NWEA MAP Informational Text 18

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

How is the information in paragraph 2 best organized?

• Chronological Order

• Cause and Effect

• Compare and Contrast

• Listing

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

Which of these ideas is supported by the information in paragraph 5?

• Many young boys had a hard time scribing.

• Writing is not important in the United States.

• Writing in Egypt was just like writing in the United States.

• Scribes had healing powers.

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

With which tow statement would the author of this writing most likely agree with?

• Hieroglyphics was the hardest form of writing to learn in the past.

• There was no use for writing in ancient Egypt.

• In the past, writing was a useful way to keep track of things.

• Egyptian writing was cool because it was magical.

• Egyptians appreciated people who were scribes.

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

Writing was highly valued in ancient Egypt because ________.

• people paid a lot of money to buy books

• people could only write about the god

• very few people knew how to write

• all writing was done on clay

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

Match the heading to each section of the article.

Groups:

(a) A System of Writing

,

(b) Documenting Food Supplies

,

(c) What is a Scribe

• Paragraph 2

• Paragraph 3

• Paragraph 4

Read this sentence from the text.

Instead, they memorized stories and important information.

Select one synonym and one antonym for the word memorized.

Synonym for memorized​ ​ ​ (a)  

Antonym for memorized ​ ​ ​ (b)  

• remembered
• neglected
• drew
• spoke
• silenced 
• wrote
• showed
• hid

Ancient Writing

1            Imagine a time when there was no writing. For many thousands of years, people did not write things down. Instead, they memorized stories and important information. Writing was first discovered in Iraq more than 5,000 years ago.

2            It developed when people began to grow their food instead of relying on hunting and gathering. They needed a way to document how much grain they had, so writing was a useful way to keep track of food supplies. Writing was also used to record past events and write about the gods.

3            In ancient Egypt, writing was highly valued. Writers were so special that their job had the title of “scribe.” Boys could become scribes by apprenticing themselves to older scribes. Apprentices began to learn writing when they were 12 years old.

4            It was not easy to learn this craft since ancient Egyptians wrote using hieroglyphics. Their system of writing used pictures instead of letters. At first, young scribes wrote on pieces of clay. When they got better, they were allowed to write on papyrus, which was paper made from river reed plants. Despite the difficulty, many boys wanted to become scribes. It was seen as an important job. Scribes did not have to be soldiers or participate in growing food. Instead, they wrote important documents.

5            Writing was even more special for the ancient Egyptians than it is for us. Egyptians believed that writing had a kind of magic. There was even a god and a goddess of writing. The people of Egypt believed that scribes could heal disease just by writing down a prayer for someone to be cured. Imagine if people thought that you could do magic by writing! In a way, you can, because when you write, you create stories and share your imagination with others.

Complete the chart.

• had to be learnt

• was easy to learn

• are picture writing

• are a secret code

• was written by Egyptians