The Middle Ages:
An Excellent Adventure
by
Kathleen Powers Manicke

Introduction

Imagine yourself in a different time and place.  The year is 1223 C.E., and the city is York, England.  Richard Coeur de Lion, Edward the Confessor, Eleanor of Acquitain. . .Who are these people, what did they do, why are they important?  Monastic life, the black death, chivalry, the Crusades. . .Why did they happen, how did they influence life, how do these things continue to affect us today?  The answer to these and other questions lies no further away than the click of a button.

Task

The European Middle Ages holds great fascination for students of world history.  Castles, beautiful ladies, knights in shining armor lend their allure to this topic.  But is this all there was?  Your task will to seek the answer to this question as you embark on a great adventure:
 

Resources

Here are the resources you may use throughout your adventure:

Annenberg's Middle Ages Site

Castles

Geoffrey Chaucer

European Middle Ages

The Jewish Community in the Middle Ages

Medieval Art

The Middle Ages from the BBC

UE's Middle Ages Website

Women in the Middle Ages
 
 

Process

Oral Presentation
    Research your topic in at least three of the resources found with this adventure.  You may use additional sources but they must meet the criteria for suitable research sites.  Take notes that will enable you to write an oral presentation that is five to seven minutes in length.  Use a word processing program to prepare a bibliography page that follows MLA guidelines for Works Cited pages.

PowerPoint
    Use Microsoft PowerPoint to design a presentation to accompany your oral information.  Your PowerPoint should have at least ten slides.  It should have graphics or a picture on each slide.  At least five of your slides should contain pictures that date to the Middle Ages.  You should have at least one map.  The written information on each slide should be in note form rather than in complete sentences.  Your PowerPoint will receive points for the number of special effects that you employ.

Graphic/Outline
  Use Microsoft Publisher or a similar program to design a graphic to assist your classmates in taking notes.  Your graphic should have the title of your presentation, an icon to symbolize your subject, and of course, areas for notetaking.  It should be on a full-sized sheet of paper so that students can put them in their notebooks.  Before the day of your presentation, you should make one copy for each classmate plus one each for the teachers.

Multiple Choice Questions
    Use a word processing program to compose ten multiple choice questions about your presentation.  Each multiple choice question should have four plausible answer choices.  Questions should cover the levels of learning according to Bloom's Taxonomy.  You should have at least one question for each of the six levels of learning.  Follow MLA format when typing your questions.

Rubric
    To see a rubric for this webquest click here.
 
 

Conclusion

So long ago and so far away, yet the Middle Ages remains with us in many different ways.   Violence, prejudice, human tragedy, destruction, loss of life combine with art, music, dancing, architecture, and literature to paint a picture of this most interesting of eras.  Your adventure was designed to help view the full picture in order to form your own conclusions.  And now, a little piece of medieval literature just for you:

Ich Am of Irelonde

Ich am of Irelonde,
And of the holy londe
Of Irelonde.
Good sire, praye ich thee,
Of sainte charitee,
Com and dance with me
In Irelonde.