Ancient and Medieval Peoples

Some Different Groups of People To Know

Angles - The Germanic people living in what we now call England post Roman Occupation of England.  The  group co-mingled with the Saxons and are usually referred to as Anglo-Saxons and founded much of what we now consider "English."

Burgundians - An East Germanic Tribe that eventually settled in the South-Eastern part of what is Modern day France.  Clotilda, wife of Clovis was a Burgundian and played a role in his conversion to Christianity.

Franks - This was a group of people considered "Germanic" because of their initial language and lifestyle as they swept into Western Europe.  The Franks, settled in what was called Gaul at the time.  The area was re-named France after its Frankish population during the Middle Ages. 

Huns - This group of people came out of Asia before the fall of Rome.  Attila is their most famous leader and is known for being a fierce fighter.  The Huns were expert horsemen and had superior bow technology for the day.  They were nomadic and attacked various villages and settlements as they moved through Europe.

Moors - Islamic peoples that occupied Northern African regions, the Iberian Peninsula and parts of Southern Italy for part of the Medieval Period.  They are not really a self-defined people as are many of the other groups listed here, but did develop a specific culture and presence within Medieval-European awareness. (Saracen is also used as a word to describe anyone that practiced Islam.  While the two words weren't used synonymously, they both mean essentially the same thing today - with Moor being slightly more specific).

Normans - Peoples of North Germanic and Scandinavian Origins that settled in what is now Northern France and from which the area now called "Normandy" derives its name.  The Normans played a HUGE political role throughout Europe during the Medieval Period.

Ostrogoths (Austrogothi) - Participated in significant trade with the Romans.  However, they also had periods of war with Rome.  As the Huns moved in to the area the Ostrogoths had inhabited, many tried to escape into Roman-conquered land creating tensions.  After subjugation by the huns, the Ostrogoths and Visigoths worked together at times and Ostrogoths played a role in the weakening of the Roman empire.

Saxons -  This was part of the group of people that would eventually give rise to the Anglo-Saxons that gave us English.  However, there are still many questions about them today.  Britain AD episode 2 discusses the finding of the Saxon Hoard that gave us much of what we do know about the Saxons today.

Vandals - This group of people has an interesting story behind it that may surprise many of us today because they were much more peaceful than most of us might imagine. 

Vikings - These Scandanavian People also played a major role in European History and are often known for their violent raids and war tactics.  They were a race in search of new-lands and is now widely believed to be the first group from the Old World to have landed in the North American Coast.

Visigoths - Counterparts to the Ostrogoths this group originated in much the same way, but developed its own independent culture in the years the group ruled over Hispania.  The Visigoths were one of the groups to have sacked Rome during its decline and are most known for their defeat of Rome (As are the Vandals).

Byzantine Romans - The Eastern half of the Roman Empire that remained after Rome and Western Europe fell came to be known as the Byzantine Empire.  It was actually populated by individuals from many of the ethnicities listed above, but all its populace practiced the culture and traditions of the late Roman Empire in terms of its economic and political structure.  However, most of its emperors after Constantine practiced Christianity rather than Roman Paganism.

Video Resources 

As usual, preview any film links before using.

There are a number of videos that may be useful in your quest to understand the groups of people that took over Europe during the Early Medieval Period.  I especially enjoyed Terry Jones and his series, Barbarians (Link to Episode 1: The Primative Celts).  Terry Jones gives a different view than the typical one taught in school of these different groups of people in a very real analysis of what we really know about the groups of people he covers.  Of course, he does it with a wonderful sense of humor and makes light of our misconceptions about Rome's old neighbors.  I HIGHLY recommend this series for those of you teaching about the period - even if your kids are too young to appreciate the series themselves.  For later episodes, simply look for the episodes in the suggested list below the video viewer on the page.

Although the History Channel often capitalizes on melodrama, their documentaries do provide information about the individuals and periods covered.  The Series, Barbarians, gives a picture of what some of the groups listed above, were like at the end of the Roman Empire and beginning of the Medieval Period. There is an episode for the Franks, Vikings, Saxons and others.  Many can be found on Youtube. 

Secrets of the Dark Ages - Barbarians

Treasures of the Anglo Saxons BBC Movie: Another home run by the BBC.  This documentary makes clear what we do know about the Anglo Saxons and their beliefs and way of life and how we know it.  It does include one Anglo Saxon myth that is not a pretty one and includes both sex and violence so as always, preview the movie before including the movie with your on-going activities with your child/children.

King Arthur's Britain is an interesting "Archaeological Journey" into what life may really have been like during the Early Middle Ages in "Angle-Land" or England. 

The Not So Dark Ages also narrated by Francis Pryor - This video focuses largely on misconceptions held by many about the "Dark Ages" and why we know our traditional story of the period is probably inaccurate.  I HIGHLY recommend anyone teaching about the period see this, even if they don't share the video with their pupil/pupils.

You Might Also Find, "Rome's Neighbors" helpful for similar resources.

 

Essential Elements of Lesson Plans

There are TONS of styles and formats that can be used when writing up a lesson plan and different schools will require certain styles of their teachers to attain uniformity in their paperwork for school accreditation reviews, if you are working for a school system, you'll want to use the format they prefer but I can be fairly certain it will include these same basic elements listed here.  If you are looking for a casual synopsis of the most important elements to consider when doing your lesson planning, this is the place.

I have to admit, I haven't written a full formal lesson plan since I stopped classroom teaching and I know plenty of teachers that write them up and then don't follow the plan, only write up plans as required by their school (when review time comes around), or don't write them at all if their superiors don't make it a requirement or don't check up.

Having said that, I will say that with the virtual schooling program we use, lesson plan essentials are provided to follow for all of the lessons required by the school.  That makes it a lot easier to skip this otherwise important step (someone else has done it for me, but I still have to know what those objectives are).  There are a few essential items that should be planned out before any lesson because they help keep you focused as the teacher or learning coach for your kids.

The first critical element of a lesson plan is knowing your objectives.  Objectives are like small pieces of a goal.  All the little steps that lead to achieving a goal.  If you had a goal to lose 50lbs, you might make one of your first objectives about incorporating more exercise into your regime.  Perhaps you would do something like, add 30 minutes of intense exercise 4 days/week for the next two weeks to my schedule (at which point you'd have another objective increasing your activity levels even further).  For more specifics about writing educational objectives click here.

Another thing that can happen when you have the freedom to take more time to "explore" is to let your first objective be that, "explore". Many times as children explore, you will observe what it is that "hooks" them the most. More objectives can grow from this first encounter in such a way as to allow you to address objectives that require addressing that the child may have been reluctant to address with you otherwise.  After identifying your objectives for a lesson, you then need to identify which activity you would like to do to address the objective and approximately how long you expect that activity to take. 

If the activity is one with which you are already super familiar, just noting a title for the activity that will remind you what you have planned along with a list of materials that will be needed (so you can be sure you have them ready) and an approximate time required should be enough for you to use in organizing your day.  If you'll be sharing the plans with anyone else or the lesson activity is new to you, you'll probably want to include a list of steps or directions about how to complete the activity. 

Frequently, it might work the other way around and you find an activity that looks really fun and exciting.  Perhaps there is an embedded piece that will address an objective that will work your child or students toward a goal you are both working on achieving.  If this is the case, GREAT! You have still identified both an activity and an objective.  If the activity doesn't have a specific objective it addresses, if you are limited on time you might want to skip it.  If, you are a parent and can do the activity just for the fun of it - then why not?  Just relax and enjoy doing the activity together anyway.

Lastly in your written planning, you'll want to make some sort of mention (and think through) how you will assess whether the objective was met or not.  This can be particularly difficult in a setting where there are multiple students because the smaller the ratio of teacher to student the more casual about some assessment you can often be.  Assessments can be worksheets, tests, reports, demonstrations, journals and other traditional types of assessments for classrooms, but they can be a lot of other things too - even a discussion can frequently function as an assessment. For ideas about less traditional forms of assessment check out the article, "Assessing Wiggle Worms".  Then, keep an eye out for future articles that will include more ideas for you.

Quick List of Essentials:

• List of specific and measurable objectives (keep it short).
• Materials Needed List
• Approximate time the Lesson will require
• Title for the activity and notes (from brief self reminder to detailed and step by step depending on your needs) about how the activity is to be done.
• Brief description of how you will go about assessing achievement.

Quick List of nice things to Add - especially if anyone else will be looking at the lesson plan:

• Prior knowledge that is required for the kids to already have obtained
• Prior skills that are required for the kids to already have obtained
• List of related vocabulary.
• For formal performance assessments (assessments that are not simply tests with right and wrong answers) it is good to include your rubric (a table defining what performance level is expected on different aspects of an assessment for different point values).

Unfortunately, many standard lesson plan formats do NOT require spaces for things that should also be a big part of your considerations like:

• An explanation of WHY the activity chosen will be particularly helpful for the kids with whom you will be working.
• Whether or not the lesson plan incorporates multiple learning styles (or at least the learning style of the student(s) you happen to be teaching).
• Whether or not you've offered enough movement balanced with more quiet aspects (for kids who need the quieter down time to process). 
• Consideration of multiple intelligences (one can't always hit on all eight and it is absurd to try since most kids have a couple of intelligences that are already pretty strong and most subjects do not lend themselves to all eight.  If you try to hit at least 5 of the intelligences for a classroom you'll probably create a bridge for most, if not all of your students). 

Also, within an entire unit of study it is smart to incorporate multiple styles of assessing.  Assessments of all kinds test the students skills at that style of assessment as much as they also test acquisition of knowledge.  If you are only using one type of assessment for everything (especially in elementary classrooms and in home schools) you are depriving your students of the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge at their best if they aren't already pretty good at the style you default to.  Additionally, they aren't learning other assessment styles and practicing the skills required to be good at those too. 

Even if you are home schooling your kids, going through the process of at least thinking through the parts of a lesson plan will make your teaching that much stronger and effective.  Writing it down and having your paper to reference, will help keep you focused.

 

Essential Elements in a Lesson Plan: Objectives

Of all the parts of a lesson plan, objectives are probably the most important.  Know what it is you expect your child/children to get out of a lesson, set of lessons or activity.  Even in unschooling, where things are a lot more child-directed, if you have a general list of objectives it would be good for your child to meet in a given month or year, your questions and guidance to your child can be even more helpful in guiding them in directions out of which they will get the most practice with important skills and exposure to important information.  An unschooler may need to establish new objectives each morning based on what happened the day before, but they can truly be a guiding force for you in supporting your child's education.

An objective is a small, observable piece of a list of items to be completed to help in obtaining a goal. 
Objectives usually  begin with a verb.  They are active.  They are something a student should be able to do after the lesson or series of lessons you are giving. In any educational setting, but especially an unschooling one, even your objectives and goals can be influenced or directed by your child as well.  What great practice it will give them in learning not only how to set goals, but then also how to achieve those goals using specific objectives. 

That means the first thing to do is to figure out what your goals for your child are for the end of the week, month and/or year.  Whether you set the goals and objectives alone, let a curriculum company set them for you, or set them together (or some sort of combination of the above) will depend on whether you are a classroom teacher, teaching a cooperative and the style of the cooperative, or the philosophy and style you have about education in your home school.  You'll probably have multiple goals in each subject your children study, but within a single lesson plan you'll want a short list of objectives so choosing only one goal to address in a given lesson or activity will help you to simplify things.

For example:  In Language Arts, you might wish that your child is able to read beginning reader books (level 1 - 2) by the end of the year.  Some examples of objectives related to this goal might be:

• Recognize letters as symbols for sounds.
• Identify the sounds most commonly represented by each consonant.
• Recognize short vowel sounds associated with each of the vowel letters.
• Sound out three letter words.
• Recognize 20 of the most commonly used sight words (words that cannot be sounded out) used in English texts.

The most important things to consider in writing objectives are:

• Does the objective relate directly to the goal to be obtained?
• Is the objective measurable?  or Can it be tested?

Another consideration in writing objectives that will help you keep the objective both simple and measurable is to start with specific verbs. 

In an individual lesson, some of these objectives can be broken down into even smaller bites.  For example, the objective about learning the short vowel sounds can be broken into separate specific objectives where each of these "bites" addresses each of the vowels.

It is usually best if your list of objectives is relatively short and that you are addressing the smallest bites possible.  By small bites, I would say that in a single, 30 minute lesson related to the example above, you might address:

• Identify the letter Bb in both its Upper and Lowercase forms as representing the sound "buh".

You might also address another objective (that helps you work toward the same goal, or another goal)in a separate activity during a longer lesson, but usually with kids (especially young ones) this is not the time for multi-tasking.  Less is more.  Have just a few items in mind to keep you focused, your child feeling confident, and your time requirements sensible. 

A few separate notes related to this example:

• I know there are TONS of objectives that need achieving in the Kindergarten and First Grade years in a typical set of requirements with the goal of independent reading in mind.  I usually viewed phonics as one lesson amongst three or four language arts lessons in a given day.  I would do a 20-30 minute phonics lesson, and do a SEPARATE lesson that was a "Literature" lesson along with 10-15 minutes practicing 10 sight words each day (6-7 of which I knew she would be able to identify).  I also separated writing and considered practicing writing letters as even separate lessons from the reading aspect of recognizing and understanding each letter.  Between these lessons, we would do lessons from other subject areas, take brain breaks, exercise, or just live life. 
• Also, if you are homeschooling, depending on state requirements, you can take it a little slower.  In Waldorf schooling, formal reading lessons don't begin until third grade.  If you choose to focus on other goals so you leave yourself room to really focus on reading later and that works within the system you are working and for your child, there is nothing wrong with that.  Just make sure you are thinking through each of these kinds of decisions thoroughly.  If you make the decision to put off reading goals, make sure to fill in with activities and lessons that still work toward literacy in other ways as well as attaining more goals in other subjects so you leave yourself time to cover reading objectives later.  If your child is motivated to read, take advantage.  If your child isn't motivated in reading, take advantage of what does motivate him/her.  Don't give up on what doesn't motivate your child naturally - or they are likely to truly miss out, but you can take things more slowly in these subject areas. 

I DO multitask in many lessons by doing cross-curricular activities.  However, I still keep the number of objectives to a minimum.  For example, I recently needed Alice to learn about forest habitats, and I needed her to learn to write a basic report about an animal.  I warned her in advance about the report and helped her take notes about animals we came across in our forest habitat studies.  In the end, she chose a favorite animal and picked out a few things from her notes to write her report about that animal.  This cross-curricular multi-tasking happened over multiple lessons, but addressed two objectives:  "list a few animals characteristic of boreal forests" and "write a short report about an animal".  The lesson where she wrote a report was the culmination of a number of other lessons and the report was a "multitasking" kind of deal because it gave me an assessment activity in the area of report writing, while also gave her way to practice and review information from another subject.