? starter activity

1
? starter activity
You are a medieval health inspector. Note down
some of your worries and concerns about this town
2
Where did the Black death come from?
?Aims

• To identify the origins symptoms of the Black
  Death
• To begin drafting a My Story account of the
  effects of the plague on an individual

3
? Your task

• Watch the clip from Simon Schamas, History of
  Britain. Follow the instructions on your
  activity sheet as you watch.

4
The symptoms!
5
? Your task

• Your teacher will give you a set of cards with
  the symptoms of the Black Death. Try to sequence
  these in the correct order. When you have checked
  they are correct copy them into your notes.

6
? Your task

• Listen to the opening of a Black Death story on
  What makes this a good opening? Think about the
  following
• Characters
• Setting
• Language
• Storyline

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? Writing task

• Your teacher will give you a role card. Stick the
  card in your exercise book and around it make
  notes on your character. His/her age, their
  appearance, job, family members, feelings about
  the arrival of the plague.
• Now write the first section of your story.
  Remember to make it as gripping as the one you
  heard

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Success criteria
Promising start A good read A real page-turner
Describes some of the symptoms Includes references to the plagues arrival and symptoms. Provides details about the character. Your character describes the rumours about where the plague sprang from and detailed description of the symptoms. Clear sense of place and other characters in the village.
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What do you think is going on in this picture?
What does it tell us about medieval explanations
for the Black Death?
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? Your task

• How did medieval people think the plague was
  spread? Study source 4 on p.63 of Discovering
  Medieval Realms and list the reasons why people
  thought they caught the plague.

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Explanations for the plague

• People caught the plague by speaking to people
  who had caught it
• Punishment from God for the wickedness of people
• Jews had deliberately poisoned the water
• Infected winds from the East
• Filth and rubbish
• Strange movements of the planets stars

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? Writing task

• Now write the next section of your story. Include
  a dialogue between your character and someone
  else from the village in which they discuss the
  different explanations for the arrival of the
  plague. What does your character think caused it?

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Success criteria
Promising start A good read A real page-turner
Includes a scene in which characters discuss some of the explanations for the plague. Characters discuss the different explanations of the plague in a natural and engaging way. Natural and engaging discussion of the medieval explanations of the plague. The passage is littered with historical references, e.g. to flagellants, pilgrims, relics and superstitious beliefs.
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What have all these pictures got in common?
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Roses
16
Figs
17
Lancing boils
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A toad
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A shaved chicken
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Medieval cures for the plague

• Roses vinegar
• Figs onions
• Lancing boils
• Dried toads
• Shaved chickens
• Bleeding with leeches
• Herbal remedies

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? Your task

• Why did medieval people think these potions would
  work?
• How helpful do you think they would have been?

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? Your task

• People had different treatments for the symptoms.
  Why do you think there were so many strange
  remedies? Imagine you have been asked to create a
  TV advert for one of the Black Death remedies.
  Prepare a short role play demonstrating the power
  healing properties of your Black Death cure.

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? Your task

• Write the third section of your Black Death
  story. Try to include references to as many
  different cures. Get your characters to discuss
  the effectiveness of the cures.

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Success criteria
Promising start A good read A real page-turner
Includes a scene in which characters discuss some of the cures for the plague. Characters discuss the different cures. There is some attempt to explain their effectiveness but not very much Convincing and interesting dialogue, littered with references to different medieval cures. The characters clearly explain their effectiveness or not!
25
? Your task

• Study the list of changes your teacher gives you.
  Colour the positive changes in green and the
  negative ones in red. Record your answers in a
  table similar to the one below. Do you think that
  overall society changed for the better or worse?

Positive Negative

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? Your task

• Write the final part of your story in which you
  describe the changes that occurred to your
  character.

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Success criteria
Promising start A good read A real page-turner
Includes a limited number of references to changes A good range of references to changes, including some specific events, e.g. the Statute of Labourers A full range of changes, with detailed factual information. The writer has specifically thought about how the changes would affect their character.
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? Your task book review

• Read a fellow students story. Write a short
  review of their work. Include the following
  elements
• Provide details of the title, author and a brief
  outline of the story
• Discuss how well the author creates a believable
  character and interprets events through their
  eyes
• Mention the level of historical referencing
• Other features, e.g. illustrations, evidence of
  further research etc.
• Judge whether this is a book worth reading and why