Format
1. The presentation begins with the peasant welcoming the group to his home and telling them about himself.
2. Students are invited to ask any questions they would like to ask, and the peasant shapes his answers to ensure that the major facets of life in medieval times get covered, and the large supply of medieval artifacts are used to help explain.
3. If desired by the teacher, the peasant will teach the students a traditional dance, and will then play live music for them while they dance.
4. The remaining time is for final questions.
Objectives
The participant will:
-interview a character from the past
-investigate daily life in the middle ages
-participate in a traditional dance
-observe the technology used in medieval times
Standards Alignment
National Standards
National
NSS-USH.K-4.4 THE HISTORY OF PEOPLES OF MANY CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD
* Understands selected attributes and historical developments of societies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe
NSS-WH.5-12.5 ERA 5: INTENSIFIED HEMISPHERIC INTERACTIONS, 1000-1500 CE
The student in grades 5-12 should understand
* the redefining of European society and culture, 1000-1300 CE.
* patterns of crisis and recovery in Afro-Eurasia, 1300-1450.
* major global trends from 1000-1500 CE.
Canada - Ontario
Medieval Times - Overview
Students discover the major features of daily life in medieval European societies. Students
investigate the major events and influences of the era and determine how they shaped medieval
society. Students apply their understandings to compare communities in medieval times with their own communities today.
Overall Expectations
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
• identify and describe major features of daily life and social organization in medieval
European societies from about 500 to 1500 C.E. (Common Era);
• relate significant elements of medieval societies to comparable aspects of contemporary
Canadian communities.
Specific Expectations
Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
– describe the hierarchical structure of
medieval society and the types of people in it (e.g., peasants, officials, scholars, clergy,
merchants, artisans, royalty, nobles), and explain how and why different groups cooperated or came into conflict at different times (e.g., to promote trade, to wage war, to introduce the Magna Carta);
– describe aspects of daily life for men, women, and children in medieval societies (e.g., food, housing, clothing, health, religion, recreation, festivals, crafts, justice, roles);
– describe some of the ways in which religions shaped medieval society (e.g., Catholicism, Judaism, Islam; events and practices: pilgrimages, tithing, confession, festivals; occupations: clergy, caliph, nuns, monks; buildings: cathedrals, mosques, monasteries, temples, synagogues; influences on the arts; the building of libraries);
– describe medieval agricultural methods
and innovations (e.g., common pasture,
three-field rotation, fertilizers, the padded
horse collar, the wheeled plough, mills), and explain why the innovations were important;
– outline important ways in which medieval
society changed over time (e.g., growth of
towns, specialization of labour, changes in
transportation methods, changes to law and justice), and give reasons for the changes.
– compare aspects of life in a medieval
community and their own community (e.g., with respect to housing, social structure, recreation, land use, geography, climate, food, dress, government