Finding Our Voice

Though many animals use sound or movement to communicate with one another, written communication is a uniquely human invention. Dating back thousands of years, the earliest examples of written language allowed humans to track purchases and sales, pass down stories, and share information with far-away communities. Written language is also one of the earliest focuses of formal schooling around the world, though children often learn to speak or communicate through hand gestures beforehand. In the following activities, students will learn the history of written languages, experiment with different forms of written communication, and learn how written communication began a long history of expanding information outwards so that it may reach as many people as possible.