The Visual Arts lessons for the month of February follow the World History
curriculum, continuing the unit on the study of the Middle Ages. The first
lesson continues the study of Medieval religious art by taking a
look at the stained glass produced for the Gothic cathedrals that
the students looked at in the previous lesson.
The next three lessons concentrate on secular life in the Middle Ages
and the expression of the arts in that realm. The second lesson looks at
Medieval castles, their purpose and their architecture, with two optional
activities. Next the students look at needlework, both in the Unicorn tapestries
and in the so-called Bayeux tapestry (which is really embroidery on plain
woven linen). In this lesson, they see how valuable these works
of art have been as source materials to historians of the period in
a way that the students may recognize as being similar to some of the quilts
and paintings produced in the colonial period in America.
The final lesson this month centers on an activity related to the tradition
of Medieval Bestiaries, those wonderful collections that pictured beasts
real and imaginary in graphic detail, usually accompanied by a somewhat
moralistic tale or poem.
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 20 - Stained Glass
Objectives
Observe examples of stained glass in Gothic cathedrals.
Recall religious nature of Medieval art (Visual Arts Lesson 16).
Recall use of stained glass art as tool for teaching people who could
not read.
Complete an activity simulating stained glass.
Materials
Illustrations of stained glass windows from Gothic cathedrals, see
Suggested Books
Black construction paper, scissors, glue, and colored cellophane or
colored tissue
Compass or pattern for drawing perfect circles (at least 5" diameter)
on paper
String and stapler (optional for hanging in window)
Suggested Books
Teacher Reference & for showing illustrations to class
Batterberry, Michael. Art of the Middle Ages. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1971.
Many beautiful examples of stained glass in unusually large color format
are found on pp. 110 to 114. Batterberry also gives a good description
of a rose window in that section. The facades of the 4 cathedrals shown
on pp. 98 and 99 all have large rose windows; the students can clearly
see the tracery and shapes, plus the fact that the color is not really
visible from the outside, since no light is shining through.
Gandiol-Coppin, Brigitte. Cathedrals: Stone upon Stone. Ossining,
NY: Young Discovery Library, 1989.
A good explanation of how glassmakers contributed to the building of
Gothic cathedrals. The painting on p. 23 by Dominique Thibault, features
lots of the "heavenly blue" so common in a typical Virgin and Child paintings
of the time.
Hirsch, E. D., Jr., ed. What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know.
New York: Doubleday, 1992.
Black-and-white photos of rose windows from two French cathedrals are
on pp. 232 and 233, along with text (beginning on p. 231) explaining the
use and importance of stained glass windows (rose windows in particular)
and directions for making a small rose window similar to the one we suggest
in this lesson.
Howarth, Sarah. Medieval People. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook
Press, 1992.
Fine examples of stained glass are on pp. 22-23 and 31.
Langley, Andrew. Medieval Life. New York: Knopf and London:
Dorling Kindersley, 1996.
"The Art of Decoration," on pp. 34 and 35 tells how Medieval stained
glass was made,
the materials used for various colors, and good, life-size photographs
of the tools that were used.
Macdonald, Fiona. A Medieval Cathedral. New York: Peter Bedrick
Books, 1992.
Examples of stained glass art are found on p. 26, which is designated
"The Bible of the Poor."
Procedure
Begin the class by reviewing the characteristics of Medieval art (its
generally Christian and religious nature, its use as a teaching tool for
the largely illiterate population, and its expression in Gothic cathedrals:
in the form of architecture; sculpture in stone, wood, and ivory; wall
paintings; its largely symbolic nature with little regard for time and
space; its use of the Bible for subject matter). If you have some of the
books suggested in Lessons 16-20, show some examples as the students note
the characteristics.
Next, show some examples of Medieval stained glass. Have the students
identify the elements of art in the examples they see. Color will be one
of the main elements they notice and they may be interested to know the
way the glass was colored, adding metal oxides to the molten glass or placing
colored material between two clear sheets of glass, melting and then cooling
again before cutting into puzzle-like pieces. They will be able to identify
geometric shapes such as circles, squares, quatrefoils (the French term
for four-leafed shapes), which they may also see on shields and banners
from Medieval France, and many other curved forms. Tell them that the paintings
were created on large "cartoons," or sketches and then transferred to the
individual pieces of glass. Lead was used to fuse and connect the individual
pieces of colored glass, and sometimes a special kind of paint known as
"grisaille" was used to further define faces, and features. The stonework
that they see surrounding and defining the overall shapes of stained glass
windows are called tracery. Put the word on the board and have the
students say it once or twice as they identify it in photographs of rose
windows from the outside, where it is particularly obvious.
Tell the students that as they walk around downtown Baltimore, they
will not be able to see brilliant stained glass windows, because it is
the light of the sun shining through the windows that brings out the color.
Tell them that light is probably the most important element in the art
of stained glass windows. (They can see a rose window on the facade of
the Methodist Church at Charles and Monument Streets. Again, they will
see the tracery and shapes from the outside, but would have to go inside
on a sunny day to see the color.) If colored illustrations of stained glass
windows are large enough, you may want to identify the (usually Biblical)
characters for the students and remind them that these windows were a way
for illiterate people to learn about the stories of Christianity on the
one hand, and a way of extending the available space and light inside Gothic
cathedrals from an architectural point of view. (Rose windows most often
picture Christ and/or his mother, the Virgin Mary. The students may want
to comment on the differences in the portrayal of Christ as baby they have
seen in paintings with the portrayal of Christ in the rose windows you
show them.)
Activity - Rose Window
1. Give each student 2 pieces of black construction paper put together
with a paper clip so all the edges are even. Using a pencil, have them
trace around a perfect circle or create one with a compass. The circle
should be as large as the size of the paper will allow.
2. Having 2 identical black circles exactly on top of one another, have the students fold them together once, in half; then again, in quarters; for a third time, in 8ths. From here on, the process is similar to making a snowflake except that they should not make any cuts in the open rounded edge, otherwise the round shape of the rose window would disappear. Encourage them to make as many cuts as possible in the folded sides. (Demonstrate for them, emphasizing how simple the cutout shapes can be so they won't be tempted to cut all the way through.)
3. Have them open their 2 circles and ask them what architectural term
would name what they have so far made (tracery). Let them choose colored
tissue (or colored cellophane) to create the "stained glass" whose shapes
will be determined by the shapes they have created with the
tracery.
4. Have them glue the 2 identical black traceries together, making sure
to match them carefully,
to enclose the pieces of color. If you wish to hang them in the windows,
a piece of string can be stapled to the completed rose windows. (If the
cutout, colored shapes are large enough, students may choose to define
them further with black magic markers.)
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 21 - Medieval Castles
Note for the Teacher
This lesson is designed to reinforce and supplement some material
of
this month's World History curriculum. It should not be taught before they
have learned about feudalism and chivalry. Since there is such a
wealth of titles available to youngsters about castles, knights, and related
subjects, the students will be asked to divide into groups, choose a book,
and do some simple research before answering some questions and proceeding
to an activity. The Suggested Book list below is just a fraction of what
is available at most libraries.
Objectives
Examine a book about castles and read some parts of it for information.
Recall the basic class distinctions among people in secular feudal
society.
Observe the architecture of Medieval castles.
Identify Medieval castles as homes for lords, vassals, and knights.
Make a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting Medieval castles and
Gothic cathedrals (optional).
Complete a simple castle-building project (optional).
Materials
Illustrations of Medieval castles, see Suggested Books
Illustrations of Gothic cathedrals, see Suggested Books for Visual
Arts Lesson 19.
Scrap paper and pencils for taking notes
Paper, pencils, scissors, cardboard, tempera and brushes (optional)
Suggested Books
Student Titles
Brochard, Philippe. Castles of the Middle Ages. Morristown,
NJ: Silver Burdett, 1985.
Each section is illustrated by a reproduced Medieval miniature plus
cartoon-like colored drawings showing aspects of everyday life in a castle
plus the activities it supported (jousting, heraldry, warfare, games, the
code of chivalry, and so on).
Cox, Phil Roxbee. What were castles for? London: Usborne, 1994.
One of the Usborne Starting Point series, this is organized around
a series of questions a youngster might ask about life under the feudal
system. The drawings are lively and it is easily read independently.
Gravett, Christopher. Knight. New York: Dorling Kindersley,
1993.
Another of the Eyewitness series, this has full-color photos of 2 typical
Medieval castles clearly built primarily for defense that would be useful
as contrasts to cathedrals. They
are on pp. 22-25.
Unstead, R. J. See Inside a Castle. New York: Warwick Press,
1986.
Large and detailed drawings illustrate the insides and outsides of
a typical late Medieval stone castle and its chief function as means of
protection and defense against enemies.
Vaughan, Jenny. Castles. New York: Franklin Watts, 1984.
A small book, this has the basics and can be read independently by
4th graders. Includes both clear drawings and some colored photos of Medieval
castles still standing.
Warwick, Alan R. Let's Look at Castles. Chicago: Albert Whitman,
1965.
Not a recent book, but it is a wonderful history of castle-building
in England, beginning
with the first Frankish and Norman castles and including the architectural
changes
that were the result of the Crusades and contact with Muslim and Saracen
buildings. It is well written and makes an exciting story to read aloud
to fourth graders.
Books for Castle-Building Activities
Nevett, Louise, illustrator. Build Your Own Castle. New York:
Watts, 1985.
A how-to book for students of Grades 3-6, this consists entirely of
illustrations and
simple directions that students themselves can follow. Materials are
easy to come by (plastic bottles, cardboard, milk/juice cartons, etc.)
and projects include many individual parts of a castle including towers
and battlements, gatehouse and drawbridge, lances, pennants, and shields.
This could guide an ongoing class project over a period of several weeks.
Oliver, Victoria Prego de. Castles. London: Wayland Publishers,
1979.
Part of a Read and Build series, this is similar to the Nevett book,
listed above, but more complex. In addition to detailed instructions for
building all sections of a castle, shields, standards, and a particularly
accessible design for a knight's helmet, there are photos of Medieval castles
and explanatory texts good for reading aloud.
Procedure
Begin the class by setting out a variety of books about castles. Divide
the class into groups of 4-6 students and have each group settle down with
a book. Say to them: For today's lesson, you are going to be the information
gatherers about our subject. You already know some things about feudalism
in Europe from your History lessons, and these books will help you to learn
more about Medieval castles, that is castles that were built during the
Middle Ages in Western Europe.
Have the students take out scrap paper and pencils for taking notes
as you write some questions on the board to guide their research. Have
a student read each of the questions aloud to be sure everyone understands
them.
1. Which classes of people lived in castles?
2. What material were most castles built of during the 12th and 13th
centuries?
3. What are the 2 main purposes of a castle?
4. How would you describe the architecture of Medieval castles?
Give the students time to find the information and write it on scrap
paper if they wish. Each group may operate differently, and they should
be given as much independence as possible, as long as they are able to
gather the information guided by the questions on the board. Give them
10 or 15 minutes for this as you circulate around the room to give help
where needed. (You may have to repeat the questions for them if you find
a group that is not on track with the assignment.)
When the students are ready, discuss the information they have gathered,
based on the questions on the board, and write all the reasonable answers,
by number. They might include:
1. royalty, lords, vassals, knights
2. stone
3. protection (as in a fortress) and living (as in a home); castles
have to combine both
4. Answers may vary widely. Accept all that indicate the students have
observed carefully the illustrations in their particular books and read
some of the descriptions. They will certainly notice the thickness of walls,
the elevation of the building, and the small size and number of windows.
They may note the crenellations or raised and lowered sections of stonework
useful as battlements in defense (element of line) in some, the presence
of shapes such as cylinders, rectangles, etc., the relative lack of light,
little variety in color, and so on.
Optional Activity - Venn Diagram
You could brainstorm a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting a typical
castle and cathedral of the same period with the students if there is time
and interest. Its content would be based on the answers they have gathered
to the 4 questions. They would probably note the similarity of building
material, strength of walls, verticality. Contrasts would include the tendency
to include larger and larger windows in cathedrals, the use of stained
glass and sculpture on the outside, whereas the only art work in castles
would be found on the inside. Other important differences would be contrasting
purposes (one to bring all classes of people inside) the other to protect
and house particular people. Again, the objective here would be to let
the students use their powers of deduction and inference as independently
as possible on the basis of information they have gathered themselves.
Congratulate them on these things.
Optional Activity - Simple Castle Building
You may decide to undertake an extended class project of castle building
based on one of the Suggested Books above, whose directions are extremely
clear for students of this age and materials easy to gather. A relatively
simple activity for individuals, easily completed in a short time, is adapted
from one suggested by Linda Horn (Core Knowledge School, Parker, CO). We
have made a pattern that can be photocopied for students to use, but they
should be encouraged to make whatever decorations and/or modifications
that would individualize the castle. The students should:
1. Cut out the pattern on all the solid lines, folding on the dotted
lines.
2. Doors and windows are easier to cut after the basic castle has been
cut and folded.
3. The whole structure can be glued down to a piece of cardboard and
painted with tempera.
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 22 - Medieval Needlework
Note to the Teacher
This lesson is designed to reinforce and supplement some of the material
from World History for this month. It should not be taught before the students
have learned about the Battle of Hastings.
Objectives
Learn that Medieval tapestries were woven on looms.
Observe some details from the Unicorn tapestries.
Recall the historical story depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry (from History
Lesson 27).
Identify the figures on the Bayeux Tapestry as embroidered, not woven
into the cloth.
Note the uses of Medieval art works as historical source materials.
Materials
Classroom-size map of Europe
Illustrations of the Unicorn tapestries and the Bayeux tapestry, see
Suggested Books
Suggested Books
Student Titles
Beckett, Sister Wendy. The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle
Ages. New York & Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1997.
Full-page reproductions of the calendar pages from the Duc de Berry's
illuminated Book of Hours, with details decorating the facing pages. Beckett
describes the 12 scenes with her inimitable blend of artistic appreciation
and historical knowledge.
Giblin, James Cross. The Truth About Unicorns. New York: HarperCollins,
1991.
Six tapestries from The Hunt of the Unicorn series are presented
in this book, illustrated with drawings by Michael McDermott.
Hirsch, E. D., Jr., ed. What Your 4th Grader Needs to Know.
New York: Doubleday, 1992.
A black-and-white photo of one of the Unicorn tapestry series is on
p. 131. A detail from the Bayeux tapestry and its historical background
in the Battle of Hastings are found on pp. 133-135.
Howarth, Sarah. What Do We Know About the Middle Ages? New York:
Peter Bedrick Books, 1995.
The entire front and back endpapers are a detail in color from a German
tapestry of ca. 1410 that shows men and women haying.
McGraw, Eloise. The Striped Ships. Macmillan, 1991.
This is a wonderful, historically accurate novel about an 11-yr-old
girl at time of 1066. Her father is a Saxon noble, and she tells the story
from the point of view of those who have been defeated and displaced by
the Normans. She ends up utilizing her needlework skills by participating
in the creation of the Bayeux tapestry. It is a chapter book and probably
too difficult for most fourth graders to read independently, but would
be an excellent choice for reading aloud to a class all during the Medieval
History unit. It is based on good research and is lively and filled with
details of everyday living and convincing family relationships.
Williams, Helen. Stories in Art. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook
Press, 1991.
A refreshing approach to works of art by way of the stories they tell,
the art works chosen to reproduce cross cultures and centuries very freely
for the sake of thematic grouping.
Especially useful for this lesson is a reproduction of the French tapestry
"Lady with Lion, Animals, and Flowers" on p. 17 and a two-page reproduction
of "Harold's Oath to William" from the Bayeux tapestry on pp. 26 and 27.
On pp. 8 and 9 Williams shows calendar pages from the Duke de Berry's Book
of Hours with all their delightful domestic detail.
Teacher Reference & for showing illustrations to class
Batterberry, Michael, adapted by. Art of the Middle Ages. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
An excellent, large (2 full pages) color reproduction of a close-up
of the Bayeux Tapestry clearly shows the 8 colors and the stitchery on
pp. 92 and 93. Another two-page
enlargement on pp. 117-118 shows a detail from a French religious tapestry
(commissioned by Duke of Anjou in the late 14th century) that includes
some magnificent lions and a sun radiating brilliant red rays.
Gaffron, Norma. Unicorns. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 1989.
This is part of a large series called Great Mysteries: opposing viewpoints.
A few of the Cluny tapestries are reproduced in black and white. The Cloisters
unicorn tapestries are illustrated and the stories they tell are discussed
on pp. 76-83.
Video
Cloisters. Home Vision CLO 01, 1989. (Call number at library:
VID 708.1G)
This 27 minute video shows the best of the Medieval art at the Cloisters,
which is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The Unicorn
tapestries are at the Cloisters and shown in color in this video.
Procedure
Begin the class by having the students gather around you and showing
them some colored reproductions of any part of the Bayeux tapestry from
one of the Suggested Books. Ask them to identify anything they see. (It
might be arrows, boats, sails, soldiers, swords, animals, birds, and so
on.) Next, ask them: What do you think is happening here? (Accept any reasonable
answers.) Encourage them and give them hints so they figure out that this
is the story of the Battle of Hastings. Ask someone to tell the class about
the Battle of Hastings, when and where it took place, and the names of
some of the main characters in the story according to what they have learned
in World History this month.
Ask the students: What other works of art have you seen that tell a
story? (Washington Crossing the Delaware and, possibly other paintings
commemorating battle from the American Revolution) Ask them: Does Leutze's
painting tell the whole story of the Battle of Trenton or just one scene
from the story? (1 scene) Tell the students that the Bayeux tapestry tells
the whole story of the Battle of Hastings and they are looking at just
one very small section of it. Say to them: This artwork is 230 feet long
(estimate that length, perhaps the length of one side of their school building),
and it is not a painting, but a long, continuous piece of cloth with all
the pictures embroidered in needlework. (Establish what needlework is --
crocheting, handmade lace, cross stitch, etc.) It has 72 different scenes,
running continuously, one after the other.
Ask the students: do you think this artwork was made by one artist?
(no) Tell them it involved many, many people. Someone made a sketch of
all the scenes; someone enlarged the sketches into what they called "cartoons"
the actual size of the artwork, people dyed the yarns with plant materials,
someone wove the background fabric on a loom, and then many skilled needleworkers
-- probably women -- made the actual designs that tell the story. How many
colors
do you see in this section? (There are 8 different colors in all. See
whether they can give some of them names.) Ask them: How long have these
designs and colors lasted? (1997-1066' 931 years)
Does that seem a long time for something made of fabric to last?
Ask the students to tell you what besides designs and pictures they
see on the Bayeux tapestry (some kind of writing). Ask them: Do you think
the writing is embroidered or painted? (embroidered) Can you read any of
it? (If they happen to be looking at a panel with the proper name, such
as Harold, they may be able to; otherwise probably not.) What language
do you think this is? (Latin) Why would it be Latin when the artwork was
made in England? (Latin was the language of the Church and of all well-educated
people in Western Europe in the Middle Ages.)
Ask the students: What kinds of lines do you see and where? (curved,
wavy lines for water and in design of ship; diagonals in decorative border,
some swords and arrows, etc. let them point out the particular lines they
identify) Ask them: What kinds of animals do you see in the borders that
decorate this work of art? (They will be able to identify some as birds,
a lion, a dog, but in general, they will find the animals are combinations
of different characteristics, such as the wings of a bird and the body
of a lion. Have them describe the different animal parts that they recognize.)
Say to them: You can see what an excellent historical source the Bayeux
tapestry is. It tells us how the soldiers in the Battle of Hastings were
dressed, what their weapons were, what the Norman boats looked like, and
much more. Do you think the animals in the borders are good historical
source material for learning what animals looked like in 1066? (no) Tell
the students that in the Middle Ages, people believed in many different
mythological (refer to myth as source for the word) beasts. Some of them
were reported by sailors exploring unknown seas and faraway lands. Some
of them probably came from people's imaginations and stories were made
up about them and passed along from generation to generation, like legends
and fairy tales.
Tell the students that one of these legendary beasts was called a unicorn.
Ask whether anyone has ever seen pictures of a unicorn, or a story about
one. If so, let the person tell the rest of the class about it. Show them
some reproductions of the Unicorn tapestries, and tell them that these
tapestries were made towards the end of the Middle Ages, several hundred
years after the Bayeux tapestry. Say to them: These are really tapestries,
not embroidered cloth. That means that all of these figures and flowers
were woven into the tapestries as the cloth was woven on the loom. Tell
them that most of the Medieval tapestries that have lasted all these years
were made either in France or in Belgium (have someone point them out on
the map) and that very wealthy lords commissioned tapestries as artwork
to hang in their castles for their colorful beauty and to help keep out
the cold that seeped into the stone walls during the winter.
Tell the students that the Unicorn tapestries tell a story about hunting
a unicorn, killing it, presenting it to the lord and lady of the castle,
and -- in the last scene -- about the unicorn coming back to life and frolicking
within a fenced off, round area in a flower-filled field. Say to them:
The Unicorn tapestries are not continuous like the Bayeux tapestry. Each
scene is separate and tells just one part of the story.
Fourth Grade - Visual Arts - Lesson 23 - Activity Inspired by Medieval Bestiaries
Objectives
Note that Medieval bestiaries featured animals both real and imaginary.
Note that texts for bestiaries included brief texts, rhymed and unrhymed,
usually with a moral.
Create a page of a bestiary with text and illustration.
Materials
Examples of modern books in the tradition of Medieval bestiaries, see
Suggested Books
Oak tag or other heavy paper, preferably off-white in color
Crayons, markers, and pens
Suggested Books
Dickey, James. Tucky the Hunter. New York: Crown, 1978.
One continuous poem about a child traveling around the world in his
imagination, hunting for animals. Marie Angel's watercolor paintings of
the animals he encounters are not only delicate but they incorporate decorated
initials as well.
Farber, Norma. When It Snowed That Night. New York: HarperCollins,
1993.
Farber includes some surprising animals among those traveling to the
Nativity. Her poems are expressively illustrated with the rich colors of
Petra Mathers. Boxed initials begin each poem.
Florian, Douglas. beast feast. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994.
These animals are all real, but Florian's poems and paintings are highly
fanciful.
________. in the swim. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
Delightful poems and paintings are by the author, and all the creatures
live in the sea.
Gardner, John. A Child's Bestiary. New York: Knopf, 1977.
The poems are amusing as are the line drawings by Lucy, Joel, Joan
& John Gardner. All the animals have expressive faces and are recognizable
except the phoenix and the yeti.
Hughes, Ted. Under the North Star. New York: Viking, 1981.
Dramatic animal portraits by Leonard Baskin and 23 animal poems by
British poet Ted Hughes.
Kennedy, X. J. The Beasts of Bethlehem. New York: Macmillan,
1992.
The 19 poems, each in the voice of the creature itself, are illustrated
By Michael McCurdy.
Nash, Ogden. Ogden Nash's Zoo. New York: Stewart, Tabori &
Chang, 1987.
A small book with Nash's witty, short poems about birds and animals,
illustrated in subtly shaded black and white drawings by Etienne Delessert.
All the creatures are real except for the last two -- the phoenix and the
grynch.
Prelutsky, Jack, selected by. The Beauty of the Beast: Poems From
the Animal Kingdom. New York: Knopf, 1997.
The poems are all about animals; some by Prelutsky, many others by
a variety of well- known (mostly living) poets. The layout and wonderful
watercolors by Meilo So illustrate every animal named in the poems, and
it is obvious that the artist has read each poem and let it inspire her
illustrations.
Procedure
Write the word bestiary on the board and ask the students to guess
at the meaning of the
word (according to the dictionary : "a Medieval allegorical or moralizing
work on the appearance and habits of real or imaginary animals" [Webster's
Collegiate, 10th ed.]) Write the word beast on the board as well
and show them the connection. Tell them that bestiaries were collections
of
tales about all kinds of beasts -- birds, reptiles, and mammals --
that people in the Middle Ages made. They had illustrations as well as
the little stories, and they were about real beasts and also beasts that
were imaginary or mythical. They might be beasts that combined different
parts of humans and birds, or that combined parts of several different
kinds of beasts.
Ask the students: Who remembers the mythical beast we saw last time
that was in some famous French Medieval tapestries? (unicorn) What did
the unicorn look like? (Accept any reasonable answers.) Some of the fanciful
beasts (especially the sea creatures) were described by sailors exploring
unknown waters who came upon creatures they had never seen before and --
since they saw only parts of them above the water and found them frightening
and unfamiliar -- they imagined the parts they couldn't see or didn't recognize.
Often the little tales or stories that described each creature were in
the form of poems and had some kind of a lesson or moral for the people
reading them.
This would be a good time to share one or more of the Suggested Books
with the class. Point out the special qualities the writer and illustrator
have given to the animals and discuss with the class instances of humor,
of magic, and/or of morals (as they read in Aesop's Fables) that
may be included.
Tell the students that they will be creating a page for a class Bestiary,
providing an illustration and either a poem or a few paragraphs telling
about the animal they have chosen to portray. Brainstorm with them about
what they might name an imaginary beast (for example, a rippo might
combine the head of a rhinoceros and body of a hippopotamus). Have them
think hard about what particular feature of a real animal they think is
funniest, most noteworthy, or gives the animal some special powers or qualities
they would enjoy writing about.
Have them work out their little poems or paragraphs on scrap paper
first, then pass out the heavy paper, markers, crayons and pens. Once they
have plotted where the creature will be placed and where the text will
go in relation to it, have them copy their texts in pen or marker, then
draw their animal, real or imaginary, with its name in bold as title. They
may want another chance to decorate an initial as they did in their illuminated
manuscript activity. Let them each read their texts aloud to the rest of
the class and hold up the drawing for the rest to see before hanging them
up in the classroom.
Bibliography
Student Titles
Batterberry, Michael, adapted by. Art of the Middle Ages. New
York: McGraw-Hill, 1964.
Beckett, Sister Wendy. The Duke and the Peasant: Life in the Middle
Ages. New York & Munich: Prestel-Verlag, 1997. (3-7913-1813-6)
Brochard, Philippe. Castles of the Middle Ages. Morristown,
NJ: Silver Burdett, 1985. (0-382-06610-3)
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