The story of human beings started a long time ago on Earth.

Early human adventures included living alongside wild animals like lions and mammoths.

People gathered around the flickering light of fires.

Storytellers shared tales out loud, and children listened carefully to every word to learn.

carved into clay tablets and buried in the ruins of deserted cities.

Combining Pictures for Meaning:

Cave people realized they needed to write down stories for others to read. They combined simple pictures to mean whole ideas—for example, drawing a picture of a mouth next to a picture of a bowl meant eating.

Egyptian writers created sound pictures called hieroglyphics (for example, using a picture of an eagle to mean the sound A).

The Egyptians discovered how to make paper from a plant called papyrus, which grew along the banks of the Nile River.

The Chinese people created their own system of writing with more than 5,000 Chinese characters.

They needed a simple, easy-to-write alphabet so they could quickly keep records of their trade and business.

Different Writing Styles:

People all over the world write in different ways.

The Arabic people created their own alphabet to write their language.

The people of Greece made an alphabet with 24 letters.

Left-to-Right Writing:

They were the very first people to write from left to right!

They did not put spaces between their words when writing.

The Romans borrowed letters from the Greeks and added curves to make them look more beautiful.

The alphabet we write with today came directly from the Roman alphabet!

To write faster, scribes developed small letters (lowercase letters) called minuscules, which were created by the Irish.

For the very first time, sentences started with a capital letter and ended with small letters!

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Civics

History of written language

Term	Definition
Early Humans:	The story of human beings started a long time ago on Earth.
Prehistoric Animals:	Early human adventures included living alongside wild animals like lions and mammoths.
Campfire Gathering:	People gathered around the flickering light of fires.
Oral Tradition:	Storytellers shared tales out loud, and children listened carefully to every word to learn.
Ancient writings	carved into clay tablets and buried in the ruins of deserted cities.
Combining Pictures for Meaning:	Cave people realized they needed to write down stories for others to read. They combined simple pictures to mean whole ideas—for example, drawing a picture of a mouth next to a picture of a bowl meant eating.
Sound Pictures:	Egyptian writers created sound pictures called hieroglyphics (for example, using a picture of an eagle to mean the sound A).
Paper Invention:	The Egyptians discovered how to make paper from a plant called papyrus, which grew along the banks of the Nile River.
Chinese Alphabet:	The Chinese people created their own system of writing with more than 5,000 Chinese characters.
Made for Trade:	They needed a simple, easy-to-write alphabet so they could quickly keep records of their trade and business.
Different Writing Styles:	People all over the world write in different ways.
Arabic Alphabet:	The Arabic people created their own alphabet to write their language.
24-Letter Alphabet:	The people of Greece made an alphabet with 24 letters.
Left-to-Right Writing:	They were the very first people to write from left to right!
No Spaces:	They did not put spaces between their words when writing.
Borrowed Letters:	The Romans borrowed letters from the Greeks and added curves to make them look more beautiful.
Our Modern Alphabet:	The alphabet we write with today came directly from the Roman alphabet!
Small Letters:	To write faster, scribes developed small letters (lowercase letters) called minuscules, which were created by the Irish.
Sentences:	For the very first time, sentences started with a capital letter and ended with small letters!

Created by: user-2047843

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