Green Room: Medieval Life

This month we will be leading students on a journey back in time to the days of knights, noblemen and castles. Students will be transported back to a day when bobbing for apples and dancing around a maypole were some of the most popular ways children entertained themselves. You will even explore castles and medieval cuisine!

Week 1: Growing Up in Medieval Times

Week 1 in the Green Room will be focused on what it was like to grow up during Medieval Times. The life of a child during medieval times depended greatly on who your parents were. Children were either born of nobility or of peasants. However no matter to whom you were born, the games you would have played as a child would have been the same. Noble and peasant children were allowed to play together until the age of seven. Some of the games they would have played were “Hunt the Slipper,” bobbing for apples, “Ring Around the Rosy” and “Blind Man’s Bluff.” The life children experienced after the age of seven, because of their birthright, ranged from strict and scholarly to free and unschooled. Growing up in Medieval Times also meant that you learned how to use instruments to tell time (i.e. hourglass) as well as how to purchase services and goods. In the Green Room this week students will have the opportunity to explore all of these facets of medieval life and more!

Week 1 Sub Theme Objectives

  1. Become familiar with aspects of life during medieval times (i.e. houses, living conditions, games played, etc) and what it would be like to be a child growing up during this period.

  2. Become familiar with at least one game played by children during medieval times.

  3. Know how time was kept and be familiar with tools used to keep time (i.e. hourglass) during medieval times.

  4. Be starting to understand the concept of money and how it is used today as well as how it was used in medieval times. (Continue working toward this objective throughout the month until students have grasped the concept.)

Week 2: Peasants, Knights and Noblemen

Week 2 in the Green Room will be focused on learning about and experiencing the life of a peasant, a knight and a nobleman as they lived during Medieval Times. Each of these groups of people held a distinct position in society. Peasants were poor and often did not own anything themselves, but were rather like slaves who were obligated to work for their lord. Knights, on the other hand, worked just as hard as the peasants yet they were free and well-respected throughout their kingdoms. Knights were commissioned to keep the King and his lands safe from harm. Noblemen led lives of grandeur. Some noblemen became great Barons; so great that they were known to employ knights of their own for protection. In the Green Room this week students will have the opportunity to experience the people from each level in medieval society including where they lived, how they dressed and how they spent their time.

Week 2 Sub Theme Objectives

  1. Be familiar with the differences between a peasant, a knight and a nobleman/noblewoman during medieval times (i.e. where they lived, how they dressed, what their jobs were, etc.)

  2. Be familiar with at least one king or queen who reigned during medieval times (i.e. Richard the Lionheart, King Henry II, King Edward III, William the Conqueror, Queen Matilda, Good Queen Maude, etc.)

Week 3: Medieval Cuisine

Week 3 in the Green Room will be focused on medieval cuisine; for what a person ate was directly correlated to their means. Noblemen and merchants ate a variety of expensive foods such as dried fruits and almonds while peasants ate bread, vegetables and meat. There was also a difference in who was responsible for the cooking in each household. In a peasant’s household, the wife prepared the meals while in a castle or manor there was always a male head cook with droves of “kitchen boys” to wash the dishes (DK, 2004).

While people ate a variety of things during this time in history, it was the potato who made its’ mark during Medieval Times. When the potato first came to Europe it was not received well. People believed them to be ugly and misshapen and therefore unfit to eat. Upper classes were the first to realize the potential in potatoes and the trend eventually caught on with the more superstitious lower classes. The history of the potato during Medieval Times is one that we now hear and chuckle; however are there not foods to which we turn up our noses simply because of the way they look? What an interesting piece of trivia for eager and inquisitive minds!

Week 3 Sub Theme Objectives

  1. Be familiar with the types of food eaten during medieval times.

  2. Know how potatoes became a staple in the medieval diet.

  3. Be familiar with table manners and utensils used during Medieval Times.

  4. Plan and participate in a Medieval Feast.

Week 4: Castles

Week 4 in the Green Room will turn its’ focus to the magnificent and majestic castles of the Middle Ages. Castles were built by lords (i.e. Kings and Barons) as fortified private residences (DK, 2008). The castle was not only a home for its’ inhabitants but a structure that could “withstand continuous assault or siege by an enemy’’ (DK, 2008). Castles were awe inspiring and frequently extremely large and lavish. Castles had chapels, prisons, great halls, and kitchens all inhabited by lords, men, women, children and entertainers. Castles had their own small community within their walls. Siege equipment also played a very important role in the life of a castle. It allowed castles to be weakened and in many cases overthrown. Commonly used siege equipment included giant crossbows and catapults.

Week 4 Sub Theme Objectives

  1. Be familiar with the reason castles were built and who lived in them (i.e. kings, queens, noblemen, servants, etc.).

  2. Be familiar with the ways in which a castle might defend itself during medieval times (i.e. siege equipment, archers, moats, etc.)

Learning Goals

A Child’s Place in Time and Space:

1.4.3  Recognize similarities and differences of earlier generations in such areas as work (inside and outside of the home), dress, manners, stories, games and festivals drawing from biographies, oral histories and folklore.

1.6.1  Understand the concept of exchange and the use of money to purchase goods and services.

Money  Sense:

1.1 Begin to recognize and name the different forms of currency (i.e. dollar, quarter, dime, nickel, penny) and also begin to understand the idea of banking and checks.

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