FeudalisminMedievalEurope
A5E’sLessonPlan
Objectives
Attheconclusionofthelesson,studentswillbeableto…
• Definefeudalism
• Describethesystemoffeudalism
• Nametheparticipantsinthesystemoffeudalism
• Describetheroleofthekinginfeudalism
• Describetheroleofthenoblesinfeudalism
• Describetheroleofvassals/knightsinfeudalism
• Describetheroleofserfsinfeudalism
• Describedailylifeinoneoftherolesoffeudalism
Engage(15minutes)
ProvidestudentswithtradebooksontheMiddleAgesandFeudalism.Thesecanbe
arrangedaroundtheclassroomasstudentsenter.Givestudents10minutestolook
throughthebooksandmakeabasicsurvey.Thenaskstudentstorespondtothe
followingquestioninwritingfor5minutes:Whatdoyouthinklifewaslikefor
peopleintheMiddleAges?
• Alternative:Iftradebooksarenotavailable,completethePreviewactivity
fromHistoryAlive!Inthisactivity,studentswritetheirowndefinitionof
loyaltyanddescribeasituationinwhichsomeonedemonstratedloyalty.
ExplaintostudentsthatpeopleintheMiddleAgescreatedasocialstructure
thatwasbasedonloyalty.
Explore(20minutes)
CompletetheFeudalCandyactivity.Inthissimulation,studentstakeontheroleof
king,nobles,vassals,andserfs.Candyisdistributedandchangeshandsthroughthe
systemaccordingtothefeudallaws.Toenhancetheexperience,arrangestudents
physicallyinafeudalpyramidORhavethekingsitatthefront,thenoblesand
vassalssitatmanors(groupsofdesks)andtheserfssurroundthenobles.Have
eachvassalswearallegiancetohisorherlord.HereisasampleOathofFealty:"I
promiseonmyfaiththatIwillinthefuturebefaithfultothelord,nevercause
himharmandwillobservemyhomagetohimcompletelyagainstallpersonsin
goodfaithandwithoutdeceit."MoreinfoavailableattheOathofFealtywebsite.
Explain(10minutes)
ShowthevideoFeudalisminMedievalEurope–simpleexplanationfromYouTube.
Helpstudentstoverbalizehowthesimulationrelatedtotheconceptsdescribedin
thisvideo.
Elaborate(homeworkornextday)
Havestudentsreadthetextbookselectionandcompletereadingnoteson
Feudalism.
Evaluate(nextday)
Studentsselectorareassignedacharacterfromthelistofmembersoffeudal
society:king,noble,knight/vassal,andserf.Eachstudentwritesadailydiary
describinghisorherlifeinthisrole.Thediarymusthaveatleast5entries,which
mustbedatedanddescribesalientfeaturesoffeudalism.
Rubric:
GradingKey:
5–Excellent;4-VeryGood;3–Good;2–Minimal;1–Notthere
HistoricalAccuracy–Informationiscorrectandsupportedwithdetailfrom
informationgatheredduringtheFeudalismnotesandlecturesactivity,textbook,
orwithinformationlearnedinourMiddleAgesunit.
ContentandOrganization–Fullyperformedthetopicusingjournalformat,
logicalsequenceofideas,manydetailsandexamples.
Creativity-Thestorycontainsmanycreativedetailsand/ordescriptionsthat
contributetothereader'senjoymentandunderstanding.
Role–Overalleffectivenessatstayinginroleandaddressingyouraudience
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Mechanics–Properspelling,punctuation,grammarandoverallneatness
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