UNIT TITLE: Medieval Madness

Author: Gayle Carlson
E-Mail Address: gcarlson@enc.k12.il.us

School: Kerkstra Middle School, Oak Forest, IL
THEME: The Middle Ages

BROAD CONCEPT: Acceptance (Diversity)

GRADES: Middle School – Grades 6 and 7

INTEGRATED SUBJECTS: Social Studies, Science, Math, Language Arts, Art, and Technology

UNIT GOALS AND PURPOSE:  Through our study of the Middle Ages, students will learn about the people and circumstances of Medieval Times.  They will study different types of people, from serfs to kings, and, hopefully, develop an understanding of the feudalism and the class system, and also of how inequitable life was for many people in those days.  Students will learn about money and medicine during the Middle Ages as well as about fairy and folk tales from those times and how they have been told down through the times.  Students will share their cooperative studies of different people of the times with the class, and they will also share original fairy and folk tales with others in the building.  Our culminating activity, a Medieval Faire, will give all students an opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of all things Medieval.

TIME FRAME:  Approximately three weeks.
                                                                                               

OBJECTIVES:                                                        

In this lesson, students will:

 

MATERIALS:

 

X         Desktop Publishing (Print Artist)

X         Word Processing (MS Word)

X         Brainstorming (Inspiration)

X         Multimedia (Power Point)

X         Software (Strategy Games Around the World, Edmark.

            The Middle Ages, Queue; Castles: Siege and Conquest,        

            MacPlay).

X         CD-ROM encyclopedia (World Book, Encarta)

STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:

o       Language Arts State Goal 1.B.3a:  Identify text structure and create a visual representation (e.g., graphic organizer, outline, drawing) to use while reading.

o       Language Arts State Goal 2.B.1b: Identify common themes in literature from a variety of eras.

o       Language Arts State Goal 3.C.3b: Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences.

o       Language Arts State Goal 4.B.3a: Deliver planned oral presentations, using language and vocabulary appropriate to the purpose, message and audience; provide details and supporting information that clarity main ideas.

o       Language Arts State Goal 5.C.3b: Prepare and orally present original work supported by research.

o       Math State Goal 10: Collect, organize and analyze data using statistical methods; predict results; and interpret uncertainty, using concepts of probability.

o       Science State Goal 12B: Know and apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment.

o       Social Science State Goal 15A: Understand how different economic systems operate in the exchange, production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

o       Social Science State Goal 16.B.3c (W): Identify causes and effects of European feudalism and the emergence of nation states between 500 CD and 1500 CE.

o       Social Science State Goal 18.C.3b: Explain how social institutions contribute to the development and transmission of culture.

o       Fine Arts State Goal 26.B.3d: Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create 2- and 3-dimensional works and time arts that are realistic, abstract, functional and decorative.

                                 

STUDENT ACTIVITIES WHICH WILL PROMOTE ENGAGED LEARNING:

LESSON ONE: Students will watch a teacher-created Power Point Introduction to the Middle Ages.   Different classes of people will be introduced as well as vocabulary terms that are likely to be unfamiliar to students such as feudalism, manor, etc.  Students will receive a vocabulary sheet from which to work as they encounter these words.  We will create a KWL chart as a class that will be posted in the room and added to as information becomes available. (This will likely take several days,)

LESSON TWO:  Based on the Power Point Presentation, groups of three students will choose a person of the Middle Ages to research.  Using the Internet and various CD Rom encyclopedias, they will research and write a report, in the first person, telling us their person’s name, title (i.e., monk, lady, King, knight, etc.), clothing, housing, what happens in a typical day, and anything that may be special about their particular person.  This will be an ongoing project, to be worked on as a group whenever class time permits.  As they find research on their person, students will create an Inspirations graphic organizer containing those topics listed above.

LESSON THREE:    Once groups of students have completed their research on their particular person, they will create a book cover with Print Artist.  They can also illustrate their books with illustrations of clothing, housing, etc. from the Middle Ages.

LESSON FOUR:      Students will discuss medieval medicine and how it was occasionally a precursor to today’s remedies.  They will also discuss some of the herbal remedies used and, using a Venn diagram, compare and contrast herbal medicines of today and from the Middle Ages.  Students can check, with parental permission and supervision, at home on the packaging of medicines from their home medicine cabinets to see if any medieval herbs are used in today’s medicines.

LESSON FIVE:        After a discussion on the history of money, both paper and metal, students will create their own medieval money.  Circles cut from gold and silver paper should have the face of a medieval person drawn on them.  Students will decide what symbols and pictures should go on their circle, as well as deciding in which year their coin was minted.  Finally, students can determine how much their money is worth: what would it buy in the Middle Ages?

LESSON SIX:         Following a discussion on the main form of money in England during the 1300’s and 1400’s, the pound and the denari, students will complete a chart comparing American money today with medieval money.  For example, the average American income today is _______.  This would equal how many pounds and denari?   Also, the best carpenters in England in the 1200’s made about 3 denari a day.  In today’s money, that equals _____.

LESSON SEVEN:    Using books or the Internet, students will investigate the importance of coats of arms, symbolism and what it meant, and will create their own family coat of arms.  Using drawing paper and crayons, markers, or colored pencils, students will draw their own coats of arms and explain to the class why certain symbols were chosen.

LESSON EIGHT:     Students will divide into their cooperative groups to discuss building their own castles.  Based on their research, students will bring in household items and will construct, paint, put together and label the various parts of their castles.  Groups will take turns showcasing their castles to the rest of the class with an explanation of why each part of the castle was necessary.  In addition, students will discuss who did what job in the castle, further emphasizing the inequality of people during the Middle Ages. Castles will then be displayed in the commons area or cafeteria for all students to see.  (This activity will take more than one day.)

LESSON NINE:       Students will discuss fantasy and folk literature, including fairy tales, ballads, nursery rhymes, and fables.  While sharing their prior knowledge of these types of literature, the class will put together a list of items commonly found in this type of literature.  For example, good vs evil, things happening in threes, and happy endings are all commonly found in this genre of literature.  Students will read several fairy tales, fables, legends, and ballads.  They will then write one of their own.  Students can share their stories with the rest of the class.

LESSON TEN:         Students will discuss crafts of the Middle Ages, i.e., tapestries and candle-making, and add research learned regarding these crafts to their books of people of the Middle Ages created in Lessons 2 and 3.

LESSON ELEVEN:  Students will discuss foods common to the people of the Middle Ages along with the reasons for a fair and who was invited to attend those feasts.  Students will use their math skills to decide how much food would be necessary for the number of people attending the fair.                

SHARE YOUR IDEAS:

There will be two major opportunities for formal grades during this thematic unit.

I.          The culminating project for this unit on the Middle Ages will be a student-run Medieval Faire.  Students will, using the skills they have acquired during this unit, work in groups to assemble booths reflecting the various areas of the Middle Ages they have studied.  There will be a healing booth where herbal remedies will be offered, various crafts booths where different crafts common to the Middle Ages will be displayed, and food booths offering the different foods of the times.  There will be an area for students to play games such as jousting and quintain.  Students will use the coins they have created to buy and sell their wares.  Anything else the students have learned in the course of their research can also be used, such as games common to the times or wandering minstrels or clothing and head gear of the Middle Ages. 

For the Medieval Faire, I will be grading students on a more casual basis based on my observations during the fair.  Since students will be working in groups, I will look at the following:

Cooperation and teamwork (how well students work together and participate equally in a group).

Knowledge of each student’s particular area of concentration at the fair.

Quality of work (was careful preparation involved?)

Creativity (They will pretty much have free rein on their booths – what did they do to make them unique and attractive?)

Effort (Was this thrown together at the last minute, or does this project show time and thought?)

 

II.                   In addition, students will receive a more formal grade on the booklets prepared about their particular person of the Middle Ages.  The rubric used appears below:

 

Booklet Rubric                                                                       Point Value

Content – name of character, housing, food, day in the life, any extras

20 points

Mechanics – spelling, grammar, etc.

10 points

Cover Design - creativity

10 points

Neatness – shows some care

10 points

 

 

 
           

STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES:  The teacher will act as facilitator and guide for this unit, guiding students to do their own research and discover information for themselves.  Also, she will act as co-learner as students discover new aspects of the Middle Ages.

Students will act collaboratively as explorers as they acquire information regarding the Middle Ages.  They will serve as teachers within their cooperative groups as they share their findings with other students, especially during the Medieval Faire at the end of the unit.  Finally, they will serve as producers as they share food, games, and have fun during our Medieval Faire.

 

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE PRINT RESOURCES STUDENTS MAY USE :

Encyclopedias:  World Book, Britannica, Compton’s, etc.

 

THE FOLLOWING BOOKS CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TOPIC:

Tales from Grimm and More Tales from Grimm, Published by Gag, Wanda, Cowand, McCann, 1936, 1947.

The Violet Fairy Tale Book by Andrew Lang

Knights of the Round Table by Gwen Ross

Saint George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges

Cathedral: The Story of its Construction by David Macaulay

Castles by David Macaulay

Eyewitness Books: Castle by Christopher Gravett

Knights by Rachel Wright

Looking in to the Middle Ages by Huck Scarry

Life in a Medieval Village by Gwyneth Morgan

Fourteenth-Century Towns by John D. Clare

Knight by Christopher Gravett

 

 

                       

 

FOR ADDITIONAL ONLINE INFORMATION AND MEDIA PERTAINING TO THIS UNIT, TEACHERS MAY WANT TO USE THE FOLLOWING INTERNET ARTICLES:  (minimum 6 sites)

Title1:    Middle Ages

URL1:

www.esc20.net/etprojects/formats/webquests/summer99/

northside/middleages

Description1: A six-week web quest designed to study the Middle Ages.  Students work as cooperative groups and use the World Wide Web as a research tool and project production tool.  Strategies such as creating a glossary in book form of words from the Middle Ages and writing tales of knights and storytellers are only some of the suggested ideas.  This site has a student page as well that comes with student worksheets.

Title2: Medieval Clip Art

URL2: historymedren.about.com/homework/historymedren/library/weekly/aa061898.htm

Description2:  A wealth of medieval clip art – all of it free, with instructions on how to download it for both Macs and PCs. (The Clip Art for this project was retrieved from this site.)
 

Title3: The Middle Ages: Twelve Activities take Students Back in Time

URL3: www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson156.shtml

Description3: A unit on the Middle Ages based on Marguerite de Angeli’s Door in the Wall.  Lots of great ideas for the kids.  For example, as a science activity, students can actually make paper and then dye it.
 

 
Title4: Medieval Manuscript Lesson Plans

URL4: www.utah.edu/umfa/contents/html

Description4: A great introduction to the Middle Ages with lots of practical information.  This site includes several sections including various religions of the Middle Ages and Feudalism.


Title5: Europe in the Middle Ages

URL5: www.coreknowledge.org/ckproto2/resrcs/lessons/498EuropeMidAges.htm

Description5: Eight lesson plans on Europe during the Middle Ages.  This site contains lots of social studies and reading skills activities.  Good for the lower level kids (actually aimed at 4th and 5th graders, but certainly usable in the middle school).  Includes activities on cause/effect, sequencing, mapping, etc.
 

Title6: Journey to the Middle Ages

URL6: www.unr.edu/unr/colleges/edu/tlcf/tlcf/gentryj.htm

Description6:  Students work in cooperative groups to research life in the Middle Ages.  Projects on feudalism, the Crusades and knights, daily life.

 

Title7: Mr. Donn’s World History

URL7: members.aol.com/Mr.DonnHistory/world.html#MIDDLE

Description7: A web quest about the Black Plague called Avoid it Like the Plague.  Lots of interesting facts – especially since this age group likes this kind of thing (the Plague).  Good site for teachers to get background information.

 

Title8: Journey to the Middle Ages

URL8: www.unr.edu/unr/colleges/edu/tlcf/tlcf/gentryj.htm

Description8:  Lesson plans centered by Winthrop’s Castle in the Attic and Gibbons’ Knights in Shining Armor.  Lots of vocabulary.  Plans include having students construct castles using regular household items.

 

 

 

 

 

RELEVANT INFORMATION, STUDENTS WILL VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEB SITES: (minimum 6 sites)

Title1: A Journey Through the Middle Ages

URL1: www.advanced.org/tq-junior

Purpose of Use1: Use during construction of I-Search books regarding a person of the Middle Ages

Description1: Contain information about the topics of feudalism, jobs and trades, homes, weapons, knights, food, education, holidays and recreation.
 
 

Title2: Life in the Middle Ages

URL2: www.kyrene.k12.az.us/schools/brisas/sunda/ma/mahome.htm

Purpose of Use2: Use during construction of I-Search books regarding a person of the Middle Ages

Description2: Links to several sites regarding people of the Middle Ages, such as knights, monks and nuns, etc.
 
 

Title3: Alchemy: It’s Not Just for the Middle Ages Anymore

URL3: www.levity.com/alchemy/alchemy-middle.html

Purpose of Use3: Use for research during science project on alchemy.

Description3: A very detailed history of alchemy
 
 
 

Title4: Kids

URL4: www.castles.org/kids/index.htm

Purpose of Use4: For research during I-Search books and castle-building project.

Description4: Terrific color pictures of clothing from the Middle Ages as well as pictures of castles.
 
 
 

Title5: Health

URL5: www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/herbfdn1.html

Purpose of Use5: Use for research as to common household plants to be used in experiments in creating medicine similar to that of the Middle Ages.

Description5:  Great information on herbs used for cures during the Middle Ages.
 
 
 

Title6: Fairy Tales

URL6: www.e-znet.com/kids/FairyTaleLinks.html

Purpose of Use6:  Students can examine this site for examples of tales, legends, fables, etc.  It is good for getting ideas for writing their own tales.

Description6: This site contains links to several other sites with all different types of tales – traditional fairy tales, legends, fables, and fractured tales