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Medieval Life and Times
Lesson Plan
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Tammy McCluskey
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3/31/2014

Daniel Weintraub

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Social Studies Lesson Plan

Im Noble Therefore I Read! Medieval Life of the Nobles

Theme: Medieval Life!
Lesson Topic: Life of the Nobles
Grade Level: Fourth Grade
Time Allotment: 2 Class Periods
Collaboration: Students will work in 3 groups
Arizona State Social Studies Standards

(Domain, and Standard)

Concept 3: World in Transition

Standard: PO 1: Discuss life in Europe as it existed at the time of the Aztec and Incan/Inkan
empires in the Americas:
a. life in castles.

Objectives
Day One:
1. Students will be able to use prior knowledge to make connections between what they know
about the Middle Ages and the feudal system.
2. Students will be able to gain an understanding of what feudal life was like for nobles during
the Middle Ages.
3. Students will be able to create their own feudal system drawing from previous knowledge
of fiefdoms in Medieval Europe.

Day Two:
1. Students will be able to use prior knowledge to make connections between what they
know about the Middle Ages and the feudal system to create a journal of life as a lord,
lady, or knight.

Chivalry The medieval knightly system with

its religious, moral, and social code.
Feudalism A system of government in the
Middle Ages in which a lord, or nobleman,
owned land and governed and protected the
people, or tenants, who lived and farmed on
their land.
Indentured Bound by contract to work for
another for a period of time.

Bailey The outer wall of a castle.

Materials:
Word Definition Vocabulary Cards
Composition Notebooks
Colored Pencils
Computer with internet access
Glue
Diary of an Irish Knight in the Middle
Ages (online http://www.writework.com/essay/diary
-irish-knight-middle-ages)

Page

Key Vocabulary:
Apprenticing The act of learning a trade,
skill or occupation by practicing under an
experienced person in that job.

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Social Studies Lesson Plan

Keep The strongest/securest part of a

fortress or castle.
Lesson Sequence
Building Background/Motivation: (Hook?

Why are students learning this material? What is the real-

world connection?)

Hook: During the Middle Ages very few people could read or write because they
majority of people were poor peasants. Only lords, ladies, and knights, or in other words
the nobles could read and write. Monks often privately tutored male nobles and their
male children, teaching them the seven liberal arts; girls were not taught to read or write
during. This lesson will review the feudal system and what life was like for the nobles
and knights of the Middle Ages.
Motivation Strategy: The teacher will explain to the students that they are going to
become a knight, lord, or lady from the Middle Ages. The teacher will say, Over the
next two days you will journal about your life as a noble during the Middle Ages. Much
of what we know about the Middle Ages is through journals of those individuals who
could write during this time period. You will discuss what life was like for you in
Medieval Europe.
Presentation: (How is the new material being introduced? Strategies? Scaffolding? Steps in lesson)(Language
and content objectives, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, feedback)

KEY
TW = Teacher Will
SW = Student Will
Scaffolding Strategies:
1. Pre-Teaching Vocabulary will be used with the Word Definition Vocabulary
Cards to cover the vocabulary words for this lesson. TW allow students to read
the definitions off of the Smart Board out loud and then ask students to match the
correct picture with the its definition, ensuring to give them enough response time
to discuss their response with the class. By front-loading the vocabulary words,
students will have a better understanding of the way they are used in the lesson.
Day One Opener for the lesson:
1. TW begin the lesson by handing out the Vocabulary Card pages.
2. TW review vocabulary words by using the Pre-Teaching Vocabulary technique listed

Page

3. TW review with students the feudal system and the social roles of lords, ladies,
and knights of Medieval Europe.
4. TW use higher-order questions to get students interested in medieval life and
times. TW ask, What do you think it would be like to have lived in medieval

under scaffolding strategies. Students will fill in their Vocabulary Cards with the correct
definitions. Once they have written in their definitions they will cut out their cards and
staple them together to form a book. The book will be retained for use throughout the
Gold Rush unit.

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Europe? After giving students enough response time and allowing several
students the opportunity to answer, the TW then ask, What type of information
do you think you might find in a journal written by a knight in the Middle Ages?
Day One Focused Instruction:
1. TW say, Fortunately for us, there were lords, ladies, and knights that left us
written records of their lives in their daily journals. Your task over the next two
days is to journal your life as a lord, lady, or knight.
2. TW divide the class into three groups: one group of girls and two groups of boys.
The teacher will write a number between 1 and 100 on the board. One of the boys
from each group will draw a number tile from the box. The student whose
number is closest to the number on the board will get to choose whether his group
is the lords or the knights.
3. After the groups have been created, the students will break into their groups to
create their journals. TW say, Today you will be researching to find images of
lords, ladies, and knights from Medieval Europe to print and paste to the cover of
your journal. You will then need to choose your medieval name. Once you have
chosen a picture and your name, you will begin discussing what you will write in
your journals. Brainstorm to create a list of topics or things you might want to
write about. We will discuss your choices tomorrow.
4. TW say, There are questions that each of you will need to address in your
journal. The ladies will need to write about how the lives of medieval woman
compare to the lives of women today, and which activities and jobs are similar
and different. The lords will need to discuss the advantages of living in a castle
and compare a castle to a modern day home making sure to discuss the defense
features of the castle compared to the security systems of homes today. The
knights will need to discuss how they could improve the defense system of a
castle using technology found today.
5. TW explain to students that as a group, they will create their own feudal system or
government system to replace the feudal system of medieval Europe. They will
right their system of laws, which they will orally give as a decree on day two.
6. TW read Diary of an Irish Knight in the Middle Ages (link found under materials)
to give students insight into their assignment.

Page

Day Two Focused Instruction:

1. TW say, What were some of the topics you came up with yesterday to write
about in your journals? Lets write a few topics on the board.
2. TW might write:

Day Two Opener for the lesson:

1. TW say, During the Middle Ages the majority of people were poor peasants
living in a feudal system where there was no opportunity for education unless you
were of noble birth. What are some negative aspects of the feudal system? How
could educating the peasants improve the feudal system?
2. TW say, Today we are going to complete our journals to leave a glimpse of
medieval life for future generations.

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a. What was life like living in the castle?

b. What were some of the activities used for entertainment?
c. What was training like for knights?
3. TW say, You must write two different entries in your journal. Your first entry
must tell your role (knight, lord, or lady), how your role was determined, and
what are your responsibilities in that role. Remember, you are leaving information
about what your life was like living in the Middle Ages so that future readers can
understand life in this era.
4. After students have had sufficient time to write their journal entries, the TW
choose a group to go first to orally present their laws to the class. After each
group has given their laws, students will vote on which new feudal system or
system of government they feel would be the best replacement for the old feudal
system.

Differentiated Instruction/Activities
Visual Diary
1. ELL students could create a visual diary of the topics chose by their group.
Images should be detailed containing everything discussed in the group.
2. Advanced students could create their fiefdom. They can create their own crest to
draw in their journal.

Page

The Dubbing of a Knight

1. Students can create a mock knighting ceremony. The noble lords can choose a
classmate to bring into knighthood. The class can write their own knighting
ceremony as well as create the costumes that they will wear. They must be sure
to include the ladies in their ceremony.

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Social Studies Lesson Plan

References

Page

Diary Of An Irish Knight In The Middle Ages. (2008, February 01). In WriteWork.com.
Retrieved, March 31, 2014, from http://www.writework.com/essay/diary-irishknight-middle-ages

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