Social Science

Grade 4: Heritage and Citizenship: Medieval Times

Planning: Term #

Tracking: Ach. Level

Overall Expectations

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* identify and describe major features of daily life and social organization in medieval European societies from about 500 to 1500 C.E. (Common Era);

 

 

 

 

* use a variety of resources and tools to investigate the major events and influences of the era and determine how they shaped medieval society;

 

 

 

 

* relate significant elements of medieval societies to comparable aspects of contemporary Canadian communities.

 

 

 

 

Specific Expectations

 

 

 

 

Knowledge and Understanding

 

 

 

 

* describe the hierarchical structure of medieval society and the types of people in it (e.g., peasants, officials, scholars, clergy, merchants, artisans, royalty, nobles), and explain how and why different groups cooperated or came into conflict at different times (e.g., to promote trade, to wage war, to introduce the Magna Carta);

 

 

 

 

* describe aspects of daily life for men, women, and children in medieval societies (e.g., food, housing, clothing, health, religion, recreation, festivals, crafts, justice, roles);

 

 

 

 

* describe characteristics of castles and aspects of castle life (e.g., design and building methods; community structure – lord, knights, squires, men-at-arms, workers; sports and entertainment; heraldry; justice; conflict and defence);

 

 

 

 

* outline the reasons for and some of the effects of medieval Europe's expanding contact with other parts of the world (e.g., the Crusades; Muslim influence on arts, architecture, and the sciences; the explorations of Marco Polo, the opening of the Silk Road, and the trade in luxury goods; the Black Death; Italian control of the Mediterranean; development of the printing press);

 

 

 

 

* describe some of the ways in which religions shaped medieval society (e.g., Catholicism, Judaism, Islam; events and practices: pilgrimages, tithing, confession, festivals; occupations: clergy, caliph, nuns, monks; buildings: cathedrals, mosques, monasteries, temples, synagogues; influences on the arts; the building of libraries);

 

 

 

 

* describe medieval agricultural methods and innovations (e.g., common pasture, three-field rotation, fertilizers, the padded horse collar, the wheeled plough, mills), and explain why the innovations were important;

 

 

 

 

* outline important ways in which medieval society changed over time (e.g., growth of towns, specialization of labour, changes in transportation methods, changes to law and justice), and give reasons for the changes.

 

 

 

 

Inquiry/Research and Communication Skills

 

 

 

 

* formulate questions to guide research (e.g., What impact did Islamic culture have on European medieval societies? Why did castles have moats? Which medieval trade guilds have comparable apprenticeship programs today? What valuable items did Marco Polo bring back from Asia?);

 

 

 

 

* use primary and secondary sources to locate information about medieval civilizations (e.g., primary sources: artefacts, field trips; secondary sources: atlases, encyclopedias and other print materials, illustrations, videos, CD-ROMs, Internet sites);

 

 

 

 

* use graphic organizers to summarize information (e.g., pyramid showing social hierarchies, circle chart showing system of crop rotation, timeline showing dates of innovations and events, T-chart showing comparison of peasants' and lords' lifestyles);

 

 

 

 

* draw and label maps or create models to illustrate features of medieval landscapes (e.g., a village, a castle or palace, a mosque with a minaret);

 

 

 

 

* read and interpret maps relevant to the period (e.g., showing trade routes, locations of castles, layout of a town or city);

 

 

 

 

* use media works, oral presentations, written notes and descriptions, and drawings to communicate information about life in medieval society (e.g., the roles of men, women, and children; the problems of sanitation and health in towns and cities);

 

 

 

 

* use appropriate vocabulary (e.g., peasant, page, clergy, squire, caliph, imam, merchant, trade guild, chivalry, manor, monastery, mosque, pilgrimage, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Magna Carta, Crusades) to describe their inquiries and observations.

 

 

 

 

Application

 

 

 

 

* compare aspects of life in a medieval community and their own community (e.g., with respect to housing, social structure, recreation, land use, geography, climate, food, dress, government);

 

 

 

 

* make connections between social or environmental concerns of medieval times and similar concerns today (e.g., pollution, the spread of disease, crime, warfare, poverty, religious intolerance);

 

 

 

 

* use artistic expression to re-create or respond to imaginative works from medieval times (e.g., illustrate a coat of arms; dramatize a story about the Knights of the Round Table; listen and respond to medieval ballads and poems; create a storyboard for a tale from The Thousand and One Nights).

 

 

 

 

Student Name:

 

 

 

 

 Expectations: Copyright The Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2004.  Format: Copyright B.Phillips, 1998.