Cathedrals - Marvels of the Medieval Time

Tuesday, February 14th

Cathedrals were amazing feats of architecture from the medieval period! To jump start our elective session, and to give the students as close of a visual as possible of these giants, we watched a wonderful documentary on Cathedrals. In this film, students saw how these architectural wonders were created by simple tools but yet ingenious ideas from engineers of that time. We also learned that many of these cathedrals were built using "secret formulas" from numbers in the Bible.

After viewing the film, we discussed the various jobs that were needed to build these cathedrals: these consisted of simple laborers from the city to the master builders brought in to oversee all the work. Students learned how most of these skills were learned through apprenticeships. To bring this concept to life, students picked their "career" and filled out a contract of their Apprenticeship Agreement.

ASSIGNMENTS
Students MUST select a Cathedral to be their Cathedral they will be working on throughout this semester. Here are some good resources to help students select the Cathedral of their choice:

Cathedrals by Country

Cathedrals by Image

Students can pick their Cathedral by whatever method they desire, perhaps by a favorite country or just by how it looks. PLEASE try to select a Cathedral from the Medieval time, between about 1000 to 1600 AD.

THE FOLLOWING INFO NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT INTO CLASS:
-The Full Name of the Cathedral
-City and Country the Cathedral is located
-Name or Names of the Designer/Builder
-Time Period in which the Cathedral was Built

*Please start setting aside shoe boxes (or other boxes about this size) and good cardboard as we will be needing them for the constructing of our cathedrals. Also, students will eventually need a large box to keep together and bring all of their Cathedral art work and pieces back and forth from Art Class.

Arms & Armor - Percussion Weapons

February 14, 2017

Many of the weapons that we think of as belonging to the Medieval Period actually originated in antiquity.  Primitive tools for hunting and land cultivation were used aggressively by warring factions.  Of these early weapons the first were percussion implements, designed for blunt striking. Examples include the rock, stick, club, and mace.

In class activities:

• Discussed the first recorded fight in history, that of Cain and Abel, and brainstormed which weapons were used
• Looked at images of percussion weapons
• Discussed the difference between the club and the mace
• Examined changes in the shape of the mace and discussed (in very basic terms) why force directed to a single point is more damaging than force spread across a wide area
• Learned about the first forms of protection in battle 
• Made our own leather arm-guards
• Attempted to throw light & heavy objects at a target and discussed the results
• Made our own foam "rocks" for use with our siege machines.

Assignment:

• Look up the term "siege engine" (Older students should come to class with a written definition, younger ones may just verbally discuss the term with parents)
• Examine images of the many different types of siege engine machines

Parents - Please SAVE your child's foam "rock."  This is the ammunition for their year-end project.  Over the course of this class, homework will be focused on walking children through the process of researching and building their own siege engine.  They will probably want to jump straight into the building stage, but I encourage you to enjoy the research process first.  

For future reference:  Our final class will be a siege engine tournament.  Children will bring their completed machines and compete to see who can shoot the highest, farthest, and most accurately.  These projects can be as big or as small as you would like, but just remember that it needs to shoot the assigned ammunition, and fit inside your vehicle.  Parents are expected to help with design and testing, but projects should be primarily kid-built.  I will eventually include links to several sources for step-by-step building instructions to help with the design process.  

Art: Pathfinders and Navigators

Tuesday Class, January 31

Overview
ILLUMINATED LETTERS are considered one of the largest collections of art from the medieval times still in existence. Illuminators were mostly monks who created these large letters, often full of color, design, and pictures. They would close themselves into a scriptorium, a lone room set aside in a church or monastery, for this decorative art. This art was only done after the intensive, long, and boring work of the scribe who was responsible for the script that would surround these letters of art. Though the illuminator certainly had the more interesting job, it was actually a long process of about 13 steps!

Here is a link to a great pdf that explains the history and process of illuminated letters with pictures:
Illuminated Letters

PROJECT
Two weeks ago when we met for class, students did step one of our illuminated letters: Gluing yarn onto cardboard in the shape and design of their large letter. This last class we finished the letters by first wrapping the cardboard in foil to create the "gilded" look often contained in illuminated letters. Using our fingers, we pressed the foil around the yarn to make the letters pop with an embossed appearance. Finally, students let their own creativity take over by using permanent markers to color in their letter how they wished.

Gutenberg - History 1&2, Explorers and Trailblazers

January 17, 2017

During the Middle Ages, the time consuming process of copying books by hand made the spread of new ideas very slow.  People often worked very hard to solve problems that had already been solved, but they had no access to that information.  

Johann Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable type printing press was one of the main factors that created the explosion of ideas known as the Renaissance, a revolutionary period in the arts and sciences.  Faster and cheaper printing made books available to many people for the first time.  This spread of knowledge led to a new fascination with the learning that swept through Europe. Ideas became more realistic and less dominated by religion, sometimes creating conflict between scientists and the church. 

___

In class activities:

• Assembled and printed using our own moveable type
• Explored Renaissance leisure activities and practiced walking on stilts
• Discussed the time consuming process of creating machines by hand
• Considered the changes to the Church and to society in general as books became increasingly available
• Added to our Medieval notebook

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For additional information on this subject:

• Read Ink on His Fingers by Louise A. Vernon (127p.)
• Watch an animation of how the printing press works

Assignment due 1/24

• Practice your timeline
• Read history cards 26-32

Black Death - History 1&2, Explorers and Trailblazers

January 10, 2017

The plague, also known as the Black Death because of the dark sores that it caused, was one of the worst diseases in history. This illness carried by rats and fleas resulted in the death of 1at least /3 of the population of the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.  

For years the disease would disappear during the winter, when fleas were less active, only to reappear again to the horror of both rich and poor.

Unfortunately, this tragedy shook many people’s faith in God.  It led to the collapse of the economy, changes on the battle field, and ultimately to the end of the already weakened feudal system, completely changing the medieval world. 

In class activities:

• Learned about the impact of disease in the medieval world
• Discussed the various methods used to "prevent" and “cure” the plague
• Mixed up some of our own cures (chocolate spiders etc.) and tasted our creations.
• Discussed the cycle of the plague
• Added to our Medieval notebook
• Read Run Far, Run Fast by Timothy Decker

Optional lesson extension activities:

• Read The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli (121p.)
• Watch music video of the black death - http://sotw-videolinks.blogspot.com/2012/04/sotw-2-chapter-25-end-of-world.html
• What if the Bubonic Plague never happened? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1aULu6BqNs

Assignment due 1/17/1017

• Read history cards MA 24-25
• Practice your timeline

Art - Pathfinders & Navigators

Tuesday, January 10

CLASS OVERVIEW
As art progressed through the Rennaisance and Medieval time, it often got bigger and grander. But not all churches were cathedrals, and had little or no money for art; but yet art was still important. So one of the arts that was created was QUILLING.

It was started by nuns in France and Italy; it simply used strips of paper, coiled into spirals and shapes to create a bigger design. Some of this work was so intricate and detailed, it mimicked the beautiful iron scroll work often featured in the cathedrals. Since gold was very prominent in church works, the nuns even went through the step of stripping the guilded pages of books of their gold edges to feature this in their quilling work.

PROJECT
Students created quilled creations, rolling paper strips into their own designs.

ASSIGNMENTS
-View images of ILLUMINATED LETTERS (Google, Pinterest, etc)
-Bring to next class: Piece of Cardboard (about paper size)
                                 Yarn (if you have any around the house)

FAITH Timeline @ 1/10/2017