What was life like in the Middle Ages?

Medieval Realms: Full Unit of Study

This KS3 unit of study should take at least 15 hours to complete. There is a Power Point included for every lesson which leads students through the activities and provides advice and guidance where required. In teaching/loose chronological order, the lessons include: * What was life like in the Middle Ages? * Who should be king? Claimants in 1066 * Events leading up to the Battle of Hastings * Why did William win the Battle of Hastings? * How did William control England? * How far did castle design improve during the Middle Ages? * Why was religion so important to people in the Middle Ages? * Who was to blame for the murder of Thomas Becket? * How did people in the Middle Ages view the Black Death? * Did Robin Hood really exist? There are a great range of activities including discussion, problem solving, card sorting and ranking, source analysis, comparison of continuity vs. change, introduction to explanatory essay writing and evaluative essay writing and board game creation. There are three formal assessment- the explanatory essay on why William won the Battle of Hastings, the comparative writing on developments in castle design and the evaluative writing on whether or not Robin Hood was real. Writing frames and mark schemes are included for these. For more details, please refer to individual lesson summaries.