Turrets and Treachery

Social Studies Online

TEACHER Faye Elliot and Connie Sherlock

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Select and adapt these learning activities to best meet the needs of your students, and to fit the time available:

Starter Activities

1. Rules and Laws in our Lives
   Why do we have rules? How can we make sure everyone follows the rules? What is the difference between rules and laws?

2. Rally Drive
   Use this activity to introduce important ideas in the Learning Outcomes. Either give pupils one question per pair, or ask them to do a series of "rally laps" to explore the questions. For example Lap 1: What is a rule? And so forth. See questions below:

   What is a rule? What are some rules we have

   • at school?
   • in the classroom?
   • on the sports field?
   • amongst our peers?

   Who makes these rules? What happens when people break rules? What would happen if there were no rules?

   What is a law? What are some laws? Who makes laws? What happens when people break laws? This Web site will help: How Laws are Made

3. Star Diagrams
   Following a class discussion students (in pairs) complete two Star Diagrams:
   1. Why people make rules
   2. Why people make laws

   Once you have established an understanding about the part rules play in society today, ask how people in the past, (in particular in Medieval Europe) used to manage to keep order. Did they have rules and what were they?

The Middle Ages

Useful sites about the feudal system:
These sites are recommended for teachers to use as background and as resources for students. Much of the material on these sites is valuable for use with students, but please read the material carefully and select where necessary to suit your own and your students' needs.

The Structure of Medieval Europe
Feudal Life

4. Discussion
   When we think of the Middle Ages what comes to mind first? Usually we think of castles, sieges, knights and maybe the Black Death. What conditions did they live in? What kind of problems did they encounter? What rules would they need? Did they have laws? Who made them?

   Place pictures and resources around the classroom to portray life in the Middle Ages.

   Links:
   What was it like?
   Map of Late Medieval Europe

5. Timeline
   Following a discussion in class, draw up a time line on a chart showing some important events that happened in the past and where the Middle Ages fits in to our history.

   Ask the class to add some of their own ideas to your list of important events that could include:

   • Viking Era
   • Birth of Christ
   • People first came to New Zealand
   • America discovered by Europeans
   • First World War
   • Roman Empire
   • Gutenberg's printing press
   • Queen Victoria's reign
   • World War II
   • The Black Death
   • The Computer Age
   • Motorcar invented

   Use these sites for background information:
   The Middle Ages

Meet the People of the Feudal System

New Zealand is a democratic country run by a Parliament that makes laws for the people to follow. In Medieval Europe a feudal system was established and rules and laws were needed too.

6. Profile
   Children focus on a particular group in feudal society and how and why rules and laws were made and enforced.
   • The King
   • Barons
   • Church
   • Knights
   • Peasants

   See Medieval Profile and Profile Format.

   Useful Sites:

   • The Structure of Medieval Europe
     
   • Feudal Life
     
   • The Feudal System

   Students can find out more about some of the famous people of the Middle Ages by taking the BBC Education Walk Through Time.

7. Action Stations
   Set up stations around the classroom. Students complete the activities. This allows your class to gain an overall picture of life in the Middle Ages and the rules and laws the people of this time encountered.
   • Station 1: Life in the country
   • Station 2: Town Life and Guilds
   • Station 3: Castle Life
   • Station 4: Knights in Shining Armour
   • Station 5: Medieval Arts and Leisure
   • Station 6: Health
   • Station 7: Women in the Middle Ages
   • Station 8: The Church
   • Station 9: Crime and Punishment

8. Mubbles
   Once students have visited the stations, they choose four people or groups they have studied and write mubbles.

   Social Studies Assessment Activity
   Social Studies Assessment Schedule

9. Transactional Writing
   English Assessment Activity
   English Assessment Schedule

10. Illumination
    Choose a poem you like and practise saying it aloud. As part of this activity, children can follow instructions to present a piece of writing with an illuminated letter (write it out using special lettering). Why was the writing like this?

    Links:
    Illuminated Manuscripts
    Pied Piper of Hamelin

11. The Arts
    Weaving

12. Banners
    In the Middle Ages, knights and royalty displayed symbols on the shields they carried into battle and displayed around the castle. Banners, shields and crests revealed the characteristics of the person or family.
    

    Medieval Flags and Banners
    Heraldica

    In small groups discuss how medieval people used personal and family banners and shields to express their identity and status in society. Observe and make sketches of a medieval banner. Paint or appliquè a banner or shield which uses selected objects and images to communicate ideas about your group.

13. Gargoyles
    Find out about gargoyles at Gargoyles Then and Now and write a Fascinating Fact Box. Include a sketch and five facts about gargoyles. Discuss their purposes and how they were used. On the basis of this knowledge, develop a design for a gargoyle. Make the gargoyle using clay or salt dough, and appropriate contruction methods.

14. A Medieval Day
    Complete the unit with a Medieval Day of celebration. See this newsletter example.

    These activities could be included in this special day:

    • Games of skill and chance (probability)
    • Chess
    • Dice and card games
    • Petanque
    • Presentation of research to an audience
    • Role plays
    • Puppet plays
    • Diary writing: "A day in the life of ..."
    • 20 questions Who am I?

RESOURCES

Print

• Aliki, (1983) A Medieval Feast. Thomas Y Crowell, New York
• Anno, M (1979) Anno's Medieval World. Philomel Books, New York
• Bergin, M. (1999) Castle. Macdonald Young Books, East Sussex
• Clare, J (1992) I Was There Medieval Towns. Random House, UK
• Clare, J (1991) I Was There Knights and Castles. The Bodley Head, London
• Dargie, Richard. (1998) Knights and Castles. Wayland Publishers Ltd, East Sussex
• Dargie, R (1998) Castle under siege. Wayland, East Sussex
• Dawson, T (1997) Clothes and Crafts in the Middle Ages. Zoe Books, Hampshire
• Gravetti, Christopher. (1996) The world of the Medieval Knight. Macdonald Young Books, East Sussex
• Gravett, Christopher. (1996) The Knight's handbook. Cobblehill Books, New York
• Gravett, Christopher. (1993) Eyewitness Guides: Knights. Dorling Kindersley London
• Hart, Avery. (1998) Knights and Castles. Williamson Publishing Canada
• Hicks, Peter. (1998) How Castles were built. Wayland Publishers Ltd, East Sussex
• Howarth, Sarah. (1993) Medieval Places. Simon & Schuster Young Books, UK
• Howarth, Sarah. (1991) Medieval People. The Millbrook Press, Connecticut
• Kerr, Daisy. (1996) Medieval town. Franklin Watts, London
• Lasker, Joe. (1976) Merry Ever After. The Viking Press, New York
• Macauley, David. (1977) Castle. Collins, London
• Macdonald, Fiona. (1995) How would you survive in the Middle Ages? Franklin Watts, New York
• Macdonald, Fiona. (1994) A Medieval Castle. Peter Bedrick Books, New York
• Page, Jason. (1999) Ziggy's pocket Fun Book Castles and Dungeons Ticktock Publishing Ltd, Kent
• Reid, S (1998) Castle Life. Wayland, East Sussex
• Ross, Stewart. (1996) Knights. Aladdin Books/Watts Books, London
• Steele, Phillip. (1995) The best ever book of Castles. Kingfisher, London
• Wright, Rachel. (1991) Craft Topics: Knights. Franklin Watts, UK

Electronic

• Medieval Technology Pages
  
  
• Teacher's reference - activities and ideas.

• Thinkquest
  A collaborative effort between students and teachers from Salford Hills Elementary School in Harleysville, PA. It has a game and lots of information.

• Castles
  Tells the story of King Edward Reading activity for all children, lots of pictures and easy text. Works best if you're on-line.