Topic: The Sixteenth Century – Revision

Target group

6th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

IX. „Golden Age in Poland” on the European background.

General aim of education

The student will review knowledge on the 16th century.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• What influenced the decisions to undertake large‑scale sea expeditions;

• Who were the great discoverers;

• What was the Reformation;

• What religions came into being as a result of the Reformation;

• What characteristics distinguished the Renaissance.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Introduction

1. The teacher states the subject of the lesson, explains the aim of the lesson and together with students determines the success criteria to be achieved.

2. The teacher plays the recording of the abstract. Every now and then he stops it, asking the students to tell in their own words what they have just heard. This way, students practice listening comprehension.

Realization

1. Reading the content of the abstract. The teacher uses the text for individual work or in pairs, according to the following steps: 1) a sketchy review of the text, 2) asking questions, 3) accurate reading, 4) a summary of individual parts of the text, 5) repeating the content or reading the entire text.

2. Discussing information presented on the timeline. The teacher then divides the class into groups - as many as there are events on the axis. Each team works on one assigned issue, deepening the information contained in the abstract and also thinks about the impact of the issue on our century. Then the students present their discussions..

3. The teacher together with the students sums up the current course of classes.

4. The teacher displays the map from Task 2. He reads out the task and, if necessary, helps student work out the answers.

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 1. The teacher checks if the task has been correctly completed and gives feedback to students.

6. Students analyze the gallery of illustrations and execute Task 3. To answer the question, they can use Internet sources or other publications. The teacher checks the correctness of the answer and provides feedback to the students.

Summary

1. The teacher asks a willing student to summarize the lesson from his point of view. He asks other students if they would like to add anything to their colleague's statements.

2. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Make at home a note from the lesson, for example using the sketchnoting method.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

The Sixteenth Century – Revision

The great geographical discoveries led to the expansion of knowledge about the world and other cultures. The most important states to take part in the discoveries were Spain and Portugal. The faraway sea expeditions were facilitated by the invention of the caravel, the compass, and the astrolabe. Some of the famous discoverers were: Bartolomeu Dias (Cape of Good Hope), Vasco da Gama (the way to India), Christopher Columbus (discovery of America), Ferdinand Magellan (cruise around the globe). The geographical discoveries bore many consequences, both positive and negative. Owing to their faraway voyages, the Europeans learned of and brought to Europe many new plants, such as beans, potatoes, peppers, pineapples and corn. Owing to the faraway expeditions, cartography developed. New, more precise maps were created. Unfortunately, the geographical discoveries entailed the destruction of the rich Maya, Aztec and Inca civilizations. After the discoverers’, the conquistadors followed, bringing about the collapse of the indigenous cultures.

The sixteenth century brought the Renaissance (“rebirth”) era upon Europe. It was born in Italy and marked the beginning of the modern era. The rulers and rich magnates, wishing to demonstrate their identities, would build palaces, adorned with paintings and sculptures commissioned to artists. Patronage was a very important institution of the era. Some of the most excellent artists of the Renaissance hailed from Italy: Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael Santi, Michelangelo. One should also mention an important Polish scientist, Nicholas Copernicus. He created the heliocentric theory, stating that Earth orbited the Sun. The artists of the Renaissance took their models from the Antiquity. The ideal Renaissance man was one of wide‑ranging education, sought to learn about the world, and drawing joy from the surrounding nature. A new philosophical current – Humanism – was born, with Terence’s words, “I am a man: and I deem nothing pertaining to man is foreign to me”, became its credo.

Another important event of the sixteenth century was the reformation. It was started by the German monk Martin Luther, who sought to thoroughly reform the Church. Another reformist, John Calvin, preached the doctrine of predestination, or the view that man has no influence on whether he would be saved or condemned, as his fate was predetermined by God. As a result of the Reformation, new protestant denominations were born: Lutheranism, Calvinism, and Anglicanism, the latter of which were introduced in England by King Henry VIII.