Lesson One - Inspecting the Past
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Assess their prior knowledge and learning about Medieval Europe and Ancient China.
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2. Predict, evaluate and discuss the important events in those time periods.
Initiation:
In order to better understand the later lessons, students need to develop an understanding of the two time periods discussed. At the present time, the students have very little knowledge on Medieval Europe and China. As a result, the students will begin the unit completing a KWL chart about each time period. The students will begin by completing the "What do we already know?" and "What they wish to learn column?" At the closure, the students will use this chart to assess their knowledge.
Procedure:
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1. Create a T-chart on the board labeling Medieval Europe and China. Record student responses from the KWL on the board. Discuss student responses.
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2. Give student a brief overview of the unit and today's objectives.
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3. Hand out the "What's going on in this Era" worksheet.
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4. Explain to students that they will receive two boxes. Each box will contain either images from Medieval Europe or China. These images are clues to the important events of the era.
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5. Inform the students that they will work in groups of 4-5 to make predictions of the time period based upon the images. Reiterate that the students must complete the chart with the image number, prediction and what from the picture allowed them to make that prediction.
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6. Pass out the boxes to groups and tell the students that they will about 25-30 minutes to complete the task.
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7. Circulate the room to check for understanding; answer/ask questions and make sure students are on task. Remind students when they have 10 minutes and 5 minutes remaining. Take a few minutes to set up the Power Point presentation that contains all the box images.
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8. Regain the students' attention. Begin to discuss their responses. Each time a student discusses a picture, post the picture on the projector screen. Ask students to thoroughly explain their responses.
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9. After the discussion is complete, begin discussing the important events of the era based on the images. Pass-out guided packet for students to note important information.
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10. After discussion is complete pass out the students' homework assignment. This worksheet is 5 questions formulated based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Inform the students that they will need to think carefully about the answers.
Closure:
Tell the students to take out the worksheet from the beginning of the period (KWL). Tell them to take a few minutes to recall everything the learned today in the "L" column. Once the students are complete ask them to share their responses.
Lesson Two - Exploring Love in the Past
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Analyze and evaluate information and ideas from various primary resources.
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2. Compare the relationships between the authors and recipients.
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3. Interpreting the importance/influence of the time period.
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4. Propose theories about the roles of men and women.
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5. Create connections between the background knowledge and the primary resources.
Initiation:
Write these instructions on the board for the students to follow upon entering the room:
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1. Take out KWL from yesterday.
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2. Read the following and answer the question: Love comes in many different situations. You may love your parents, your aunt, your brother or friend. Either way, you have experienced some sort of love. Write a brief statement about your love experience. Do you think love has changed over time? In other words, do you think someone in Medieval Europe or China experienced love as you have? Support your answer with information from yesterday's class.
Procedure:
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1. After the students have had a few minutes to complete the initiation, regain their attention and discuss their responses. Do not call upon students. This may be a sensitive subject; therefore, students should only be called upon if they volunteer.
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2. Give students a brief overview of the day's objectives.
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3. Pass out the graphic organizer.
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4. Inform the students that they will be working in small groups and be given one letter from Heloise and one from Li Qingzhao. Explain to students that upon answering the questions on each poem, they are required to directly quote from the poem/letter.
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5. Tell the students that they will have 25-30 minutes to work in their small groups and then regroup for discussion.
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6. Hand out packets and questions and allow the students to answer it individually.
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7. Circulate the room to check for understanding; answer/ask questions and make sure students are on task. Remind students when they have 10 minutes and 5 minutes remaining.
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8. Regain the students' attention, and have a group discussion about their findings, thoughts and opinions. Encourage students to respond to each other's responses. Keep a tally of those students who have participated.
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9. Collect the students' worksheets after the closure.
Closure:
Pose this question at the end of the period. Do you think that Heloise and Li Qingzhao's experience was influenced by the time period? Support your answer with information from the previous lesson.
Lesson Three - Through the Eyes of Li Qingzhao
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Create connections between the background knowledge and the primary resources.
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2. Interpret personal relationships and establish connections between their lives and the authors.
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3. Empathize with Li Qingzhao in her poems by predicting emotions, from the emotions list that Li Qingzhao felt.
Initiation:
Pose a question on the board: When you hear the word love, what other ideas come to mind? Record the students' responses on the board. Read one of Li Qingzhao's poems, and post it on the overhead. Analyze the poem with the students asking them to use some words to describe Li Qingzhao's love experienced in the poem. Compare and contrast the students' views and Li Qingzhao's view of love.
Procedure:
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1. Inform students that on center of their group tables there is an envelope and in that envelope there is one of Li Qingzhao's poems.
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2. Tell students working in their groups of four to select one person to read the envelope's contents while the rest of the group follow along.
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3. After the letter is read, instruct students to discuss with their group the guided reading questions in order to help understand the poem better.
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4. Once the questions are completed, inform students to select four emotions from the emotions list that the students felt Li Qingzhao or her lover felt and be able to explain why with examples from the poem.
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5. Inform students that they have 25-30 minutes to complete the guided reading questions and the emotions list.
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6. Remind students that the poem may be difficult to understand, but they can do it.
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7. Circulate the room to check for understanding; answer/ask questions and make sure students are on task. Remind students when they have 10 minutes and 5 minutes remaining.
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8. Regroup the students for the next activity. Inform students that they will approach the screen and place the "Box it off" around the emotion that their character felt. On the board is a "How do you feel today" poster. Remind students that they are required to speak in the first person and explain why Li Qingzhao or her lover felt that way based on the information from the reading.
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9. Model an example for the students.
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10. Call on different students to approach the front of the room and explain their emotions. Be sure to select at least one member from each group, volunteers or not.
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11. Repeat step 10 until for about 7-10 student responses and be sure to reiterate important points.
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12. Explain to the students that beginning today they will start a journal. Within their journals they will record any relationship interaction they have in the upcoming days. Remind students to write the who, what, where, when and why of the encounter and their emotions. Inform the students that later in the unit.
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13. Pass out journals and emotions packet.
Closure:
Pose this question to the students: "How do you think Li Qingzhao's emotions are similar to your own? Provide examples from today's lesson.
Lesson Four - Through the Eyes of Heloise
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Create connections between the background knowledge and the primary resources.
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2. Interpret personal relationships and establish connections between their lives and the authors.
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3. Empathize with Heloise in her letters by predicting emotions, from the emotions
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list that Heloise felt.
Initiation:
Pose a question on the board: When you hear the word love, what other ideas come to mind? Record the students' responses on the board. Read one of Heloise's letters, and post it on the overhead. Analyze the letter with the students asking them to use some words to describe Heloise's love experienced in the letter. Compare and contrast the students' views and Heloise's view of love.
Procedure:
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- Refer to Procedure #1-13 in lesson three using Heloise's letters.
Closure:
Pose this question to the students: "How do you think Heloise's emotions are similar to your own? Provide examples from today's lesson.
Lesson Five - Through the Eyes of Peter Abelard
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Create connections between the background knowledge and the primary resources.
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2. Interpret personal relationships and establish connections between their lives and the authors.
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3. Empathize with Peter Abelard by predicting emotions, from the emotions list that Peter Abelard felt.
Initiation:
Pose a question on the board: When you hear the word love, what other ideas come to mind? Record the students' responses on the board. Read one of Peter Abelard's letters and post it on the overhead. Analyze the poem with the students asking them to use some words to describe Peter Abelard's love experienced in the letter. Compare and contrast the students' views and Peter Abelard's view of love.
Procedure:
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- Refer to Procedure #1-13 in lesson three using Peter Abelard's letters.
Closure:
Pose this question to the students: "How do you think Peter Abelard's emotions are similar to your own? Provide examples from today's lesson.
Lesson Six - Assuming the Voice of the Characters
Objectives:
Students will be able to. . .
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1. Create connections between the background knowledge and the primary resources.
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2. Interpret personal relationships and establish connections between their lives and the authors.
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3. Empathize with the historical figures by predicting emotions, from the emotions list.
Initiation:
In order for the students to better understand the concept of assuming the voice of the historical figures students will speak to the teacher and each other in the "voice" of the historical person. The students will spend a few minutes conversing with one another in a manner in which they believe, based upon their knowledge from previous lessons; the historical figure would have spoken. After a few minutes, students will take on the voice of the other historical persons.
Procedure:
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1. Students will first be assigned to write in the voice of Li Qingzhao.
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2. Students will take the knowledge they have learned about their person from the previous lessons and draft a letter regarding the issue of relationships, marriage, and love to Heloise.
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3. Students will then create a response letter to Li Qingzhao using the voice of Heloise. Students will include details of Heloise's relationship with Peter Abelard and knowledge of Heloise's opinions on marriage, relationships, and love.
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4. Students will read their letters and response letters aloud to the class.
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5. Students will discuss similarities and differences in the letter's contents as a class.
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6. Students will then be asked to compose a final letter to Heloise, Li, or Peter Abelard in their own voice. The letter will contain the student's personal opinions and thoughts on the issue of marriage, relationships, and love.
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7. Students will turn the letters in at the end of class.
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8. Students will be asked to write a one -two page letter to the teacher explaining how this unit affected the student's perspectives on relationships and emotions.
Closure:
Students will create an "exit slip" that contains which historical figure the student related to the most, providing examples from the previous lesson.