Objectives:

1. General: The students will develop an understanding of life in a medieval castle.
2. Specific: The students will be able to

• explain the parts of a castle and their functions.
• navigate the Internet to find the necessary information.
• compare and contrast their current lives with those of people living in Medieval times.
• describe life in a Medieval castle with specific emphasis on decoration, furniture, defenses, clothing, music, and food.
• work successfully within a small group of three students.
• enhance logical thinking abilities by using a computer program to create a castle and successfully defend it from attack.
• produce a group project related to the castle theme.
• keep a diary of their experiences.
• use assessments to judge the effectiveness of their presentations.

Materials needed:

• Castle KWHL
• Daily Diary Form
• Steps for Posting to a Board
• Life in a Medieval Castle
• Guidelines for an Essay
• Group Proposal
• Guidelines for Group Project
• Ideas for a Group Project
• Evaluation sheets
• teacher assessment of essays
• teacher assessment of daily diaries
• student rubric for other projects and presentations
• teacher rubric of projects
• teacher rubric for presentation
• student rubric for self and group performance

• MS Office
• Community Construction Kit-to create scale models of castles
• Diorama Maker-to create interior scenes
• Castle Game

1. Advanced Preparation: Three days: Days One-Three

1. Discuss with the class the unit, project, due dates, and expectations. Explanation of assessment.
2. Using the form daily diary, discuss requirements and due dates.
3. Pass out the Castles KWHL. Give the students about 15-20 minutes to fill it in. Discuss answers.

2. Web Research and Short Essay: Six days: Days Four-Nine

1. Direct the students to the Castles web site. Briefly run through the pages. Have students browse the links on the page so that they get familiar with the layout.
2. Be available to circulate through the room as the students begin the requirements for this section on the Castles page.
3. Plan the mini-unit on posting to a message board and forwarding e-mail when it becomes evident that there are some students having trouble understanding the procedure (around the third day of this section). Make sure that any student that doesn't have a gaggle.net e-mail account signs up for one.
4. Collect all work on Day 9.
5. Collect diaries on Fridays.

3. Class discussion on work completed thus far. One day: Day Ten

4. Group Project: 2 weeks: Days 11-20

1. Start the groups out playing the Castles Game. When they have successfully defended their castle as a group, they may move into the planning stages for their project.
2. Have the groups complete Organizer for Castle Life within their group. They may review sites, if necessary.
3. Assist when necessary in the decision as to a topic for the projects.
4. When groups have finished the detailed group proposal, approve it before the group can continue. This is due ___________.
5. After group proposals are accepted, each group will work together on their project for the next _______________ class periods. They will föollow guidelines for a successful group project. They will also need to prepare to present their project.
6. Assist students during the project phase.
7. The project completion date is Day Twenty.
8. Collect diaries on Fridays.
9. Short mini-units of instruction will be taught on an as needed basis.

5. Presentations: Three days: Days 21-23

The students will draw numbers for the order that they will present their projects. The students will evaluate the group presentations using the rubric for projects and presentations as the presentations are being presented.

6. Evaluation: One day: Day 24

The students will complete the group and self evaluations. We will have a debriefing session and wrap things up. Students will also complete the KWHL sheet from the beginning of unit.