The document discusses building noun groups to improve historical writing. It provides an example noun group that describes houses of ancient Egyptians in more detail than just "mud brick houses". The noun group includes descriptive adjectives and clauses about the mud-brick houses, including that they were hand made, from the Nile River mud, and had smaller rooms. Students are encouraged to practice building their own extended noun groups.

1. Building Our Noun Groups
In History, it is important to use proper historical terminology to describe information about the past.
When we use historical terms correctly, our writing is improved and we can also receive higher marks on
our assessments.
Find the sheet on housing in Ancient Egypt. Read through the information and look at the pictures. Now,
try to answer the questions “What sort of houses did people in Egypt live in?”
Some people may answer “They lived in houses made of mud bricks”, which is correct, but it does not go
into a lot of detail. By using more nouns, we are able to extend our writing and make it more technical.
Below is an example of how to extend our writing using extended nouns.
Describes Describes the
where or what people or
(at, from, with, things (who,
in , up, next) which or that)
The Noun Group
Quantity Opinion Factual Classifying NOUN Adjectival Adjectival
phrase clause
Poor using mud
ancient a simple hand made mud-brick HOUSE from the Nile
Egyptians River
lived in
Rich with that were
ancient a larger mud-brick HOUSE smaller filled with
Egyptians rooms expensive
lived in furniture
Now have a go at building your own noun group.
The Noun Group
Quantity Opinion Factual Classifying NOUN Adjectival Adjectival
phrase clause