page of Greece map)

Lesson Points To Cover:

• The Greek alphabet is a set of 24 letters that is about 2,700 years old
• The Greeks inherited it from the Phoenicians, who were traders from the Mediterranean coast
• The Greek alphabet is the foundation for our alphabet
• Today, the Greek alphabet letters are used as symbols for math and science or as names

Activity:

• Show the Greek alphabet
• Point out the letters A, B, E, I, K, M, N, T?and X?to?discuss how they are identical to ones we use in our alphabet in order and style.
• Point out letters Z (zeta), H (eta), P (rho), Y (upsilon) and O (phi) to show how those letters/symbols were used as other letters in our alphabet
• Use the Delta letter/symbol (?) to explain how the first letter of the name Delta?(Greek fourth symbol) came to represent our fourth letter ?D? to emphasize an example of how other letters were developed
• Show image of Greek vase depicting a teacher and student with a writing tablet which shows the Greek alphabet on it
• Ask the child(ren) to imagine what it was like to be a Greek student in ancient times. Have them draw a picture of themself dressed in Greek clothing learning the Greek alphabet.

Related Activity: Alphabet order

Games:

Biblical Printouts:?Greek alphabet cutouts to make a mini book with scripture reference: A to D,?E to J, K to N, O to T?and U to Z

Related Information: About the ancient Greece school system for kids

Spanish:

alphabet = el alfabeto

Related Resource:?Gathering the Sun: An alphabet in Spanish and English?by Alma Flor Ada is a book of poems, one for each letter of the Spanish alphabet

*Note: I designed this lesson for my personal home school use. I post it in the spirit of sharing. You can can use as-is or change it to accommodate your teaching views and style, but I ask that it be done for personal use only.

Posted in: Activities, Devotions & Bible Stories, History, Language, Lessons, Social Studies, Spanish | Tagged: alphabet activity, cultural studies for children, Greeks, home school, home school lesson, K-2, lesson about the Greek alphabet

Source: http://homeschoolyear.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/the-greeks-our-alphabet/

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