LESSON 7.1.04: Life in Medieval Towns
Learning objectives
 Understand the causes of the shift
from manors to towns in Medieval
Europe
 Understand the role of guilds in the
power shift from lords to merchants
 Describe what life was like in a
typical medieval town
Lesson questions
 Why did the population shift to
towns in Europe during the late
Middle Ages?
 How did guilds make the power
shift from lords to merchants
possible?
 What would it have been like to live
in a medieval town?
Lesson vocabulary
 guild
 apprentice
 journeyman
 noble
 barter
 cottage industry
 common law
 bubonic plague
 commerce
 urbanization
 capitalism
 mercantilism/merchant
 urbanization
 market economy
Differentiation Plan
Learning activities/strategies
In this lesson, students learn about life in medieval
Europe. In a Problem Solving Groupwork activity,
they read and create dramatizations about six
aspects of life in medieval European towns, such as
guilds and medical treatment. They demonstrate their
new knowledge by creating a calendar that describes
a typical day for someone living in a medieval
European town.
Suggested modifications
 Section 4.2 is essential to the deeper ideas of this
chapter. The rest of the chapter can be used as a
resource for a storyline activity. Rather than doing
the “act it out” activity and the calendar, students
could create a character in a medieval town, write a
journal entry from that character’s perspective, and
make a representation of their character to put in a
“medieval town” that had been built on a bulletin
board in the classroom. This could be a standalone activity or a continuation of a larger story-line
unit on Feudal Europe.
 The calendar activity is optional—it doesn’t get at
the deeper question of why population shifted to
towns, and why power shifted from lords to
merchants.
 Create a T chart on advantages and disadvantages
of the growth of population in towns (teacher led or
independent)
 Create a flow chart taking one aspect of Medieval
Europe and showing how it grew and evolved in
complexity through time (teacher led or
independent)
http://groups.teachtci.com/
Grade 7 Unit One Enrichment (Medieval Fair)
Formative Assessments
Check for Understanding: Teacher observation during activities
Student Interactive Notebook: Teacher checks during the lesson
Entrance and Exit Slips; Muddiest Point
Modified Lesson Assessment
Assessment 7.1.04
Key 7.1.04
Modified from History Alive! June 2009