Author: Ann Cooley  Based on lesson by: ann cooley  Date Created: 2/16/2006 12:01:00 PM PDT   medieval castle & defense VITAL INFORMATION Subject(s): History, Middle Ages Topic or Unit of Study: Castles and Cathedrals Grade/Level: 10 Objective: The purpose of this project is to enable students to answer two big questions: For those researching castles, what were the military strategies of castles, both defensive and offensive and how do they compare and contrast to your homes today? And two, for those researching cathedrals, how do you explain the rise of cathedrals named Notre Dame in the Late Middle Ages? Summary:   IMPLEMENTATION Learning Context: The larger unit is 14 lessons on medieval life in Europe. The students will be working on understanding the Middle Ages from multiple POVs, including preceeding units on feudalism, the Three Estates, & chilvary. This activity is to allow students choice in their explora-tions of either castles or cathedrals. The class will be divided into 8 groups of 3. Four groups will work on castles; four on cathedrals. All students working on castles & cathedrals will be answering the enduring knowledge question posed earlier. Additionally, they will individually research 3 topics, of their choosing, on aspects of medieval life. The groups will then work in Jigsaws, exchanging information, then class presentations. Bringing the past into the present begins by exploring how students & their parents engage in defensive measures in their own homes. Locks, security systems, dogs, and in some cases guns are all used to keep out unwanted intruders. How did medieval architects and engineers plan to keep out attacking armies? Besides moats and arrow loops, what else did they do? How would you design the perfect castle? Exploring cathedrals in order to understanding the medieval world view is the purpose of studying cathedrals. So, they will work on a mystery - who is Notre Dame - they will pursue three additional topics about castles. This would include architecture, the saints, stained glass windows, etc. Each student is expected to find their "own area of expertise." What will follow will be more explorations in to the music, art, and entertainment of people in the Middle Ages. This time frame ranges from 400-1300, which helps explain why our class will spend two weeks on the Middle Ages Procedure: The students will use interactive web sites to explore castles and cathedrals in the Middle Ages. The beginning site is greewichschools.org. The assignment, for both groups, will be in the form of a scavenger hunt. Those working on castes, have some sub-questions to answer. What are knights? What is the stratification of medieval society? Who were the Vikings and how viscious were they? What defensive and offensive features of castle building were needed to thwart the Vikings? What weapons were available at this time? How was a banquet arranged and planned? What food was served and what entertainment could one expect at a medieval banquet? Lastly, what did they know about health, herbs, and disease? The students will be using this original web site for research, but each group must use score.rims.k12.ca.us/activity/castle_builder to build the perfect castle. Floor plan, defensive & offensive strategies, and the village surrounding must be mapped out using the computer program. Cathedrals must, using the same web site, be built utilizing as many of the architectural features of Gothic or Romanesque Cathedrals as possible. Their research project will include explaining the differences between Gothic & Romanesque cathedrals. Additionally, they will have six questions to explore: What was life like in a monastery for an abbess and the nuns, monks and bishops? What are the religious orders, when did they come about, and who was St. Benedict? What happened in a scriptorium and why? tell me about either the Book of Hours or the Book of Kells and how do they pertain to cathedrals. What was a guild, and did have any modern day parallels? Lastly, all groups are expected to locate an Internet site for medieval music. Castle groups must look for chivalric music, pertaining to a banquet and cathedral groups must look for Gregorian chants. They must be able to locate these sites to play in class. Differentiated Instruction: Groups must be arranged strategically. Students with special needs will be divided up into groups and they will have the same projects but with lower expectations. Sample Student Products:   Collaboration: Students will work collaboratively & individually. Students will work in groups of 3. Time Allotment: 2 class periods. 55 Min. per class. Author's Comments & Reflections: This activity will come around class 7. Preparing for the unit on the Middle Ages, the students will have discussed the fall of the Roman Empire. They will know who the Vikings are because of a class period devoted to the migration tribes in Europe - Ostragoths, Celts, Saxons, etc. The book-of-the-month club will be on Pope Joan, a fictional account of her rise and the concealment of her sex. They also will have learned about feudalism. In preparation for their 2-3 day assignment, they will have seen two videos, Castle and Cathedral with accompanying work sheets. After their research and presentations on castles and cathedrals, the Middle Ages will come to an end with Hildegard of Bingen's music by the Anonoymous Four, while working on readings of her poetry, and lyrics. We will also explore the Church, saints, relics, sacraments, pilgrimages, and some larger questions about heresy and witches. We will segue into the Renaissance by examining some big questions: How do you define modern? How is art changing (perspective)? How does world exploration threaten the Bible and the Church (the Bible doesn't mention other worlds)? What is the role of science in the Renaissance (empiricism)? MATERIALS AND RESOURCES Instructional Materials: The instructional materials for this 2-week project include two videos, one CD of Hildegard of Bingen, and many primary sources to be handed out daily in preparation for the following class. They will be examining art from the Middle Ages in a slide show, exploring style, anti-semitism, and propaganda. Their textbook will be used to set up the unit, but it is a secondary source. There will be one art project using stamps, paint, paper, and zeroxes replicating a page from a medieval manuscript. Resources: The number of computers required is 5. Technology resources: Dreamweaver, Inspiration, PowerPoint, Word Materials and resources: Textbooks, primary sources, videos, slides, Internet-research, library resources. STANDARDS & ASSESSMENT Standards: AZ- Arizona Academics Standards • Subject : Social Studies (OLD) • Standard 1: History Students analyze the human experience through time, recognize the relationships of events and people, and interpret significant patterns, themes, ideas, beliefs, and turning points in Arizona, American, and world history. • Grade Range : PROFICIENCY (Grades 9-12) • Key Idea/Concept 1SS-P2: Demonstrate knowledge of research sources and apply appropriate research methods, including framing open-ended questions, gathering pertinent information, and evaluating the evidence and point of view contained within primary and secondary sources.  Performance Objective PO 1: Identify community resources that preserve historical information--such as libraries, museums, historical societies, a courthouse, the world wide web, family records, elders--and explain how to access this knowledge • Key Idea/Concept 1SS-P4(1SS-E13): Describe the political and economic events and the social and geographic characteristics of Medieval European life and their enduring impacts on later civilizations, with emphasis on:  Performance Objective PO 3: the role of the Roman Catholic church and its monasteries, including the affect oneducation and the arts Assessment/Rubrics: Rubrics: Book Review  evaluation of papers  map skills