Topic: Middle Ages – an underestimated era

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

III. Medieval Europe. Student:

1. places the state of the Franks in time and space;

2. places new states in Europe in time and space;

3. explains the causes and consequences of the split in the Church in the 11th century and describes the relations between the imperial and papal authorities;

4. characterizes the causes and effects of the crusades.

IV. Society and culture of medieval Europe. Student:

1. presents the institutions of the fiefdom system, explains the concept of medieval society orders and characterizes social divisions in the Middle Ages;

2. describes the living conditions of the medieval city and village;

3. compares the knights' culture and urban culture, describes the characteristic features of the medieval knight's model, recognizes the monuments of medieval culture, indicates the differences between the Romanesque style and the Gothic style;

4. explains the role of the church (including religious orders) in the fields of science, architecture, art and everyday life.

General aim of education

The student will learn about the basics of medieval social relations.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to indicate when the Middle Ages began and ended;

• to describe the most important events, processes and changes that took place in the Middle Ages;

• to characterize what the universalism of the Middle Ages was.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion.

• 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. Then the students present their discussions.

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

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

5. Students in pairs solve the Exercise 2.

6. The teacher displays the map from Exercise 3. He reads out the task and, if necessary, helps student work out the answers.

7. Students perform exercises and commands. The teacher complements them with a historical context, providing students with the necessary information. Checks if the tasks have been correctly completed and gives feedback to 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. Students solve exercises that were not completed during the lesson.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Middle Ages – an underestimated era

During the 1000 years of the Medieval era, almost all the principles and foundations that created it were changed and transformed. Starting from the exercise and participation in power and ending with the perception of the world and God. The independent power of emperors, kings and princes, dominant in the first centuries of the epoch, and their perception of the state as a private property weakened and changed. This meant that from the 13th century the representatives of the State's had an increasing influence on the rulers decisions, in some places even having the final say over the choice of heir to the throne (among others – the Nobility in Poland).

The Church itself transformed as well, it was its time of expansion and construction of a universal and lasting world. Started in the first centuries of the Middle Ages, the Christianisation of Europe, although completed only in the fifteenth century, proved to be a success. However, it was not only the time of Christianity's strength and unity. As early as in the 11th century, the ways of the Church in the East and West diverged and the crisis of the Western Church became an arena of struggle for power between the Pope and the Emperor. Numerous reforms (e.g. Gregorian), demands for a moral renewal, and attempts to become independent from secular power continued throughout the entire epoch, with various luck.

Significant changes also occurred in the medieval society itself. For centuries, its main feature was the dominant role of knighthood, and later the Nobility's in the structures of power. But even here changes occurred and in 14th and 15th centuries a significant role was played by the middle class thanks to the development of trade.

Urban development and the role of trade, more and more important in economic life, became one of the most important factors that in the near future led to a clear division of Europe's lands into areas dominated by monetary economy and places where agriculture played the most important role.

Also, the culture of the Middle Ages differed significantly throughout history. Achievements of ancient art and science, forgotten in the first centuries, were once again in the circle of Europeans' interest thanks to the Byzantine and Arab influences. A common feature of medieval culture and art was the religious theme, which dominated the entire epoch. The essence of it was the life of the court and the middle class elites.