Medieval Shield Project

(So, I'm going to pretend like I've been blogging this whole time! Long story short, class was misery and I'd rather not think about those kids one moment longer than I needed to! I'll be moving to a 6th grade high achiever class for next year, so hopefully I'll have more inspiration!)

This past year, I brought back a fun project for my students to work on - the Medieval Shield!

My students get to design their own Medieval Shield, complete with symbols that symbolize who THEY are. I tie it into the Medieval unit, which is about two chapters in our social studies books.... It works nicely with the Feudal System and Knights.

I'll tell you one thing, students love to talk about their favorite topic - THEMSELVES.

The shield has six openings, so I have my students pick six symbols. They have a rough draft shield to sketch their symbols on first and plan out their shield before I give them the construction paper cut out.

Additionally, because I feel guilty if my students are not constantly writing about something... they have to complete at least a paragraph that explains why they chose each symbol. The paragraph requirement depends on the class/level/attitude of the students that I'm teaching. If they can handle more, the requirement goes up. If we can actually get to the computer lab, then their paragraphs have to be typed.

Additionally, even the background color should symbolize an emotion or feeling that the students can tie to themselves. Here are a few links that you can use. I was planning on re-doing my instruction guide this year, however... I'm moving back to 6th grade. So, I'm not going to bother (haha!) since it's all Ancient History, not Medieval!

Family Crest Info

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Brilliant Social Studies Idea!

Sorry about the posting twice on the same day... I just had this great idea from a pin on Pinterest!  This is why Pinterest is so awesome, you can take great ideas and twist them to suit your classroom.

Original Pin Post about Glitter Germs!  This is my original inspiration - the glitter germ lesson is the idea of Little Miss Kindergarten.

Germs!

So - this is my idea for Social Studies and my "Older" kids.  You can do this same lesson but use it as an idea starter to get kids thinking about how diseases spread through cultures.  I'm going to use it as my opener for the Black Plague lesson!

I mean, it's one thing to talk about the Black Plague... but to actually be "infected" - awesome.  Maybe by the Principal or something?!  Fun!

I would... use the Glitter germs to infect a few people to start the lesson and maybe a few objects.  Start the lesson by having the infected kids pass out a those few items, then "trade" them a few times.  See if anyone notices the glitter.  Make sure you spread it around to a bunch of kids - then drop the Black Plague bomb on them.  I would also have them brainstorm ideas for the "infected" versus the "uninfected."

- What do you do if you're not infected?  Hide?  Move away?
- Discuss how the disease also is with the items being passed around (like the fleas/rats on the ships)

I'm also planning on using the video of Remy from Ratatouille that talks about rats when introducing the plague.

Any other ideas for adapting this lesson for the older kids?

Managing Social Studies in the Middle School Classroom

I'm going to confess - I love Social Studies.

Rome, Knights, the Black Plague, Silk Road, American Revolution - if it happened in the past, I love it.  I've always enjoyed making this seemingly boring, never-ending story come to life in front of a middle school classroom.  Because if you don't....

Unfortunately?  Social Studies (and Science if you're a cored Math person) get the unlucky shaft in lieu of more Language Arts practice. 

Need an extra 10 minutes to finish a lesson, or that last passage?  Steal it from Social Studies. 

Need some last minute grammar practice because you will literally slap the next student that misuses there or their - steal it from Social Studies.

So, then... suddenly it's February and you're on chapter 7 - of 19 in your book!  If you're like me, you feel bad because the kids aren't going to get that whole picture.  Why did people travel to the Americas?  Beats me!  I last learned about the Plague!  Most of Europe was dead, right?

I do my best to get my students through 1,500 years of history from the Fall of Rome to the Age of Exploration.  It's hard, to handle more pages of work being turned in, on top of all the Language Arts papers you are already receiving. 

A few years back, I discovered that the best way to handle Social Studies - was to assign all the work in a packet.  The packet format allowed me to give my students their work, but not collect it on a daily basis. 

This is what my packet cover page looks like:

 

Nothing super fancy on the sheet, but it gets the job done.  What I like about these packets?  

• All my students notes, that we complete together, go into them.
• We practice several note taking styles, including cornell and outline notes.
• If I want to add the chapter questions at the end of each section, I can, but I don't have to.
• I can be creative for the vocabulary (think foldables) or mean, if I have to (think silence and definition copying).
• The packet can be used to take their tests - giving them extra confidence.  Most middle schoolers at this point, have NO IDEA how to study for book tests, what's important, etc.  This gives them a boost.
• I can add 1-2 fun activities for each chapter.  Break out the crayons because I think we all need it.
• It helps the students keep track of their work and be responsible to hold on to some papers for a period of time.  Also, they can keep track of what's finished with the Done column.