Oklahoma Social Studies AWH.C.4.2
The Standard
Identify the Phoenicians as the successors to the Minoans in dominating maritime trade in the Mediterranean and describe the value of the Phoenician writing system as ancestor of the Latin alphabet.
Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies (2026)
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students locate Crete and the Phoenician coast on a Mediterranean map. They explain that Phoenician traders became prominent after the Minoans. They trace Phoenician letters through Greek and Etruscan writing to Latin.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can put Minoan and Phoenician sea trade in order and identify where each group lived. They can explain how Greek writers adapted Phoenician letters, including adding vowels, before those letters reached Latin.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think the Phoenicians were Minoans under a new name. They may also think Phoenician writing was identical to Latin or that the Minoans used the Phoenician alphabet.
How to Assess It
- On a blank Mediterranean map, mark Crete and Tyre. Then write who led sea trade first and how Phoenician writing connects to Latin letters.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have students use yarn on a Mediterranean map to connect Crete, Tyre, and Carthage, then label Minoan and Phoenician trade eras.
Ask students to write two sentences answering: How could written cargo lists help merchants trading between Tyre and Carthage?
Have pairs sort Minoan and Phoenician ship cards by trade era, then sort Phoenician, Greek, Etruscan, and Latin letter cards by influence.
Project Phoenician aleph, Greek alpha, and Latin A beside a phone keyboard; ask students to mark changes across the three shapes.
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