Lesson 25: The Middle Ages (1066-1485)
Name: _Amanda Ross___________________ Date: _ 10/15/2012
_______Age/Grade Level: __12_
# of Students: __19 # of IEP Students: ___ # of GSSP Students: ____ # of LEP Students:____
Subject: __English__________________ Major Content: _IV_______ Lesson Length: 53 minutes
Unit Title: __Reading and Writing (Con)Texts_
Lesson Number and Title: 23 : British Literature
Context:



This unit helps students become actively aware of the fact that they are reading a lot.
Students are able to engage texts that are print and non-print materials.
This lesson introduces the use of the word wall and its use to build vocabulary.
Objectives:
1.
2.
3.
Students will be able to understand how the history of a culture is represented in the literature of that culture.
Students will be able to effectively take notes that will aid in their understanding of the material.
Students will be able to make connections across cultures.
Connections:
11-12.RI.2
11-12.RI.7
11-12.W.1
11-12.W.2
11-12.W.4
11-12.W.5
11-12.W.9
11-12.L.1
11-12.L.2
11-12.L.3
11-12.SL.1
Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course
of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex
analysis; provide an objective summary of the text.
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or
formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or
solve a problem.
Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid
reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis
of content.
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and
audience.
Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and
research.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when
writing or speaking.
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to
make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or
listening.
Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in
groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues,
building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
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Sherman Jr./Sr. High School
2012-2013 School Year
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11-12.SL.3
Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, assessing the
stance, premises, links among ideas, word choice, points of emphasis, and tone used.
Assessment Plan:
Objective/Assessment Plan Organizer
Objective Number
Objective 1
Type of
Assessment
Summative
Description of
Assessment
Written and
verbal response
Depth of
Knowledge Level
Adaptations
and/or
Accommodations
2
Resources, media, and technology:
1.
English 5 textbooks.
Procedure
1
Time
5-10
minutes
Description
First start students with their daily Bell Ringer:
Bell Ringer: “What do you know about the Middle Ages? Create a list.”
Then, I will discuss the bell ringer.
2
10-15
minutes
Next, students will get a copy of the “Three Examples of the Development of the English
Language.” I will show them how Anglo-Saxon literature was written in contrast to middle
English, which is used approximately during the same time as the Middle Ages, and then,
contrast both old and middle English to modern English, which does include Shakespeare.
3
5-10
minutes
Next, students will get a brief history of the Great Vowel Shift, which occurred some point
between Chaucer and Shakespeare.
Notes:

Primarily took place between 1400-1450
The Great Vowel Shift
The main difference between Chaucer's language and our own is in the pronunciation of the
"long" vowels. The consonants remain generally the same, though Chaucer rolled his r's,
sometimes dropped his aitches, and pronounced both elements of consonant combinations,
such as "kn," that were later simplified. And the short vowels are very similar in Middle and
Modern English. But the "long" vowels are regularly and strikingly different. This is due to
what is called The Great Vowel Shift.
Beginning in the twelfth century and continuing until the eighteenth century (but with its
main effects in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries) the sounds of the long stressed
vowels in English changed their places of articulation (i.e., how the sounds are made).
Old and Middle English were written in the Latin alphabet and the vowels were represented
by the letters assigned to the sounds in Latin. For example, Middle English "long e" in
Chaucer's "sheep" had the value of Latin "e" (and sounded like Modern English "shape" [/e/]
in the International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA]). It had much the same value as written long e
has in most modern European languages. Consequently, one can read Chaucer's long vowels
with the same values as in Latin or any continental European language and come pretty close
Ross
Sherman Jr./Sr. High School
2012-2013 School Year
2
to the Middle English values.
The Great Vowels Shift changed all that; by the end of the sixteenth century the "e" in
"sheep" sounded like that in Modern English "sheep" or "meet" [IPA /i/]. To many it seemed
that the pronunciation of English had moved so far from its visual representation that a new
alphabet was needed, and in the sixteenth century we have the first attempts to "reform"
English spellings, a movement still active today. In 1569 John Hart (in his Orthographie)
went so far as to devise a new phonetic alphabet to remedy what he considered a fatal flaw
in our system of language. (His alphabet and the work of other language reformers provides
us with our best evidence for the pronunciation of English in his time).
To understand how English changed (not why; no one knows) one must first note that
vowels are articulated in particular parts of the mouth; we make the sound in Modern
English "deep" [/dip/] with our tongue forward and high in the mouthr, and the sound in
Modern English "boat" [/bot/] with our tongue lowered and drawn toward the back of the
mouth and the jaw relatively low (open). Say "ee" (or "beet") and "o" (or "boat") in
succession and you may be able to feel the movement of your tongue from front to back.
(http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/vowels.html)
4
20-23
minutes
Finally, students will begin reading on page 117. They will read pages 117-129. While
students read, they will be instructed to take notes. These note will be turned in for a grade.
Students will also work on Greek and Latin Roots parts 1-6
Ross
Sherman Jr./Sr. High School
2012-2013 School Year
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