Rebus 1 | Rebus 2 | Rebus 3 | Rebus 4

Imagine that you had to write a story or a letter to someone who does not speak or read your language. What could you do? Draw pictures.

To communicate thousands of years ago, many people used pictures instead of written words. Cave dwellers drew pictures on walls of caves. Native Americans painted stories on animal skins, and even wove pictures into belts of shells called wampum.

Part I - A rebus is a form of picture writing. In a rebus, words and letters are used with a series of pictures or symbols whose names sound like syllables or words. We "read" the pictures. Test your skills at picture reading with the rebus below.

That's Some Invention!

What makes copies and comes in an Silly Putty ®. Silly Putty has been a toy for over 50 However its inventor was hoping to a for for the government not a toy

During War II the   government needed to make things like and for soldiers The government asked companies to try to make from silicon Silicon can refined from so it wasn't hard to get Making the was another story

An engineer at General in 1943 named James Wright mixed silicon oil with an acid to try to make What he got was a gooey substance that Unfortunately engineers could not find any uses for it

That's when Peter Hodgson in In 1949 Hodgson decided to put the goo in a plastic and sell it He named it Silly Putty It first sold as a toy for and later became with

While Wrights invention did not help with the war effort it has been put to use Besides a toy that makes imprints of Silly Putty is used by athletes to strengthen in their   on Apollo 8 used it to keep from around when they were in And it's even been used to take fingerprints and of gorillas Not bad for goo

Did you notice something missing? There isn't any punctuation in the story. Early picture writing did not use any periods, commas, quotation marks, or other punctuation. Reread the rebus and add the appropriate punctuation. Did it make it easier to read?

Part II - Now it's your turn! Write a rebus about one of these topics, or make up one of your own. Be sure to use punctuation marks to make your story easier to read.

• A Toy
• Your Favorite Song
• Your Favorite Book
• Three Things YOu Could Not Live Without