Description:
The students will use a variety of print and nonprint resources to research castles from the Middle Ages. After completing their research, students will select a castle from a particular time period and then write a one-day dairy entry from the point of view of a typical castle dweller. This lesson is designed to help students become interested in the research process and understand the value of information skills.
Goals & Objectives:
LIBRARY MEDIA SKILLS OBJECTIVES
The student will:
-locate multiple sources to complete a project.
-combine, interpret, and apply information from multiple sources to complete a project.
CURRICULUM OBJECTIVES:
The activity may be incorporated into a unit on the Middle Ages or related to an art activity on architecture.
MOTIVATIONAL OBJECTIVES:
The student will:
-become interested in the research process.
-understand the importance of information skills.
-experience increased confidence in research ability
-understand the value of information skills.
-achieve satisfaction in research accomplishments.
Materials & Sources:
Resource List
Castle Planning Sheet
| Credits: |
School Library Media Activities Monthly
Adapted for SOS by Kori Gerbig
School of Information Studies
Syracuse University
|
| Sources: |
School Library Media Activities Monthly
May 1997; 13 (9); 20-23.
http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com |
Procedures:
INSTRUCTIONAL ROLES:
-This activity will require six or seven sessions in the classroom and library media center and should be included with a unit of study on the Middle Ages or architecture. Adalia Maudlin's "Crossing the Curriculum Moat: A Castle Project" ("English in Texas" 27:1, Fall 1995, p53) may give other ideas for lessons that help students learn about castles before building one or preparing a plan for converting the school to a castle. The classroom teacher may wish to concentrate on the content while the library media specialist works with students on the process of locating specific kinds of information necessary for completing the project. Both should work with students as they combine information from multiple sources and interpret and apply what they read or view.
ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES FOR COMPLETION:
-The activity may be introduced in several ways. For example, students might be shown the videotape, 'Castles,' with David Macaulay. or 'Castle Explorer' (DK, 1996) which is a game featuring Stephen Biesty's illustrations of fourteenth-century Europe. Students play a game as they tour 3-D castle rooms and encounter the people who live and work there.
-The teacher may provide an overview of the history and purpose of castles and explain that castle styles changed and were designed differently depending on the region and time period. The students will have an opportunity to explore a castle in more depth as they finish their assignment and task. The teacher may review the assignment: The completion of diary entry for one day (24 hours) for a selected person living in a selected area at a certain period of time. The teacher may distribute the Castle Planning Sheet and review the process that students will follow to complete their task. The first visit to the library media center will be the first step in the process: to browse. The library media specialist may display and make browsing suggestions.
-Following the first session, the teacher may use maps and pictures to provide students with an overview of the time periods and areas of the world where castles existed. Students may begin to make their selections of region and time period. They may need more time to browse in order to select a person and area of castle. When selections have been made, the students will be encouraged to talk about their choices and make a list of what kinds of information they will need. Both the teacher and library media specialist may share some of the consideratons for what they might want to know to write a diary entry. These may include sights, sounds, smells, tastes, surroundings and views, feelings, work, friends, and enemies. There is an example of diary entries in Sheila Sancha's 'The Castle Story' (Crowell, 1979) which might be read aloud for ideas.
-Based on the categories that have been written on the note cards, students will begin to collect information from multiple sources. Students should be aware of the specific purpose of their information gathering. Before outlines are completed, the teacher or library media specialist might talk about the diary entry and what might be experienced in a given day. Examples might be given for how students could incorporate the information about sights and sounds as the day breaks, etc. A discussion might follow about what events might take place (siege, market day, festival, etc.). Outlines will be prepared and the notes will be used to draft the diary entry. For this project, the teacher may discuss revision in terms capitalization, punctuation, and grammar. A final diary entry may be typed or completed using a word processing program.
FOLLOW-UP:
-The student may tape the diary entry with background noises and music and /or draw a picture of the person selected to accompany the written entry.
Assessment:
EVALUATION:
-The student will successfully complete the task of writing a diary entry after following the procedures for locating, using, interpreting, and applying information from multiple sources.
Sources:
School Library Media Activities Monthly
May 1997; 13 (9); 20-23.
http://www.schoollibrarymedia.com
