EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 1

EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment

Kevin Virgin

Vancouver Island University

Abstract
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 2

No real students were used for the purposes of this assignment. The four students named are all

loosely based on characters from the popular television show South Park. This is why full names

are given instead of aliases. The characters in the show are all in fourth grade so they were aged

to be in grade 8 to fit in with a high school curriculum. The students were also transported from

the fictional town of South Park, Colorado to Qualicum Beach, British Columbia so that the

British Columbia curriculum could be applied to them. The focus student of this assignment is

Kenneth “Kenny” McCormick. His personality has changed a great deal over the course of the

show so in this paper it is based on the most recent episodes. This assignment will look into six

different ways to instruct Kenny and his friends about the Medieval ages.

Kenny McCormick is a grade 8 student at Kwalikum Secondary School. His family is

caucasian, originally from Ireland but immigrated to the United States around the beginning of
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 3

the 20th century. Originally from South Park, Colorado, Kenny moved to Qualicum Beach four

years ago. Kenny’s family is from a lower socioeconomic background compounded by further

issues. Coming from a family with a long history of substance abuse, Kenny’s home life has

been troubled. Both of his parents are frequent abusers of alcohol, spending most of the money

that they are able to collect on drinking. This means that little money is left over to provide

Kenny with access to nutritional food. He has a younger sister whom he cares for deeply. His

family is not engaged in the community; there are rumors that they had to leave their last place of

residence after becoming involved in a cult. Kenny often used to miss large portions of school

because his family would take Kenny to secluded gatherings. This caused his friends to joke that

Kenny had died many times. His parents do not seem to be physically or verbally abusive to

Kenny but they are doing him harm with their lifestyle choices. His parents do not seem to care

what he does in his free time so long as he does not bother them while they are drinking. This

lack of rules at home has made it difficult for Kenny to follow rules that he does not agree with

at school.

Though his parents are able to provide a minimum of sustenance for Kenny, the lack of

nutritious food is beginning to show. Kenny often complains that he is hungry in class and his

stature is much slimmer than most of his classmates of the same height. Though it is unlikely that

his mother refrained from drinking during her pregnancy with Kenny due to a lifelong addiction

to alcohol, Kenny does not seem to fall anywhere on the FASD spectrum. Instead, he is a smart

yet unmotivated student. His lack of focus has gotten him in trouble a few times as he has

skipped school and been caught committing minor crimes like mischief and petty theft when he

was younger. He seems to have grown out of this as he is now a very compassionate person,

often making sacrifices of himself to help out his friends and even those he does not know.
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 4

Kenny has shown interests in a variety of things such as video games, The Lord of the Rings,

samurai, and team based activities such as elaborate games and sports.

His schooling in South Park seems to have been of poor quality; Kenny says that his

teachers spent much more time talking about pop culture references than trying to teach the

students about academic skills. This is reflected in Kenny’s abilities. He is quick to learn when

he is interested in a subject, but his core skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic show that he is

behind other students in the class. It can often be difficult to understand what Kenny is saying;

his friends are able to understand him without issue but to others it seems as if his speaking is

muffled or distorted in some way. Further, his lack of guidance at home has given Kenny the

impression that it does not matter what he does so long as he is not actively getting scolded by an

authority figure. When questioned about any of this, Kenny will usually shut down. Kenny does

better working with a group than he does working on his own. He has a strong sense of right and

wrong and does not wish for others to be hurt because he does not wish to do his portion of a

project. In order to rectify his previous education, time will be spent focusing on getting Kenny

engaged in the lessons. This is a much more important step to him having a successful education

than trying to force content that he is not ready for onto him (Valli & Chambliss, 2007).

Kenny has three close friends; Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. They

have been close ever since Kenny moved to the area. Stan and Kyle are both smart, kind students

while Eric seems to be less kind but very intelligent. He seems to care for Kenny a great deal but

has exhibited signs of aggression to others, particularly Kyle whom he does not get along with

well. All three of his close friends have very supporting families. They too seem to have issues

with alcohol but to a much lesser extent than Kenny’s family. Stan and Kyle tend to do very well

in most subjects. Eric is possibly the most gifted of Kenny’s friends. He has an incredible talent
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 5

for story telling, writing, and creating fictional worlds; however, in a similar situation to Kenny,

Eric becomes disengaged on subjects where his interest is not peaked. When this happens, he can

become very disruptive to the class. Though the boys sometimes tease Kenny about being from a

lower socioeconomic background, Kenny believes that they do so in jest and not out of spite.

Their relationship is overall very healthy for Kenny despite the teasing. All three of Kenny’s

close friends are extremely confident in themselves and their abilities.

Based on interests that Kenny has shown, his past success in group work, his need to

catch up on reading and writing, and the fact that this is a grade 8 Humanities class, the teacher

will be teaching about Medieval ages. Kenny has shown interest in this in a variety of ways; he is

very interested in Lord of the Rings which is easily tied in to the Medieval ages. Further, he has

shown interest in samurai and ninjas, an integral part of Medieval Japan. The activities chosen

will often be team based, allowing Kenny’s friends to support his learning while encouraging

Kenny to participate so his friends do well also. The medieval period ran from, in the European

sense, the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 to the start of the Renaissance at roughly the time of

the 13th century. When teaching this, one would need to include things such as societal

hierarchies of the feudal system and the church, what daily life was like for the average person,

comparisons between medieval times and today, the importance of castles, and anything that the

students mention that is relevant and that they find to be of interest.

Learning history is a valuable skill as it allows one to better understand who they are by

being able to see where they came from. It also helps with rational thinking by causing students

to make comparisons between modern and Medieval times. Further, certain activities can be

assigned that will allow Kenny to improve both his reading and writing abilities. Kenny will not
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 6

be able to get support from his parents at home, so it is important to allow enough time for the

activities at school so that his friends may assist him if needed.

Activity One: Medieval Hierarchy

One of the most important things about the Medieval ages that is very different from yet

has a lot of striking similarities to today is the structure of power. Kenny’s interest in the Lord of

the Rings will be used to keep him engaged during this lesson. After presenting what the

traditional hierarchy of King to Lord to knight to serf, one would ask the students if they could

think of anything that a similar hierarchy. After going over some of the common ideas brought

up, such as businesses and schools, the assessment will be based on asking the students to create

their own hierarchy based on something that they are interested in. As soon as the explanation of

what is expected of the students is done, go to Kenny and ask him what he has decided to do his

hierarchy on. If he does not have one picked, steer him towards Sauron from Lord of the Rings;

Sauron would be the king, the ringwraiths would be the lords, the warchiefs would be the

knights, and the orcs would be the serfs. This will connect the material to Kenny in a way that

will greatly increase retention.

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

The hierarchy is the defining
characteristic of the Medieval
Ages. Learning about the
hierarchy is essential to
understanding how everyone
interacted with each other. It
is also an easy way to connect
life in the Medieval Ages to
life today as there are many
similarities in the pyramid
structure.
Students will create their own
hierarchy. It will need to have
a similar form to that of the
Medieval pyramid. It will be
based on something that the
student finds interesting. They
do not need to be unique
(students in the same group
may have the same idea) but
each student needs to create
their own. The hierarchy will
be judged based on creativity
Bandura - Kenny’s peers all
set high goals for themselves.
Hopefully, Kenny will follow
their model and set goals for
himself that are higher than
he would have otherwise.
Kenny may have felt that he
was unable to think of a
hierarchy he could work with
by himself. Getting him
started on the Lord of the
Rings hierarchy will give him
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 7

and similarity to the a confidence boost, letting

traditional Medieval power
structure.
him know that he is able to
accomplish this task. Kenny
has all of the skills he needs
for this and after seeing a
good example and having his
confidence restored he should
be able to create an excellent
version of his own.

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Let the students know Students will discuss in 5m Kenny is interested in the
that they are going to be their table groups anything Medieval Ages and has
learning about the that they might know about some prior knowledge
Medieval Ages. Ask the Medieval Ages. because of his interest in
students to discuss in Feudal Japan and the Lord
their group anything that of the Rings. This should
they might know about allow him to share
the period. knowledge with his group,
boosting his confidence.

Introduce the concept of Listen to the hierarchy. 5m This part of the lesson
the Medieval hierarchy to does not tie in directly to
the students. Go over the any of Kenny’s strengths,
standard hierarchy of but it also avoids his
King to Lord to Knight to weaknesses and will be
Serf with the students. reinforced in the next
Explain the role of each portion of the lesson.
of the stages, what they
give, and what they
receive as you go.

In order to visual The students will arrange 20m Kenny does not often get
represent the idea of a themselves into a Medieval candy at home due to his
hierarchy to the class, hierarchy as their names are parents financial situation.
draw their names out of a drawn. They will be Rigging the vote so that he
hat or use popsicle sticks required to refrain from is either king or a lord will
with their names on them. eating the smarties until the be a huge boost to
Start off by selecting a appropriate time and be someone from his
king, then three nobles, willing to hand them up the background and will keep
then nine knights, then pyramid. him interested. Stan and
everyone else is a serf Kyle won’t mind where
(divide the serfs equally they ended up but if Eric
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment
between the knights).
Hand out five smarties to
each serf. This is the
produce they have
harvested; however, they
need to pay this to their
lord in exchange for him
letting them use his land.
They have to give three
smarties to their lord as
payment. This passing of
resources continues all
the way up the scale so
the king ends up with the
majority of resources
while the serfs have little.
Get the students back to
their seats. Ask if they
can think of anything
from modern times that
has a similar structure to
the Medieval hierarchy.
The usual responses are
businesses and schools.
Draw both of these on the
boards, asking students
for every rank along the
way to keep them
engaged. If engagement is
lacking, go table group by
table group and have the
student with the darkest
shirt give an example.
Have the students think
about something that they
are interested in that
relates to the hierarchy.
Have them create their
own pyramid that shows
the different ranks and
explains the comparisons
to the Medieval roles. Let
students know that it will
be marked on creativity,
Students will need to think 10m
critically about their lives
compared to what the social
structure was like in the
Medieval Ages. When they
come up with a few
examples as a group, they
will need to be able to
compare roles in today's
society (King to CEO, lord
to area manager, knight to
local manager, serf to sales
person).
Students will create their Rest of
own comparison to the class.
Medieval hierarchy.
8
is a serf be sure to
reinforce that students are
not allowed to eat their
produce without paying
their lord first or there will
be consequences.
This has been reinforced
many times this lesson.
Kenny was given a high
role in the hierarchy so he
should be engaged. He is
allowed to discuss with
Eric, Kyle, and Stan any
comparisons that may
need to be made so if he is
unsure of an answer, his
friends are there to help
him out.
Once you are done
explaining what is
expected to students, go to
Kenny and check in. If he
does not have an idea of
what he is going to work
on, steer him towards the
Lord of the Rings
Kingdom of Mordor. As
he is an avid fan, he
should be able to make the
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 9

layout, and relation to the comparisons. His friends

actual Medieval are also fans so they might
hierarchy. take to the idea and turn to
Kenny for answers as he is
the most knowledgeable
about the subject. This
will keep Kenny engaged
as he likes helping out his
friends.

Activity Two: The Daily Life of a Peasant

As this is one of the first activities in the unit, it is going to involve a lot of new terms,

phrases, and words that the students will not be familiar with. Students will need to familiarise

themselves with these words in order to be able to complete later portions of the unit. In order to

make sure that students are able to connect these terms to what they meant in the medieval times

and what their current equivalents are, pictures will be put up showing both for comparison

purposes.

This can be a lot of new information to take in. To make sure that Kenny and his friends

have a list of the new terms available to them, they will be using the class set of chromebooks to

take notes using the split page method. Once we have gone over the notes as a class, the table

groups will be able to go over their notes and compare what they got down. This will enable

Kenny to listen to what his friends, who may be more able to get the information from the

teacher, and get the information from them instead of from the teacher. Terms to be covered will

be titles such as Duke, peasant work such as chafing, and building terms such as mill. This

information will be used to play a game later in the lesson that will reinforce the information

learned in a more exciting manner. Gamification of what can be a dull subject is an excellent

way to increase participation rate, retention, and teach other valuable skills such as dealing with

losing (Walz & Deterding, 2014).

 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 10

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

During this lesson, students
will need to create a sheet
with terms that they will
come across during the unit
on the Medieval Ages. This is
possibly new territory and the
ability to understand this
jargon will be crucial.
Once the students have had an
opportunity to work on their
notes as a group, they will be
asked to hand in their own
copy. This will allow the
teacher to make sure that
everyone has a copy of useful
terms at their disposal.
Bandura - Kenny will be
interacting with his friends
throughout most of this
activity. This will allow him
to learn both from the
symbolic model of the teacher
presenting the information
and then from his friends. The
learning will largely take
place as a game and his
friends can support his
learning by offering help
during note taking and the
game. This should prevent
Kenny from doubting his
abilities to the point he shuts
down.

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Point out the picture of With a partner, have a look 5m Kenny will probably want
peasant work around the at the pictures and see if to work with Eric at this
class. Ask the students if they are able to identify any point. Eric’s creative side
they know what they are. of the jobs being done. The should be engaged by
Explain to the students groups of pictures are trying to figure out what
that they are images of labelled. Students will need the pictures are and Kenny
work from the medieval to write down at least three should want to make sure
ages and from modern numbers of pictures and that Eric and he both do
times. Ask them to go what they think is going on. well. If not, use proximity
around the classroom and go through a few with
with a partner and see if them to help Kenny
they can figure out what understand the
work is being done. comparison. As always
when students are moving
around, make sure that
they are not touching each
other.

Have the students get a Get a chromebook, make a 10m Kenny would much rather
chromebook and make copy of the note taking type something onto the
their own copy of a note presentation, and take notes computer than write it out
taking sheet. Introduce about the different terms. by hand. Him, Eric, Kyle,
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment
terms that students will
need in order to
understand the daily life
of a peasant. Introduce
them to terms about
farming (ploughing,
sowing, weeding, reaping,
winnowing, scythe, flail,
etc.) by powerpoint
presentation. Let them
know that the information
gathered here will be used
for a game later.
Have the students work
together in their table
groups to pair and share
what they took down for
notes about the different
terms.
Introduce the cows and
sheep board game and
hand out the sheets for it.
All of the student table
groups will have a game
similar to snakes and
ladders to play. If they
land on a cow space they
take a cow card; if they
land on a sheep space
they take a sheep card.
All of the cards will have
something related to
peasants on them.
Examples would be ‘You
Students will quitely talk to
their partners about what
notes they have gathered
from the presentation.
One student from each
group will after instructions
collect a game board,
pieces, and sheets for their
table. Students will play the
game and take notes from
the cards onto their sheets.
Notes do not need to be
from their cards; they can
be from anyone in their
groups.
11
and Stan are all very
comfortable with
computers so though they
might not like taking
notes, they are much more
likely to do so in this
format. Remind them to
wait until you explain all
your instructions before
getting a computer. The
fact that they will be
competing should keep
Eric and Kyle interested,
which should help keep
Kenny interested.
10m Kenny likes computers
and his typing is much
better than his writing, but
he might have missed a
few things during the
presentation. Allowing
him to work with his
friends will both keep him
interested as he is a very
social person and let him
gain a source of
information he will be
able to use throughout the
remainder of this unit.
25m Make sure that you
explain the game and what
is expected from the
students before handing
out the game pieces. If
not, the students will play
with the pieces. Kenny
very much enjoys playing
games with his friends so
gamifying the life of a
peasant should get him
engaged in learning about
what life was like for a
peasant. Eric and Kyle’s
competitive nature will
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 12

have to help the lord with make them compete to see

his land instead of yours: who can win the game
miss your next turn’ or while Stan will play
‘Your daughter got peacemaker so that the
married so you have one game does not end with
less mouth to feed: move someone flipping over the
forward two spaces’. The board.
cards are mostly bad so
no one should be able to
win the game. The
students will take the
information from their
cards and use it to fill out
information about the
work around the year,
obligations, rights, and
life of a serf in the
Medieval Ages.

Activity Three: Designing a Castle

Castles are one of the defining feature of the Medieval Ages. They were a residence, a

military installation, and a symbol of power and prestige. Understanding the various uses of a

castle and the role they played in a county is an important part of understanding what the world

was like for people in the Medieval Ages. Terms related to castles and castle life as well as how

castles were built will be covered in this lesson. Students will be required to begin designing

their own castle at the end of the lesson. It will be the seat of their county of which they are

count. This will fit into the next lesson.

Kenny should be very interested in this lesson. He has shown interest in Lord of the

Rings so a tie in to Helms Deep and the city of Gondor will help peak his and his friends’

interest. Showing castles from Japan such as the impressive Nijo Castle will also tie in the

Feudal system of Japan that he's interested in. This will also allow one to show various castle

designs and why they were created in different ways.

 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 13

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

Castles are an iconic part of
the Medieval Ages. All across
the world, they stand as a
testament to a time when only
a strong stone wall allowed a
ruler to retain control of a
country. Understanding how a
castle worked is an important
part of understanding
Medieval life.
Students will be assessed on
the layout of their castles.
They will need to include a
source of water, outer walls,
gates, a church, and various
other buildings often found
inside castle walls. They will
be graded on their castle’s
ability to withstand a siege
that the teacher will plan out
for each castle.
Vygotsky - Social interaction
will play a major part in this
assignment. Spending time
discussing ideas about what
the layout of their castles will
look like with friends that
have had a more beneficial
education will both help
Kenny understand the terms
better and also increase his
ability of cognitive discussion

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Have a picture of Helms Listen to presentation and 5m Be sure to make sure that
Deep up on the projector. guess what they are going students are not talking
Ask the students if they to be learning about. while you are talking and
can guess what we will be that eyes are on you when
learning about this lesson. you are talking.
Let them know that it is
going to be castles and
that castles were an
essential part of Medieval
life.

Go over a what life in a
castle was like. Explain
the different buildings,
construction of a castle,
and cost of construction
and upkeep, and the
attack and defence of
castles. Let the students
know that they are going
to be designing their own
castles later and they will
need to include the
various buildings to make
sure that it will provide
the seige you are going to
Listen and take notes on 15m
castle design so they are
ready for when they need to
layout their own castles.
This is something that
Kenny is going to be
interested in. He likes this
period and working
together with his friends
which this subject
incorporates. Kyle and
Eric may not enjoy that
they will be required to
aid each other in order to
succeed but their desire to
win with help from Stan’s
influence should be
enough to overcome this.
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment
lay on them and their
table groups as they are
going to be part of a
Duchy.
Provide a few examples
of castle designs. Show
the video of the
construction of Guédelon
Castle in Burgundy,
France. This video shows
how modern people are
using Medieval
techniques to create an
authentic castle. Remind
the students that
Guédelon has already
been under construction
for twenty years when
most castles took less
than that as they had serfs
for a cheap source of
labour. Students should
look at the different
designs to see which one
they would like to use for
their county seat.
Have students design
their own castle on a
tabloid sized sheet of
paper. Remind them that
you will be attacking their
duchy so each castle will
need to be able to
withstand a siege and
provide assistance to their
allies when able.
Listen to the presentation
about castles and decide on
which layout they like the
most. They will use the
base for this castle to
design their own.
Students will design their
own castle. Their castle
must be able to function
independently of the rest of
their country for a period of
time. That means it will
need a source of water, a
way to store food, a place
to produce tools, defences,
a place for the injured, and
a place to sleep.
14
10m Kenny might be unsure
which design to choose.
Let the students know that
as they are all part of a
duchy, their designs will
all need to be of the same
style. Students will need
to decide in their table
group which design they
find the best. This will
ensure that if Kenny has
any questions on the
layout of his castle, he can
ask his table group for
support as they are all
working on a similar
design.
Rest of This is a long time to work
class on this project so be sure
to keep students on task.
Kenny will need this time
to work in class as he will
most likely not be able to
finish anything at home
due to his lack of support.
Kenny and his friends
should work well together
on this. Kenny should be
engaged in this subject as
he is interested and will
want to be able to help his
friends out during the
teacher siege of the
student duchies.
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 15

Activity Four: Duchy Drawing

The Medieval hierarchy can be a difficult concept to understand. Students might be

unclear of how land ownership worked. This activity will help show how the different small

pieces of a kingdom fit together to make a larger, powerful state. This will be relatable to modern

times in that our system of federal government works much the same way; the provinces and

territories all fit together to make the country of Canada. This will allow Kenny to use his

creativity to great effect. Creating his own map and then piecing it together with those of his

friends will increase his retention of the material covered to a much larger extent than if he

simply took notes on the subject.

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

Duchies are the prerunners of Students will be assessed on Vygotsky - Kenny’s

today’s modern provinces in
our federal system of
government. Understanding
how they work will help
students understand how our
federal government works as
well as providing useful
information about what life
was like in the Middle Ages.
the drawing of their county.
Their county will fit into a
larger framework of their
table group, which will be
their duchy. All of the duchies
will fit together to form the
kingdom of the classroom.
Students will be assessed on
if their county includes all the
buildings and resources it
needs to prosper, if they are in
the best location given their
premade geographic layout,
and how easy it is to
understand the map of their
county.
interactions with his friends
will be vital to his success in
this assignment. Spending
time discussing what
buildings should go where
with friends that have had a
more beneficial education
will both help Kenny
understand the terms better
and also increase his capacity
for cognitive understanding of
the material.

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Remind students that Listen, get out map of 5m Eric and Kyle will both
yesterday they made the castle, vote for table group want to be duke but
designs for their castle. duke/duchess. neither will support the
This castle is going to be other. This means that it
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment
the seat of their county
which is going to be part
of a table group duchy.
Have them vote for who
the Duke or Duchess of
their Duchy is going to
be.
Introduce the different
buildings that will be
needed to run a county
such as residences for the
serfs, blacksmiths, bakers,
and mills. Explain
concepts such as crop
cycling, smithing, and
how a mill works. Go
over what the ideal
location for each activity
is. Let the students know
that they will need to
include all of these
buildings on the layout of
their countys, have them
all in the optimal location,
and have them all labelled
so any visitor to the
county could easily find
them.
Give an example of a
drawing of a county from
a previous students work.
Explain the criteria that
students will be graded
on. Hand out pre-cut
sheets of paper that have
rivers and roads on them
that all fit together to
form a large kingdom.
Give the students time to
work on their maps.
Listen to presentation and
take notes on the different
kinds of buildings. If
students wish, they may
create a shared drive and
use their chromebooks to
take notes as a group on
which buildings they will
need to include and where
the optimal location for
them would be.
Students will design a 10m
county with their castle
from the previous lesson as
the castle of the county.
They will need to include
various buildings and farms
in different locations
depending on the layout of
the map they were handed.
Work on student map
16
will fall to either Stan or
Kenny. Kenny will
probably allow Stan to be
Duke as he will want to
support his friend. Don’t
allow Kyle or Eric to
become too heated over
the discussion.
20m Kenny will be allowed to
have a shared drive with
his friends. Make sure that
Eric does not ruin any of
the parts that Kyle is
working on if he becomes
disinterested.
Make sure that Kenny
understands that he will
need to complete his
county as it is a part of
Stan’s duchy; without his
county, the duchy will not
be as successful. His
desire to make sure that
Stan is a successful ruler
together with the support
of his friends will keep
Kenny working.
30m
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 17

Activity Five: Research Project

Most of the assessments have been based on pen and paper activities thus far. This

activity will instead allow the students to choose a variety of different means of expressing their

knowledge. Further, they will be allowed to choose which part of the Medieval world they would

like to focus their research on. This is a large assignment; asking Kenny to show his knowledge

in an essay format would lead to him shutting down. Offering him the option to choose how he

demonstrates his knowledge and to pick his own topic will give ownership of the project to

Kenny and his classmates. They will not be allowed to all work on the same assignment but

could choose similar topics so that their research overlapped, allowing them to share resources

amongst themselves.

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

There is far too much
information about the
Medieval Ages to be covered
in any class setting. In order
for students to be able to
experience a wide range of a
variety of activities, students
will be asked to find one topic
related to the Medieval ages
that is of interest to them,
research it, and present that
information via a medium of
their choosing.
Students will be assessed on
their final project. The project
could be a variety of different
things; it could be a formal
essay, a poster, a model
castle, a song, a powerpoint,
or any other countless ways
of expressing ideas. Students
will be assessed on their
research, the design of their
project, and their project’s
ability to convey information
to their fellow classmates.
Rousseau - Most of this
lesson is letting students
figure out what they want to
do for themselves. They have
to do an assignment but they
are in charge of what it is
going to be about and how
they are going to show what
they have learned.

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Let the students know Listen and begin to think 2m

that we are going to be about what part of the
wrapping up the medieval Medieval ages they would
unit shortly. There was a like to do their research
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 18

vast amount of project on.

information that was not
covered by the lessons,
including some that they
may have wished they
could have looked into.
They will be provided the
opportunity to do so by
working on a research
project of their own.

Give the students a few Look at the different 10m Listening to what is
examples of things they examples provided and expected of students is
could look into such as begin to think of what kind crucial to their ability to
knights, the role of of presentation would work complete this project in a
women, weapons, feudal best for the subject they are satisfactory manner. Make
systems from other parts going to be researching. sure that students are
of the world, or death listening with their eyes
rites. Give them a few on you so that they know
examples of different what they are meant to do.
project from previous
years such as posters,
models, and Powerpoint
presentations.

Have resources available Look at the different books, 20m
for students to look at to models, and credible
figure out what subject websites provided for a
they would like to further topic that they are
research. Be sure to have interested in. Once they
resources from a variety find a topic that they are
of texts, not just books. interested in, begin taking
notes and laying out a
rough idea of what they
would like their
presentation to look like.
Kenny’s interest in the
Japanese feudal system
has most likely not been
sated by the little
information given during
the castle activity. Be sure
to have plenty of resources
available on the subject
and guide him towards it.
It is something that he
should be able to convey
his intelligence of,
boosting his confidence.

Monitor students as they Students will research and Rest of Kenny will not have
begin researching and work on their inquiry class access to resources at
working on their projects. projects. home to work on this
They will require much project. Be sure to provide
more class time than this enough time for him to
one lesson to complete work on this in class. If he
this project. would like, offer to let him
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 19

take home some of the

books he is using for his
research. This will allow
him plenty of time to
practice his reading with
them if he would like.
Make sure that Eric finds
a topic to research early
on so that he does not start
distracting those around
him.

Activity Six: Crusader Kings 2

Crusader Kings 2 is a video game that does a magnificent job of portraying information

about what life was like for a Medieval ruler across Europe, Western Asia, Northern Africa, the

Middle East, and India. It allows players to pick any one of a wide list of family dynasties from a

lowly count to leader of the mighty Byzantine Empire. Playing this game instills the importance

of vassals, the cost and build time of castles, different religious tensions across Christendom, and

a variety of real world events such as the invasion of the Mongols, the Norman conquest of

England, and the spread of the bubonic plague.

A free version of this game is readily available to teachers for the reasons of education.

One would have to get permission to install the program onto the class chromebooks but the

program is from a reputable site and should be allowed. Kenny is an avid fan of video games.

This activity would allow him to reinforce information learned in previous lessons while also

letting him engage in one of his favourite activities. Video games have long been used to teach

skills such as reading, typing, and math; it is time for them to be used to teach history in the

classroom as well (Annetta, 2008).

 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 20

Learning Intention Assessment Theorist

A great deal of information is
available in this game.
Playing it will help reinforce
the ideas covered in previous
lessons; further, it will help
students understand that
different texts can be used to
understand concepts.
Students will write a story
about one of the characters
that they will play as in the
game. The story should
mention a few major points in
the character's life such as
marriage, territory lost or
gained, births and deaths of
children, or any other major
event that they found to be
significant. Their story will be
assessed on inclusion of these
events, grammer, and clarity.
Rousseau - Most of how this
lesson will play out is up to
each student. They can pick if
they would like to be a
peaceful, benevolent ruler or
if they would like to be a
tyrannical despot. How they
play the game will have a
direct effect on how their
stories will turn out; they are
also free to include any
information and write the
story any way they would
like.

Teacher Activity Student Activity Pacing Classroom Management

Let the students know Get a computer. 3m Wait until everyone has
that they are going to be their computers and is
playing a game. Ask them seated back down before
to go and get their trying to resume the
chromebooks. lesson.

Explain the rules of Sign into Crusader Kings 2 5m As always with

Crusader Kings. The rules and pick a kingdom to play computers, make sure that
are straightforward and as. students are using them
easy to understand and for the correct activities.
there are hints that pop up Thankfully, they are being
and explain what to do for asked to play a game and
beginner players. Get all should be willing to do
of the kids signed onto that.
the game and playing as
one of the easier
kingdoms, such as
Aragon or Ireland.

Let the students know Play Crusader Kings 2 40m This is a long time for
that after they are done while noting down any students to be asked to
playing, they are going to events they thought were stay on task. Make sure
need to write a story interesting so they could that Kenny is writing
about one of the include them in a story. down points that can be
characters in their used for his story. Show
dynasty. It should be Eric and Kyle the scoring
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment
someone who ruled for a
long enough time so there
are interesting points to
include in their stories.
Let them know where to
find the chronicle on the
menu that lists important
events that happened.
Have students write a
story about the life of one
of their characters. The
story should include the
major events that
unfolded throughout their
lives. The story can be
written either on paper or
submitted online. It
should be at least 10 good
sentences long.
Using notes taken and the
chronicle for their dynasty
from the game, students
will write a short story
about one of their more
long lived characters.
21
system; their competitive
nature should keep them
focused as they compete
to see who does better in
the game. Kenny is very
good at video games so he
should do well at this
activity, giving him lots of
opportunity to learn about
the Medieval world and
note interesting points for
his story.
25m Kenny should be in a good
mood because he enjoys
video games; however,
being asked to write a
somewhat long story may
seem daunting to him. Ask
him which of his
characters he is going to
use for story purposes.
Once he has selected a
character, ask him to find
a few important things like
when his character
married, their children,
titles acquired, and have
him write a few lines for
you about that
information. Once he gets
started and understands
what is needed, he should
have no problem with this.
Ask him to ask his friends
for any advice if he gets
stuck on his story.
 EDPB 503 Human Cube Assignment 22

References

Annetta, L. (2008). Video Games in Education: Why They Should Be Used and How They Are

Being Used. Theory Into Practice,47(3), 229-239. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40071547

Valli, L., & Marilyn Chambliss. (2007). Creating Classroom Cultures: One Teacher, Two

Lessons, and a High-Stakes Test. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 38(1), 57-75.

Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/4126362

Walz, S., & Deterding, S. (Eds.). (2014). The Gameful World: Approaches, Issues, Applications.

MIT Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1287hcd