Topic: Who were Slavs and where did they come from?

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

5th‑grade students of elementary school

III. Medieval Europe. Pupil:

2) places new countries in Europe in time and space.

General aim of education

Students will learn when the state organizations of the first Slavs were formed

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• where Slavs come from;

• when and where the first Slavic states came into being;

• the culture of the first Slavs;

• what Slavs had in common.

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

Before classes

1. Students should remember what the great migration of peoples was and who the Saints Cyril and Methodius were. As an introduction to classes, students at home watch movies from the e‑textbook of „Skąd wywodzili się Słowianie” and „Spór o pochodzenie Słowian. Autochtoniści i allochtoniści”.

Introduction

1. The teacher gives students the topic and purpose of the lesson and success criteria.

2. The teacher, referring to the homework, asks the students what the concept of the great migration of peoples means and what it led to.

Realization

1. The teacher explains the students why we know very little about the origin of the Slavs and how it happened that they came to the territories of today's Central and Eastern Europe. Students read a fragment of the work on the history of the Goths and become acquainted with the map by doing Exercise 1 and Task 1. The teacher then makes sure that the task has been correctly performed by the students and gives them feedback.

2. The teacher presents and characterizes the first Slavic states: Samona - students carry out the Task 2; Great Moravian - students do Exercise 2; he mentions the Přemyslid monarchy and describes Kievan Rus - students perform Exercise 3. After the presentation and short characterization of countries, students perform Exercise 4, marking contemporary countries in which the Slavs settled. The teacher makes sure that the tasks have been correctly completed and gives feedback.

3. Then the teacher introduces students to the culture and religion of the Slavs. He emphasizes the differences between the Slavs and the peoples of Western Europe. He mentions their customs, language and beliefs. Students do Exercise 5 (match the names of the deities to the depicted images) and Exercise 6 (based on the short text combine the sentences). Then the exercises are checked together by the teacher and students. At the end, the teacher verbally gives students feedback.

Summary

1. The students watch the film from the e‑textbook „Co łączyło wszystkich Słowian?” And try to answer the question what features of life were common for the Slavs.

2. The teacher assesses the students' work during the lesson, taking into account their input and commitment. For this purpose, he may prepare an evaluation questionnaire for self‑assessment and evaluation of the teacher's work and other students.

Homework

1. The teacher sets homework (it is not an obligatory part of the script): Listen to the story of prof. Sławomir Moździocha (from the e‑textbook) on the culture of the Slavs. Pay attention to what characterized it and whar were differences from the culture of Germanic peoples inhabiting Western Europe?.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Who were Slavs and where did they come from?

Slavs appear in historical sources quite late. One of the first writers to mention them was Jordanes, who lived in the 6th century. The reasons for this can be said to be, among other things, the fact that the first Slavs did not organize states. It is also difficult to unambiguously identify their place of origin. Most often it is assumed that it was the area of today’s Ukraine, between the Carpathian Mountains and the Dnieper River.

Also, we cannot really speak of a common Slavic culture. Undoubtedly, what they had in common was the language. Unfortunately, due to the lack of sources, we do not know what dialects it had and how they differed from one another. There were also common objects of everyday use and no visible divisions of property in society. Religious life, as well as the appearance of settlements, still remains a big mystery for us. Since there were no stone buildings, their traces have not survived to this day.

At the end of the 5th century, the first Slavs left their previous bases and began their expansion into Western and Southern Europe. Over the next two hundred years, they occupied significant areas of the eastern and central part of the continent. This journey was forced by the invasions of peoples from the depths of Asia, and became a part of the great period of migration called The Migration Period. At that time, they reached the lands inhabited by Germans and occupied a large part of the Balkan Peninsula. It was there that the first known Slavic states were established: Samo’s Empire (7th century), probably including Moravia, Bohemia and Carinthia, which was the tribal union. However, Samo, a Frankish merchant, did not create permanent structures and after his death the state he ruled ceased to exist.

Of great significance for the history of Slavs was the state established in the 9th century called Great Moravia by researchers. Some of them believe that it was a continuation of Samo’s Empire. Its founder and leader, Mojmir I of Moravia, as well as his successors, carried out a policy of expansion to the neighboring lands. They also had close contacts with Byzantium, which resulted in, among other things, Mojmir’s baptism in 831 as well as the missionary activity of Cyril and Methodius. Great Moravia was the first effectively‑operating Slav monarchy. Its collapse was connected with the invasions of Hungarian peoples at the beginning of the 10th century, as well as dynastic disputes.

Dukes of the Přemyslid dynasty took over a part of the Great Moravia lands. They gained control over the people living in the Bohemian Basin and then the neighboring lands, thus creating, in the middle of the 10th century, one of the most powerful states in the region – the Duchy of Bohemia.

At the same time, a state with its capital in Kiev was formed in the east. Its founder was Oleg, who conquered and united the tribes in this area. His heir, Vladimir the Great, took control of the neighboring lands (including the Cherven Cities) and, in 988, was baptized through the Byzantium. In return for helping Emperor Basil II, he received his sister as a wife, which was not only a great honor but which, above all, strengthened his position both domestically and internationally.