Decoding Mayan Hieroglyphs
Grade 5th Grade · Social Studies · 45 min
What's Included
Learning Objective
I can interpret the meaning of a Mayan hieroglyphic symbol and explain its significance in Mayan culture.
Warm-Up Video
NativLang · 5:31
What's hiding inside Maya glyphs - History of Writing Systems #6 (Syllabary)
Guided Notes
3 key concepts
- 1
The Maya glyph for "mountain" is witz, which is spelled using two sound symbols.
- 2
The Maya glyph for "cocoa" is kakaw, and it uses a syllable multiplier, also known as an iteration mark.
- 3
To deal with consonants at the end of words, the Mayan syllabary uses either underspelling, or an echo vowel, such as writing "balam" as ba-la-ma.
Practice Questions
10 questions · Multiple choice & Short answer
Exit Ticket
Quick comprehension check
“The Mayan word for mountain is "witz". According to the video, how would a Mayan scribe write "witz" using hieroglyphs?”
Complete Lesson Package
Get all 3 ready-to-use resources:
