This month's topic, the Middle Ages, is a continuation of last month's
subject matter. The material is covered in both lessons and performance
assessment tasks. The lessons should be completed before the tasks and
ideally the tasks should be completed in the numbered sequence. While knowledge
of the content of these lessons is not necessary for success in the performance
assessment tasks, familiarity with the subject matter will aid in the children's
understanding.
Some of the Literature performance assessment tasks this month are
also related to the Middle Ages. Between the History and Literature tasks
the students will be reading for information and for literary enjoyment,
using a table to gather information, and constructing a glyph.
Fourth Grade - World History - Lesson 27- The Norman Conquest
Objective
Become familiar with the Norman Conquest of England.
Materials
Classroom-size world map
Suggested Books
Teacher Reference
Hodges, C. Walter. The Norman Conquest. New York: Coward-McCann,
1966
May, Robin. William the Conqueror and the Normans. New York:
Bookwright Press, 1985.
Sauvain, Philip. Castles and Crusaders. New York: Warwick Press,
1986.
Unstead, R. J. The Middle Ages: Looking at History Book Two.
London: A & C Black, 1974.
Pages 6 and 7 of this book contain photographs of sections of the tapestry
and descriptions of what each section shows.
Teacher Note:
The Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings, is covered
in the Art lessons this month. If you are able to obtain a photograph of
the tapestry, have the students look at it and try to pick out events from
the battle after having been exposed to the basic sequence of events in
this lesson. Ask leading questions. For instance, the students may see
boats filled with soldiers and you could ask if that tapestry scene was
showing the Normans or the Saxons and which destination. (The Normans traveled
by boat from France to England.)
Since the Bayeux Tapestry tells not only the story of the battle, but
also the events that led up to the battle, students may also be able to
glean details about the battle that they did not know before. Have the
students look at the arms and armor used during this time and the fortifications
that were built for protection.
Procedure
Ask the students to recall that Germanic tribes invaded areas of the
Roman Empire causing the empire to be divided. Ask: Does someone remember
the name of the Germanic tribe that invaded what is today England? (the
Saxons) Tell the students that after attacking the northeast coast of England,
the Saxons took control of England from the Romans.
Tell the students that the Saxons ruled in England for hundreds of
years from about 500 A.D. until about 1066 A.D. Relay to the students the
following information:
In 1042 the Saxon throne passed to a king named Edward. Although Edward
was a Saxon, he had lived in a part of France called Normandy for much
of his life. (Tell the students that Normandy is a region of northern France.
Show the students on the classroom world map.) Because of this he felt
more of a connection to the Normans than he did the Saxons. Edward did
not have any sons to take his place as king, so he promised his throne
to Duke William of Normandy, who was also known as William the Conqueror.
When Edward died, a Saxon duke named Harold seized the throne before William
of Normandy was able to claim it.
Ask: What do you think happened after Harold seized the Saxon throne when it had already been promised to William? (The two men fought over the right to rule England.) Tell the students that William sailed with his troops from Northern France across the English Channel to England.
Explain to the students that the English Channel is the strip of water
that separates southern England from France. Show the students the location
of the English Channel on the classroom world map. Tell the students that
the effort of the Normans to take over England is called the Norman
Conquest. Write the term on the board. Explain that the word conquest
means the act of conquering a nation.
Explain that when Harold received word that William the Conqueror was
coming to England, he led troops to stop the Norman invaders. The two armies
met not far from where the Normans landed and fought in a battle called
the Battle of Hastings (write on the board). Tell the students that
Harold was killed in the battle and William was crowned as the new English
king.
Ask: Since William was from another country, do think life in England
changed under his rule? In what ways can you imagine it changed? (He brought
his culture with him. The Norman culture meshed with the Saxon culture.)
Why?
Fourth Grade - World History - Lesson 28 - England in the Middle Ages
Objectives
Identify that Henry II established the right to trial by jury.
Describe the significance of the right to trial by jury.
Suggested Books
Teacher Reference
Biel, Timothy Levi. The Age of Feudalism. San Diego, CA: Lucent
Books, 1994.
Hirsch, E. D. What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know. New York:
Dell, 1992.
Unstead, R. J. The Middle Ages: Looking at History Book Two.
London: A & C Black, 1974.
Procedure
Tell the students that after William the Conqueror took over the throne
of England, the Normans ruled in England for about 200 years. Remind the
students that during this time the cultures of the Saxons and the Normans
meshed together. For example, the languages of the Normans and Saxons mixed
and changed over time to become what we know as the English language.
Tell the students that in the years that followed William's reign the
throne was passed on to William's relatives. In the mid-twelfth century
William's great grandson Henry became the king of England. Explain that
just as presidents in our country are remembered for the accomplishments
during their presidency, kings are also remembered for their accomplishments.
Explain that King Henry II is remembered as having established a law that
even today is one of the most important rights given to people and that
is the right to trial by jury.
Ask: Is this a right that people in our country also have? (yes) Tell
the students that in the American judicial system today we are guaranteed
the right to a speedy, public trial by an impartial jury. Explain the the
word impartial means that the jury does not know the accused and therefore
shouldn't favor one person or another. By establishing this right to trial
in England, Henry II set an example that other nations around the world
have followed. Ask: Why is the right to trial by jury an important right
to have?
Tell the students they are now going to hear an example of how this
worked in medieval times (from What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know
by E. D. Hirsch):
Let's say that you are a knight, the vassal of a feudal lord, and you're
arguing with another knight about which of you owns a magnificent horse.
You know that you won the horse in a recent battle, but the other knight
claims the horse is his. Before the system of trial by jury was invented,
your case might be decided by the feudal lord. And what if the lord didn't
happen to like you? Or what if he decided upon a trial by combat? In a
trial by combat, "might makes
right": what matters isn't who is right but who is stronger . . .
You would probably stand a better chance under the system established
by Henry II. Instead of letting feudal lords decide arguments or punish
crimes, Henry gave these powers to judges who would hold royal courts throughout
England. This way, you could take your case before one of these royal courts.
The judge would call together a jury, usually a group of twelve local people
who were your social peers (people who were as high as you on the social
ladder). These people would swear to tell the truth. (The word "jury"
comes from the French word juror, meaning Tao
swear.")
Explain that the judge would ask questions to find out who should own
the horse.
Have the students discuss the significance of the right to trial by jury. Ask: What makes the right to trial by jury a more fair process of settling disputes?
Fourth Grade - World History - Lesson 29 - King Henry II of England
Objectives
Become familiar with the events that occurred during the reign of King
Henry II.
Discuss the significance of the Magna Carta and a Parliamentary form
of government.
Suggested Books
Biel, Timothy Levi. The Age of Feudalism. San Diego, CA: Lucent
Books, 1994.
Hirsch, E. D. What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know. New York:
Dell, 1992.
Procedure
Have the students recall what they know about King Henry II of England.
Ask: What was one great accomplishment of King Henry II? (establishing
the right to a trial by jury) Tell the students that in addition to this
great accomplishment, King Henry II lived a life full of other noteworthy
events.
Explain that by appointing judges to be in charge of royal courts,
Henry II had taken power away from the feudal lords because they were no
longer the ones to make decisions about people's disputes. Tell the students
that during this time the Catholic church also had separate courts run
by the church. Explain that King Henry wanted to make changes in the way
the church's courts were run, but the pope was not willing to give up the
church's power. Tell the students that in an effort to get around this
Henry appointed his good friend Thomas `a Beckett to a powerful position
in the church Thomas `a Beckett became the archbishop of Canterbury. Explain
that King Henry thought that by appointing his friend as archbishop, Thomas
`a Beckett could work from within to weaken the church courts, but this
did not happen. Instead Beckett worked against the king, so King Henry
had him killed.
Explain that the murder of Thomas `a Beckett upset many people. Tell
the students that he was buried at Canterbury Cathedral and soon after
his death the church declared him to be a saint. Beckett's burial site
became a place to which people called pilgrims would travel. These people
visited Beckett's grave or the tomb of another saint. When they arrived,
the pilgrims would pray to the saint for help.
Tell the students that another controversy in King Henry's life was
his marriage to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Tell the students that Aquitaine
was an area that is part of present-day France. Explain that Eleanor was
a powerful, well-educated woman who inherited a good deal of land from
her father. The marriage of Henry to Eleanor made for a powerful merger
because it made Henry not only the king of England, but also gave him control
over a good deal of land in France. Ask: How do you think the King of France
felt about that? Draw the following family tree on the board.
Henry II + Eleanor of Aquitaine
Henry Richard Geoffrey John Isabella
Tell the students that King Henry II and Eleanor had five children.
Explain that when Henry II died the throne went to his son Richard. After
Richard died the throne passed to his brother, John.
Tell the students that King John was not a good king. He was cruel
to his subjects and
very greedy. Explain that he taxed the people very heavily and therefore
even the noblemen disliked him. In 1215, King John's nobles forced
him to sign a document called the Magna Carta (write on the board),
which is a document that made promises about what the king could and couldn't
do. Explain that the Magna Carta said that the king could raise taxes only
if the nobles agreed to it, the king could not sell justice or deny it
-- which meant that no one could buy his way out of punishment for a crime,
and a free man could not be put in prison unless he was charged as guilty
in a trial. Tell the students that the Magna Carta is an important document
because it guaranteed liberty to all English citizens.
Ask: Do any of the promises made in the Magna Carta sound similar to
rights that American citizens have? Explain to the students that because
America began as an English colony, England gave her colonies some of the
same rights enjoyed by English citizens. Also, writers of the Constitution
of the United States referred to the Magna Carta when writing the Constitution,
so many of the same ideas are in both documents.
Tell the students that in addition to limiting the king's power through
the Magna Carta, a group called a Parliament was formed to discuss and
respond to people's concerns and wishes regarding the kingdom. When Parliament
began it was made up of noblemen, but over time Parliament has had representatives
from many classes of society. Explain that as the system developed over
hundreds of years, the system became such that the king would ask Parliament
for something and in return he would possibly grant something that Parliament
wanted for the people they represented. Tell the students that Parliament
was the beginning of a representative government, which is another idea
American government inherited from England.
Have the students recall what they know about the feudal system. Ask
them to compare the hierarchy of the feudal system to the system of Parliament
that developed in England. Ask: Which was a more fair way of governing
a country? For example, in a feudal system serfs did not have any say in
the rules by which they were forced to live, but with a Parliament or a
representative government the representative spoke for the people he represented,
including the common people. Ask: How is the government in our country
like that of the Parliament system?
Fourth Grade - World History - Lesson 30 - The Hundred Years War and Joan of Arc
Objectives
Locate, England, Scotland, and Wales on a world map.
Become familiar with the events of the Hundred Years' War.
Materials
Classroom-size world map
Suggested Books
Biel, Timothy Levi. The Age of Feudalism. San Diego, CA: Lucent
Books, 1994.
Fisher, Aileen. Jeanne D'Arc. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1970.
Storr, Catherine. Joan of Arc. Milwaukee: Raintree, 1985.
Procedure
Ask the students to recall the reign of King Henry II, reminding them
of Thomas `a Beckett, Henry II's marriage to Eleanor, and the right to
trial by jury. Direct the students' attention to the world map. Point to
England. Tell the students that they will notice that England is part of
an island which contains two other areas called Scotland and Wales (point
to each on the map). Explain that although King Henry II was the king of
England, the people who lived in Scotland and Wales resisted falling under
the rule of the king of England.
Tell the students that today England, Scotland, and Wales remain separate
areas which make up the island of Great Britain. Write the name of Great
Britain on the board with the names of the three countries. Have students
come up to the world map to locate the three areas in Great Britain. Ask:
What body of water would someone who lived in England have to cross in
order to get to the country of France? (the English Channel) Point out
that Great Britain is bordered on all sides by water. Ask: Can someone
come up to the map and locate and name the bodies of water that surround
Great Britain? (the North Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel,
and the Irish Sea)
Have a student locate the island of Ireland on the map. Tell the students
that although Henry also claimed lordship over Ireland, the English never
gained control of the whole island. Explain to the students that the islands
of Ireland and Great Britain are also referred to as the British Isles
(write on the board).
Remind the students that Henry II gained land in France from his marriage
to Eleanor of Aquitaine. Tell the students that this claim to French land
was passed to his son Richard and eventually his son John. Explain that
the king of France was not pleased by this and wanted to get the English
out of France. Tell the students that King John would not give up his French
land and the conflict between England and France started the Hundred Years'
War which lasted from 1337-1453. Explain that there were many small and
large battles during the Hundred Years' War and even though the French
soldiers usually outnumbered the English soldiers, the French came very
close to losing the war.
Tell the students that a woman named Joan of Arc was the one who saved
the French from defeat. Explain that Joan of Arc was a very religious French
woman who said she heard voices from heaven telling her to force the English
out of France. Explain that even though it was very unusual for a woman
to be in a powerful leadership position, especially as a soldier, she convinced
the king of France to give her an army to lead in battle against the English.
Joan of Arc won many battles and helped Charles VII claim his land and
his throne as king of France. Ask: How do you think the French people felt
about Joan of Arc? (thought of her as a hero) Explain that although
most people in France thought of her as a hero, she was captured and turned
over to the English. The English tried her and charged her as being a witch
for which she was burned at the stake. Tell the students that the Catholic
church made Joan a saint many years later. Ask: Why do you think the church
named Joan a saint? (She had a strong belief in her religion and saved
her country from being taken over.)
You may wish to read Jeanne D'Arc by Aileen Fisher or Joan
of Arc by Catherine Storr aloud to the class.