Fifth Graders Bring Ancient Writing to Life with Clay Tablet Project

In fifth-grade history, students aren’t just learning about ancient civilizations—they’re stepping directly into them. This week, students traded laptops for lumps of clay as they created their own Sumerian-inspired tablets, echoing the practices of one of the world’s earliest writing cultures.

“The Sumerians used styluses to write on clay tablets to record information," said Sutton S. ‘29  shared. “They didn’t have high-tech things back then.”

Students also explored early symbol systems, learning that some ancient alphabets contained 25 characters instead of modern English’s 26-character alphabet. Armed with this background knowledge and a stylus, students carved messages into their tablets. 

Students were encouraged to choose any message—whether meaningful, humorous, or motivational—as long as it reflected their voice.

The clay tablet project blends creativity with history, allowing students not only to study ancient cultures, but to experience a piece of them firsthand—messy hands and all.