Day 1: getting started
On Day 1 students knew nothing about the structure of the simulation.
Step 1: Assign students various roles. Have enough for your class size. We included a royal family, duke/duchess. earl/countess, bishop, monk/nun, knights, squires, pages, and serfs.
Step 2: Give students time to research with classmates from their same 'group'. Raid your school and town libraries. Obviously you should pull from your classroom library also. Don't forget to go online! These are the links we found for our students.
Step 3: Check for understanding. In our case, each 8th grader has her own blog where she posts all writings from every class throughout the year. Here are some examples of student posts from Day 1 of our simulation:
"The Normans were originally Vikings from Scandinavia but then made their voyage to England and were no longer considered Vikings. Normans ate vegetables and any crops that they could grow. They also enjoyed hunting, which was not only considered a way to get food, but also a sport, involving the use of dogs and falcons. The prince of the Normans had many duties. Since he is the heir of the throne, his father the king must train him to be a powerful and mighty leader. Also, the king is to transfer responsibility bit by bit to the prince until he is king, so that he can be better prepared to rule."
-Niles S.
"The Franks were an ancient civilization that was located in the northern part of modern-day Germany along the Rhine river until the weakness of the Roman Empire tempted them to move into it in the 400s AD. At first they stayed in the northern part of modern-day Belgium and France when and ambitious young man name Clovis came to the thrown, causing them to covert to Christianity and fight their way to southern France.
As the Franks had converted to Christianity they had clergy members such as nuns. Nuns had to swear an oath of poverty, chastity, and obedience along with renouncing all of their worldly life and goods. Their jobs in the church would be to produce necessary vegetables and grains, produce wine, ale, and honey, provide medical care, educate novices, spinning, weaving, embroidery, and illuminating manuscripts. They became an important part of the clergy and society."
-Emma P
Step 1: Assign students various roles. Have enough for your class size. We included a royal family, duke/duchess. earl/countess, bishop, monk/nun, knights, squires, pages, and serfs.
Step 2: Give students time to research with classmates from their same 'group'. Raid your school and town libraries. Obviously you should pull from your classroom library also. Don't forget to go online! These are the links we found for our students.
Step 3: Check for understanding. In our case, each 8th grader has her own blog where she posts all writings from every class throughout the year. Here are some examples of student posts from Day 1 of our simulation:
"The Normans were originally Vikings from Scandinavia but then made their voyage to England and were no longer considered Vikings. Normans ate vegetables and any crops that they could grow. They also enjoyed hunting, which was not only considered a way to get food, but also a sport, involving the use of dogs and falcons. The prince of the Normans had many duties. Since he is the heir of the throne, his father the king must train him to be a powerful and mighty leader. Also, the king is to transfer responsibility bit by bit to the prince until he is king, so that he can be better prepared to rule."
-Niles S.
"The Franks were an ancient civilization that was located in the northern part of modern-day Germany along the Rhine river until the weakness of the Roman Empire tempted them to move into it in the 400s AD. At first they stayed in the northern part of modern-day Belgium and France when and ambitious young man name Clovis came to the thrown, causing them to covert to Christianity and fight their way to southern France.
As the Franks had converted to Christianity they had clergy members such as nuns. Nuns had to swear an oath of poverty, chastity, and obedience along with renouncing all of their worldly life and goods. Their jobs in the church would be to produce necessary vegetables and grains, produce wine, ale, and honey, provide medical care, educate novices, spinning, weaving, embroidery, and illuminating manuscripts. They became an important part of the clergy and society."
-Emma P