Resources For
Teaching Middle School
Lesson Plans & Classroom Exercises
Paper Topics
Projects and Activities
Test Review Questions
Site Navigation Options
Lesson
Plans & Classroom Exercises
King Arthur: How He Became King?"
A lesson plan by Janet Blaylock for middle schools and high
schools, posted on the LocalSchoolDirectory web site.
King Arthur and George Washington: A Thought Experiment on the Historical Arthur, by Alan Baragona
A lesson plan by Trudy Driskell
for 7th and 8th graders. "Students will learn about life in the Middle
Ages . . . use their information and creativity to design a castle and a personal
coat of arms [and] plan a medieval feast."
Top of this page || Pedagogy homepage || Site navigation options
Paper
Topics
Top of this page || Pedagogy homepage || Site navigation options
Projects
and Activities
Becky Fleming's Fifteen Simple Activities and Assignments
A list of varied and creative ideas for introducing K-12
students to the Middle Ages through King Arthur, Chaucer, and Dante.
Art Project Director, Susan Holman of Lusher Elementary and
Middle Schools conducted these projects in 1998-99. This is part of the website
for Loyola University's "Summer Teachers Institute, 'Making the Middle Ages Fun,'
that was sponsored by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities in June of
2000. Our on-going project has been to create a website that might serve as a
resource for teachers K-12 who include (or even would like to include) medieval
materials in their courses. The contents here are as eclectic as our interests
and teaching experiences. Here you will find syllabi, handouts, and reviews of
material that we have found helpful in our own teaching and studies. We've also
tried to create links to web materials that seem particularly useful as
well."
Two Introductory Activities for the Middle Ages
Two activities conceived by Della Hutchison of Mifflinburg
Middle School, PA, to introduce students to medieval culture: What's My Hat? and Old World, New World. Hutchison gives a detailed account
of tasks, purposes, resources needed, procedures, follow-up activities, and the
subjects each activity satisifes.
Organizing a Medieval Activities Day
A detailed set of instructions by Della Hutchison of Mifflinburg
Middle School, PA, that covers medieval activities for art, biology, home
economics, music, physical education, physics, technical education, and
miscellaneous games. Hutchison covers all the logistics, from gathering
resources and getting administrative approval to piquing student interest and
getting cooperation from other faculty.
"The Loyola and LEH Summer Institute, 'King Arthur for
Kids' is a four week intensive seminar for elementary and middle school
teachers (K-8) in the Greater New Orleans area. Its purpose is to explore the
legend of King Arthur to understand its origins and development so that
teachers might help students understand the way that legends grow and function
in our own society. Most important will be the exploration of why this story
endured, becoming a part not only of British or even Western Culture but of
world culture as well. This understanding will lead to a consideration of
several enduring themes: identity and destiny, discovery of self, and the
pledging of oneself to something greater than one's self. Finally, we will
explore some of the more modern reworkings of the
legend that have become cultural staples in our own and, again, world culture.
Such modern accounts encompass the visual arts as well as music (both popular
and classical) and touch upon disciplines such as Literature, Philosophy, Art
History, Architecture, Mythology, History, and Sociology. An important part of
the Institute's focus will be on developing pedagogical strategies to enhance
the learning experience and cross-cultural understanding of their students,
which will include developing craft projects and local field trips.
Participants will be asked to contribute to the web page generated last year
for 'Making the Middle Ages
Fun,' so that other area teachers might benefit from the participants'
ideas and experiences."
Synopses and ordering information for two Arthurian plays created by Kids 4 Broadway for elementary and middle school students (recommended for ages 8-15), Merlin and the Magic Sword and Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady.
Swords Beneath Camelot: The Quest for Excalibur
Synopsis and ordering information for an Arthurian play by Lane Riosley. Encore Performance Publishing also has scripts for other plays with medieval themes or settings.
Website connected to a book of the same name. "Anyone
who can fold a simple origami crane will be able to re-create the legend of
King Arthur--castles, knights, sorcerers, dragons, and all." You need the
book for complete instructions, but the website has numerous detailed pictures
of the paper folding possibilities.
Bill's World of Multimedia Education
A website for teachers, created by Bill Sutschek
of Safety Harbor Middle School, Florida, including multimedia resources for
teaching Arthurian
Legend.
"In January 2000 two undergraduate students left for a
month-long research trip, sponsored by Birmingham-Southern College in
Birmingham, Alabama. After traveling over 3000 miles across the Island of
Britain, we created this site for people who wish to learn more about those
places associated with King Arthur and the legends attached to them."
Created by students Joseph W.C. Boyles and W. Jacob Livingston, III, this site
is beautifully organized and has lots of photographs. Suitable for all levels.
{This link is to an archived version of the site that has all the text, but the
links to the photos are broken. Some of the pictures, however, are still
available at Vortigern Studies.)
Kamishibai Story Telling for Medieval Tales
Kamishibai were a form of Japanese folk art from the 1920s to the 1950s in which itinerant candy sellers would use
painted storyboards to tell a story. Here are several projects that use kamishibai to tell the story of Beowulf,
which could easily be adapted to Arthurian stories.
The Knight with the Lion is an exciting, interactive
resource for children. It tells the story of Yvain,
one of King Arthur's knights, and his intrepid lion companion, as well as
Gawain, Lancelot and others. Readers get to choose which knights to follow and
which adventures to explore, and to make decisions for them, as they wander
through the mysterious Forest of Broceliande. The Reader
can discover all aspects of medieval life, from armour
and warfare to castles and clothing through the historical link material, with
vivid illustrations and photographs and clear explanation.
This site is provided by Aberdeen University's Literature Website.
Top of this page || Pedagogy homepage || Site navigation options
Test
Review Questions
Top of this page || Pedagogy homepage || Site navigation options
Site
Navigation Options
Pre-School & Kindergarten || Elementary School || Middle School
|| High School
Undergraduate School || Graduate School || Adult
Learners || Short Seminars &
Lectures
Textbooks and Films || Maps || Graphics
|| Audio and Video Files || Related Websites
Arthurnet Discussions
|| Pedagogy Homepage || Arthuriana
© Arthuriana
Site Administrator: Alan Baragona sabaragona@gmail.com
Last revised: August 4, 2014
This page is http://arthuriana.org/teaching/midschool.html
SMU Required Secondary Information Server Disclaimer:
The contents of this Secondary Information Server are the sole responsibility
of Arthuriana and its contributors, and do not necessarily represent the
opinions or policies of Southern Methodist University or the Norwick Center for Media and Instructional Technology. The
administrator of this Secondary Information Service is Bonnie Wheeler bwheeler@mail.smu.edu