Unit Plan

Gesta Francorum: A Historical Investigation for late Latin 3 or Latin 4

Repeated Structures: please see the linked page on the Google Site

All of the readings for this unit will be located on the Google Sites linked here.

Endgame/Objectives: Students will be able engage with a historical text as a tool for asking and answering questions about the past.

A Couple Notes: The key to this unit is the use of tiered readings. The Google Site is a living document I will continue to edit and add more to through time. The idea for you the teacher is to use the ones you want or need (or draw student interest) and not necessarily to read all the way through from beginning to end (though nothing is stopping you from doing that!). Pedagogically and philosophically, I tend to run a classroom where I trust the students to do what I asked them to do, with the idea being that I am helping them ask and answer their own questions. Therefore, I operate broadly speaking in good faith within my classroom. I don’t see any need to “prove” my students are doing what I tell them to do. That is, I assume that my students are being honest and approach helping them in good faith.

Day 1: An Intro to the Crusader Era

1. KWL chart

   1. Start individual, then partners, then whole class.

   2. Do some “myth busting” if necessary

2. At this point I watched the Crash Course History’s Crusades video, and spent the rest of the class kind of just picking it apart. It was cathartic but probably not the most effective.

3. Geographical background

   1. Major powers and power centers

      1. Byzantines

      2. Normans

      3. Papacy

      4. HRE

      5. Seljuks

      6. Fatimids

      7. What does each one want? What are they nervous about? Who do they like and dislike?

   2. Norman invasion

   3. Biographies of major knights, if you feel driven to

4. AT THE END OF CLASS compile a series of driving questions. These questions will form the backbone of the rest of this unit. Example questions from my class

   1. How does Feudalism work in the Gesta Francorum?

   2. Were the leaders true believers?

   3. How does the Hierarchy demonstrate its values and virtues?

   4. What does the economy look like?

   5. How did religions clash and coexist?

   6. Did the commoners find these actions to be just?

   7. Ethics and morality and how they differ between groups

Day 2-3: 1.1.1 and 1.1.2

Because of the speeches and quotations of scripture, these first two sections may need a little extra time to go through and establish meaning. Depending on the religious background of your students, you may need to spend some time explaining what’s going on here.

After meaning is established, spend some time trying to answer your class-generated questions. You may need to model thinking a few times first.

This project originally developed as a response to an interest survey from my Latin 3 students.

Day 4+: Reading and Investigating

1. Read individually to a benchmark tier. I was not regularly expecting students to read through tier 4 until well near the end of Book 1.

2. Comprehension check

   1. I like to start with a “vibe check” and just ask if it was hard or difficult

   2. Options for comprehension checks include

      1. Circling

         1. The Colloquia Caesariana does a pretty good job modeling this for denser texts, though it certainly is 100 years old.

         2. This is probably the best for building language skills

         3. Unfortunately, it is also tedious and easily overstays its welcome.

      2. Stoplight reading

      3. Summarize

         1. On paper or verbally

         2. In English or Latin

         3. Create a timeline on the board in Latin together

         4. Falso/Mendax

            1. Project the reading on the board, verbally translate. Occasionally get something “wrong.” Students yell “falso!” or “mendax!” Can be used in concert with circling

         5. Translation (use sparingly)

         6. Most of the time, especially after the first week or so, I just say “y’all good?” or ask what gave trouble, do a quick confirmation then move on to the next part. Comprehension checks get really tedious really quick, so I try to save it for particularly tough sections, especially early into the unit while we’re still getting used to the author’s style, substance, and vocabulary.

3. Walk through the driving questions and ask if anything helped answer them, then talk about how it did that.

   1. I’m sure a well-organized teacher (couldn’t be me!) would have a journal or something to keep track of those thoughts as we read, building note-taking and research skills.

4. Rinse and repeat! No need to belabor discussion if there isn’t any.

Quiz Day When you feel you have reached a good point for a retrospective and assessment

1. For me, that was at the end of the People’s crusade, at the end of Book 1, the capture of Jerusalem, and the sack of Jerusalem.

   1. Question matrix fill in

      1. Either as a whole class or individually, have each student choose one of your driving questions and re-read each section so far, copying and pasting quotes which help answer that question.

      2. Come back together as a class and discuss or in groups by question.

      3. Each student should now take that information and prepare an outline based on that question from this information

         1. I tend to ask for an outline, because it saves time and lets me really see the thought processes of each student. Also less pressure