Process
You will journey through the three stages of this WebQuest in the coming weeks. Be prepared to work hard individually and with your teammates. Use your skills of comprehension, analysis, synthesis and creativity to learn about European society during the Middle Ages while comparing it to our society today.
Stage 1: Reading & Research
Reading: Start reading K.M. Grant’s Blood Red Horse. Your teacher will provide weekly study guides downloadable from Moodle. We will be using the forum tool and your blogs to have virtual discussions about the book.
Mind Map Creation for Research Note Taking: Each team member creates a Mindmeister mind map using the title “8hums-yourname-Medieval”. Your teacher will demonstrate how to add "nodes" to your mind map for each category of questions listed below where you will add the questions and then use the "note" tool to record your research.
Lessons: As you do your research at times in the classrooms and in the library, your teacher also be using class time to present lessons to supplement the reading from your textbook. The following are some of the lessons to be provided.
Class and Connection in Society> Before you start your research, your teacher will provide a lesson introducing many of the roles and classes of people living in various societies of Europe in the Middle Ages.
The Fall of the Roman Empire> This lesson will review the lessons learned from this previous unit of study. The class will discuss how life changed from a big picture view and from the perspective of the individual once the Romans and their institutions were no longer in place.
Feudalism: Fact or Fiction?> Your teacher will share a lesson looking at how historians do their jobs and how we as learners must question and look for the facts ourselves.
The Dark Ages... really that dark?> The class will debate this question with students being assigned to sides on this discussion.
The Arts and Architecture> Your teacher will give a media rich presentation sharing examples of art, music and architecture. Do check out the SmartHistory Web site videos for more information.
The Spread of Christianity and the Growth of the Catholic Church> Your teacher will present a series of lessons giving a timeline of events and people important to the expansion of Christianity starting with the death of Jesus leading up through the power of the Pope increasing to be equal to that of kings.
The Crusades> Between reading Blood Red Horse, watching a video in class and your own research, you will be ready to participate in a class discussion reviewing what was positive, negative and important to us today about the Crusades.
Asking Open-ended “FAT” Questions: Your teacher will give a lesson on question preparation and interview techniques for a video slide show you will be preparing.
Research: You will use the Resources page to access information for your research to answer the questions below. Remember to record your findings in your own words in your Mindmeister mind map while also writing down the source with the proper citation format. Some questions overlap categories so work to answer all aspects of each question. And remember to add your own questions and answers to your mind maps.
-Social & Economic-
•What were the different classes living in and around the manors?
•What was the manor? Describe what life in general was like in the manor.
•What was the daily life like in general for the following people (Serf/peasant, knight, artisan/craftsmen, noble, merchant, king/queen, friar, Pope) Specifically describe their housing, job, food, clothing, religious life, etc. Go into great detail with your specific assigned role.
•There were many jobs/crafts for artisans in the towns. Make a list and description for as many of their jobs as you can find.
•What was the role of women in society? How did their rights compare to those of men?
•What as life like living in cities? Use Bruges as a city to research or find another one you want to study. Go into detail looking at structures for business and social cohesion (i.e., helping people live together).
•What was the life like for children? How was it different for each of the classes? Look at their education, health, work, etc. Specifically compare peasant versus noble born children.
•With your new knowledge of life in general for the people of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire, it is important to find out what the Romans provided and how life was different after they no longer provided certain “services”. Search the sites provided in the Resources section as well as use search engines to research how life changed for many of the people of Europe with the collapse of the Roman Empire. This will be a blog post assigned by your teacher.
-Political (government)-
•What was feudalism? How widespread was it? What do some current day historians say about feudalism? (You really will play the role of the historian in researching this question.)
•What form of government did castles tend to uphold? How?
•What were the various forms of government?
•What were some of the various laws that people lived by?
•What did the government provide for the people? Go into great detail.
•What did the government not provide for the people? Go into great detail.
-Religion-
•What was the main religion in Europe during this time?
•When we think of the Middle Ages, we think about huge cathedrals? Why was there a need for cathedrals during the Middle Ages? What was their purpose?
•What was the role of the Church in people’s lives?
•What did the Crusades say about the power of the Catholic Church in peoples’ lives?
•What were the Crusades mainly about? Go into detail to describe each one.
-Arts-
•What were some examples of art and music from this time?
•Were the Middle Ages really that dark in that there were few cultural, technological and other advances? Take a position and write a short essay to support your argument. This will be a blog post assigned by your teacher.
-Technology & Science-
•What were some technological advances during this time? Look at architecture, warfare, medicine, etc.
•Why were such massive churches know as cathedrals built?
•Specifically look at the technology and science that went into constructing cathedrals. How were they able to build such tall walls with such large, open areas in the center of the cathedrals?
•When we think of the Middle Ages, we think about castles. Why was there a need for castles in Europe during the Middle Ages? What was their purpose?
•Looking at the designed for purposes of castles, break down the parts of a castle describing how they supported the purposes. An example would be the narrow openings at the tops of the walls allowing for archers to fire their arrows. You might want to diagram the parts of the whole in a section of your mind map.
•What were examples of medical practices? How effective were they?
•What was the Black Death? What caused it? What were the effects? What lessons can we learn to help us with pandemics today?
•What are some ways our modern weapons were developed from the examples you offer?
•How was technology used in warfare? Give specific examples. Go into detail breaking down and analyzing the parts of a knight’s armor. What was the purpose of each part?
Vocabulary: Add the following words to your mind map and fully define them.
Castle
Manor
Kingdom
Feudalism
Chivalry
Gothic
Guild
Knight
Lord
Magna Carta
Cathedral
Charlemagne
Pope Urban II
Papacy
Artisans/Specialists- baker, goldsmith, furrier, mason, merchant, etc.
Serf
Secular
Crusades
Hundred Years’ War
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Stage 2: Evidence of Learning (Assessment)
Research Check In: Once everyone completes his/her research, you will work with a partner to prepare to teach a lesson of your answers to some of the research questions. You will draw from a hat a set of question numbers (e.g., 1-5, 6-10, etc.) that you and your partner will design your lesson around. Your classmates will be taking notes to improve their answers for the questions each partnership presents.
Essential Questions Podcast: The team leader is to create one mind map in Mindmeister entitled “8hums-EQs-team name” and share it with the other team members and your teacher. Review your research and talk to each other about the essential questions. You are to add your ideas and possible answers to the essential questions listed below using your newly created mind map.
•What do governments do? What does government provide that we cannot do ourselves?
•Why live together? What holds us together?
•The “Dark Ages”... really that dark?
•Why fight?
Once your team feels the mind map has enough information, you are to finalize your answers and reactions to the essential questions. The team then plans out how the format and structure of what will be discussed in the podcast. You are to then record the discussion where you talk with each other about your team and potentially individual answers (you don’t have to agree on your answers).
You are to include the following in your podcast:
•Intro music that is appropriate for the purpose of the podcast
•Clear introduction of your team name and members
•Clear statement of each essential question before you start answering it
•Full discussion and answer for each question with supportive details and examples
•Each team member is to participate equally in the recorded discussion
•Sign off to bring closure to the podcast
•Closing appropriate music
Use the Essential Questions Rubric attachment at the bottom of this page to guide your effort.
Reenactment Activities: You will use your new knowledge to portray your Medieval character/role in several simulations. Your teacher will be sharing specific events and problems for the class to work with in playing your respective characters. The teams now will now be seen as “kingdoms” in competition with one another. Your teacher will roll out these simulations in the course of this unit/WebQuest. You can find the four simulations attached at the bottom of this page.
Podcast of Your Character Role Play: Students must work with a partner from a different class of society for this project. You and your partner are to use Google Docs to write a script for your podcast drawing on the comic strip you created in simulation 2 while expanding it to answer the questions listed below in your recorded conversation. Create a Google Doc with your partner and name it “8hums-your names-podcast”. Share it with your teacher and team members to peer edit it. You will use Garageband to record a podcast to fully describe what your position in the Middle Ages was like and how you related to other people in society. Describe all aspects of your life including clothing, your daily diet, your job, your home life, etc. Remember that you will work with a partner who is playing a character of a different class.
In addition, work to answer the following questions:
•What did the government provide and not provide for you? In other words, define the role of the government in your life.
•Why did people in your society live together? What did they offer one another?
•What was my role in society? What did I contribute to the fellow members of my society?
•How was life in the Middle Ages in some ways not so dark? Use your research to provide examples of cultural, government (laws), technological, etc. advancements.
•How were your two characters connected to each other in Medieval society?
Use the Character Role Play Podcast Rubric attached at the bottom of the page to guide your effort.
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Stage 3: Application and Transfer of Learning
Our Society Video: You will partner with a classmate to create a video that communicates your understanding of modern society and its structure here in our city. By drawing on your understanding of the systems in place in Medieval cities and manors, you will be able to apply your learning to the modern day. Start by creating a Google Document entitled “8hums-OurSociety-your names” where you record your questions and ideas about the relationships and structure of our society. Share it between the two of you and your teacher.
You will interview a variety of adult citizens (family members, people on the street, shopkeepers, city employees, etc.) using the questions you create to learn about their roles (job, community involvement, religion, leisure/hobbies, etc.) and relationships that provide the structure for us to live together in our community. Some potential questions are:
•Who do they depend upon outside of their families?
•What services do they provide other members of our society?
•What are the major institutions in our society and what services to do they provide? (You will write up many more questions with your partner.)
You will take photographs (with their permission) and potentially draw images of individuals and/or scenes that depict the social, economic or governmental structures of our community. Using your notes from your interviews, you will provide narration for the images in your video slideshow.
The video will also include opening and closing scene titles along with music that you create. Use a section of your Mindmeister research mind map to storyboard the scenes as you plan your video as well as to write the script for each image by using the Note tool.
Use the Video Slideshow Rubric at the bottom of the page to guide your effort.
Now go to Resources