1390 AD: London in the Late Middle Ages
Last week, we spoke with Dr. Matthew Green about his new History of London course. This week, we take a peek into the first lecture of the series, a ‘teaser’ on Medieval London in 1390.
Teaching Historical Theory through Video Games
The potential of video games for teaching history is receiving increasing recognition. However, the greatest emphasis is on their use as tools in secondary education. The few studies focusing on undergraduate education demonstrate the use of games to create an immersive historical experience with counterfactual options.
Minecraft and the Middle Ages
It is one of the most popular video games ever created. Moreover, educators are finding ways to use Minecraft as a teaching tool, and one that could be ideal for learning about the Middle Ages.
Gareth Hinds’ Beowulf
Dark and visceral, the graphic novel version of Beowulf created by Gareth Hinds is considered to be one of the most successful adaptations of the Old English tale.
Using LEGO to teach the Middle Ages
Here are a few ideas that teachers can use to teach the Middle Ages with LEGO
Teaching Out of the Box: Creating a Lesson about the Black Death
A team of teachers is challenged to produce an imaginative and exciting lesson on medieval history inspired by objects given to them in a box.
Got Kids? Get Medieval
If you have kids or know kids who you’d like to expose to the Middle Ages, here are a few books you might like to explore over the summer holiday.
Jobs in the Middle Ages
Want to know what kind of jobs there were in the Middle Ages?
Get Interactive: Teach the Middle Ages for Ages 5 to 25
A list of activities, discussions, and assignments to support teaching the Middle Ages. Many of these suggestions can be adjusted for different ages, but I’ve arranged them in a roughly age-progressive order.
Imagination For Better Not Worse: The Hobbit in the primary classroom
The story of The Hobbit can be utilised to develop the concept of the Hero’s Journey, a persistent trope in oral and recorded literature and an archetype for virtually all human experience.
Take a (Virtual) Tour of St.Andrew’s Cathedral in the year 1318
An Open Virtual Worlds project is allowing people in 2013 to go back nearly seven hundred years to explore one of Scotland’s most important medieval cathedrals.
Teaching the Crusades in a World Literature Survey Course Using Interactive Media: An Overview
The Crusades are such a rich source of literary and historical documents that it can be difficult to decide how to focus an abbreviated lesson in an undergraduate survey course.
A Pedagogical Trebuchet: A Case Study in Experimental History and History Pedagogy
The case study presented here shows how a project in experimental history applied to a medieval trebuchet was used to solve just such problems by encouraging historical thinking, hypothesis testing of a historical problem, and reinforcing traditional primary source research.
Exploring Medieval European Society with Chess
More specifically, it provides educators with a classroom-tested lesson activity for teaching medieval European society content using the game of chess by providing background information on the history of chess, a rationale for including chess in the classroom, and step-by-step procedures to infuse this activity when the topic of feudalism is covered.
Building a Model Astrolabe
This paper presents a hands-on introduction to the medieval astrolabe, based around a working model which can be constructed from photocopies of the supplied figures.
What Kind of Medieval History should be Taught and Learned in Secondary School?
This study presents a reflection on the teaching of history in secondary education. Specifically, it addresses what topics of the history of the Middle Ages are taught and learned and to what end.
Riddles, Runes and Tolkien in the “At-Risk” 8th Grade Classroom
The Hobbit, perhaps more so than Lord of the Rings, is clearly indebted in part to Old English literature and culture, notably in its use of runic writing in the map illustrations and in the story itself, and in the important role of riddles in Bilbo’s confrontation with Gollum
The Pennsylvania State University Medieval Garden: Using a Specialized Garden as an Alternative Teaching and Learning Environment
Since its installation, various colleges within the university as well as community groups have used the garden as an alternative classroom for learning activities, educational demonstrations, and events related to the medieval period.
Coloring Pages about the Middle Ages
Looking for printable coloring pages to allow preschoolers and young children learn more about the Middle Ages?