Middle Ages: How did people FEEL before, during and after the Black Death?

This lesson aims to get students empathising with those that lived through the Medieval Black Death. They must put the events of the 1348 plague in the correct chronological order and then consider the emotions people would have felt at those different times.

Each student has a set of emotion cards to hold up for each event. When I first taught this lesson I envisaged students holding up just one emotion card for each date and event but they surprised me with the complexity of their thinking and reasoning. Many students were able to use the emotions cards to explain how they might have conflicting emotions when, for example they hear rumours from the nearest town or when the plague has passed them by.

Ultimately the students cut and stick the event cards in chronological order and then draw an emotion picture next to it to show how they would feel at each point. They should also write down AT LEAST one sentence explaining why they would feel this way.

I use this lesson as preparation for writing their own historical fiction about the Black Death. It works well for character building and character motivation later on. It also helps students to think about cause and effect and the impact on individuals of major events.

Lesson contains:
13 slide PowerPoint (print out as a handout to use the events slides as cards)
6 emotion ‘cards’ (one blank for the students to create their own)
An example of student work to give an idea of outcome.

Thanks for looking!

*****************************************************************************
TERMS OF USE:
This download (free or purchased) is for your own personal use in your classroom or your home. Please do not share my resources with others unless given explicit consent by me. Please direct them to my store instead.

This download MAY NOT be used in whole or in part on any distance learning course platforms including, but not exclusive to, Outschool or Udemy.

You may not share this download. You may not alter any item in this download, resell and claim as your own work. Similarly, you may not sell or share these resources with anyone and you may not use the contents of this download to create anything for commercial purposes or other commercial products. If you are an education board or school and would like to use my resources district wide, please contact me about licensing.

© A. Hughes (MsHughesTeaches)All rights reserved.