Lesson Plan # 1

Title: Medieval Times: Building Background

Lesson Overview: In this lesson, students will gather information about medieval times
in order to better comprehend the tales that they will read later in the unit. Students will
read informational texts in order to gather information about daily life, the role of the
church, and the Feudal System during medieval times. Students will demonstrate mastery
of the content as they create a medieval times presentation.
Resources or Materials Needed:
Medieval Life by Andrew Langley, The Medieval World by Philip Steele, Medieval
PastimesandSportsbyWillKalif,pencils,readingjournals,constructionpaper,Coatof
Armstemplates,markers,Catapultdirections,craftsticks,rubberbands,tape,bottlecaps,
marshmallows,foambowlingpins,ball,computeraccess,internetaccess,andPrezi
accounts
Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.7: Conduct short research projects that build knowledge
through investigation of different aspects of a topic.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.4.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic
and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9: Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in
order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
Lesson Objectives: Given informational texts about medieval times, students will create
a brochure in order to describe the basics of daily life, the role of the church, and the

Feudal System in medieval times, scoring at least an overall level three on the
presentation rubric.
Time: Approximately two hours
Step 1: Pre-Instructional Activities: Medieval Stations- Each station contains an
activity related to medieval times. The purpose of the activities is to gain attention and
motivate students. Students will exit the stations with a basic connection to the medieval
times.
Station One: Catapult Challenge (10 minutes)- Students will create a catapult
from craft sticks and rubber bands in order to launch a marshmallow across the room.
Specific instructions, from PBS Kids.org, are noted in Appendix A
Station Two: Skittles (10 minutes)- Students will play a version of modern day
bowling that stems from the Middle Ages. Students will attempt to knock all nine pins
down, in order to score more points than their opponents. Basic directions are detailed in
Appendix B
Station Three: Coat of Arms (10 minutes)- Students will answer questions about
their personality and will then design a personal coat of arms. The directions and template
are located in Appendix C.
Step 2: Content Presentation
Whole class instruction- The overall goal of instruction will be detailed for the
students. The rubric for the presentation will also be explained to the whole class. As for
the informational reading, students will work in small group (around five students per
group) stations to gather information about daily life, the role of the church, and the
Feudal System during medieval times. For each station, students will read the text(s) and

record key details in their reading journals for later reference. Students who need extra
support will be grouped with stronger readers or will meet in a small group with the
teacher.
Station One: Daily Life
Station Two: The Role of the Church
Station Three: The Feudal System
Step 3: Learner Participation
During reading, the teacher will circulate, asking students specific questions to
ascertain students comprehension of the materials. Once students have rotated through
all three stations, each student will orally share an interesting fact they learned with the
rest of the class. Students will be encouraged to take notes during the short oral sharing.
Once all students have shared out, the teacher will collect all research notes. The teacher
will then give written feedback, and orally conference as needed, to ensure that accurate
information is being recorded and comprehended.
Step 4: Assessment and Evaluation Method
Students will create a Prezi presentation in order to describe the basics of daily
life, the role of the church, and the Feudal System in medieval times, scoring at least an
overall level three on the presentation rubric. Students will include information about
games, jobs, diets, peasants, knights, nobles, kings, popes, and more. The student
directions, Appendix D and the rubric, Appendix E provide far more detail about the
assessment requirements. Students will share completed Prezis with the whole class.
Step 5: Follow-Through Activities

Students will apply information gathered about daily life, the role of the church,
and the Feudal System in order to comprehend medieval tales (see Task 2 - Task 6).
Students will also apply this information as they work on their final project, during which
they will be tasked to create a new medieval tale (see Task 7) that contains information
gained from the background building lesson and information gained from reading
multiple tales.