Out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance

Hand in Grade 8 Farewell videos

Well done on advising the Grade 5 yesterday. If I was in grade 5, I would have appreciated your input.

Further to yesterday's post, a demonstration is happening at the Manitoba Legislature building at 6pm Friday. Black Lives Matter. 

Correcting Monday's questions tomorrow

Kahoot Tomorrow

From a previous blog posting, know what brought an end to the Medieval Ages and the start of the Renaissance. Look and think about the items in blue.

Advances in Farming
Changes in the Economy
Mobility of workers
New thoughts coming from the Crusades
More merchants
Development of the Middle Class
Rise of towns/cities
More Travel
Printing Press
Advances in Navigation
More Trade
The Black Death

Read here, up to but not including The Reformation.

Blog below
1. Humanism asks people to stop relying on ___________ and to instead create the life they want to lead.
2. What tragic event happened just before the start of the Renaissance, and help the Renaissance be possible?
3. Where did the Renaissance start? (Bonus, not in the reading, but deduce from our discussions. Where do you think the first Renaissance dome was built?)
4. The Golden Ratio, used by DaVince in the Vitruvian Man, and often found in nature, such as in our fingers, sea shells, tree branches, and hurricanes, to name a few, was studied during the Renaissance. Which ancient culture that we studied  consciously used the Golden Ration in their art?
5. Which ancient culture that we studied copied and kept alive the use of the Golden Ratio?


One of the keys to the Renaissance was increased trade. Do you have what it makes to be a Trader back in the Renaissance or will you lose a pound of flesh.  Click here to find out. Click on exploraton and trade (on the left)/become a spice trader(on the right)

Tour the Sistine Chapel, the church within the Pope's official residence. Click on update flash player and then click on always. Sistine Chapel tour here



How did the printing press come to be in Europe?




How is your knowledge now of the Renaissance. Play at least 3 of these games here to find out. 

Changes, but still a meeting at 1

Before we get to the changes in Europe during the Middle Ages, have you submitted your videos about your changes during your time at Bruce. Record some stuff and sent it my way.

Tomorrow a Kahoot

Thursday we correct the slew of questions I gave you on Monday

Email me or phone the school to make an appointment to come in

Look at the Video below to see the changes in Europe over time. 

Happy Monday and The Black Death

We need your submissions for the Bruce Grade 8 Farewell Video! 

We are online at 1, as always. You now also have the option of making an appointment to come to school. Phone the school or email me to make the appointment. 

Last Week's assignments are corrected and commented upon in powerschool. Students are encouraged to do the corrections for full marks or to do the assignments if not completed yet.

Questions below I will expect will take a few days to complete.

As talked about in class, just before classes ended because of the Covid Pandemic,  disease has been a constant in our history. 

It is not all gloomy though. The most fatal pandemic actually lead to an improved condition for the people at the end of the Middle Ages. Read this link and this link to get a better understanding of the Pestilence (Black Death). Some more  also here

 1. From your reading, why is the term Black Death now used for the Bubonic Plague?

The tongue would turn black

2. Describe how years of good crops leading to  population growth followed by two years of dismal crops would be a good condition for the plague to attack.
With the good crops, more people would be produced, making more people to feed, and more starvation for the disease to prey upon. 

3. How did increased trade lead to the spread of the plague? Sound familiar to how Covid has spread?

Diseased people spreading the disease around as they travel. A reason why travel restrictions have been put in place in Canada and around the World. 

4. A) IMPORTANT-What happened to the worth of the Serfs after the plague decimated much of the population in the country side? People became more valuable, so the class of Serfs, who were considered pretty worthless, became valuable and moved up to peasant. The class of serfs ceased to be.  B) Do you think our current pandemic will lead to an improved lifestyle for the average person? 

5. A) How was urine and manure used in efforts to stop the plague? It was spread on the walls. B) Have some people had some unfounded beliefs in how to treat Covid-19 Yes, like swallowing bleach. 

6. How did the above method actually probably help with the spread of Black Death? Rats would have loved this environment. 

7. Why would people confess to causing the plague by poisoning wells and what punishment did the Christian majority bestow upon many of the Jewish faith? Confess because they are being tortured. They were often banished, having to travel to a new town, and potentially carrying the disease with them. Or they were killed. 

8. Give a name that the plague was called during the Middle Ages. The Pestilence. 

9. A) How were those that died used as weapons by the Tartars? Thrown over the wall with a catapult B) Presently, would purposefully not wearing a mask when close to others be a form of assault? Yes, you would on purpose put somebody in risk of catching a potentially deadly disease. 

10.What percentage died from the Black Death and why would that number be hard to verify? 1/3 to 2/3.  There wasn't a good system to keep track of the population and the death rate

11.Why did people think changing clothes would make you more likely to get the plague? It would show vanity and make God mad. 

12.The plague had 3 forms, depending on how it is caught. If you had to have the plague back in the Middle Ages, which form would you prefer and why? Bubonic, not nearly as deadly. 

  Bubonic Plague-Most common, often from the bite of fleas or other infected animals. Often thought to be the version of the plague that decimated Europe in the Middle ages that we call The Black Death. Plague enters lymph nodes. Gangrene can set in on the extremities. Not as deadly as the other two versions.  

Septicaemia Plague-The infection enters the blood stream. Loss of clotting leads to black splotches on the skin. Death can be within a day.
Pneumonic Plague- The plague enters the lungs. The patients cough up blood. Very deadly, even today. Because this can easily transmit from person to person some argue this was version of the plague we call  the Black Death. Read here more about that research on the spread of the Black Death. 

Some claim that this nursery rhyme is from the Black Death. The claim doesn't stand up to scrutiny, but it does make for a good story.

Friday, next week is June

Friday-May 29

Friday Journal-handing in video(s) for the Grade 8 Farewell. Use your communication skills to reflect upon your time at Bruce.  If needed, more details are here

Friday-Kahoot

Next Week, I will keep being online at 1pm, but from school. You can also book an appointment by phoning the school to come in and see a teacher.

Also on Monday we will be correcting the questions from Wednesday and Thursday. For those already done, I have entered marks and given suggestions in Powerschool what needs to be done to get a perfect mark. Feel free to correct. Remember, marks won't be going down, only up!

To Infinity, and Beyond

Want to audition for the divisional choir? If so, email  jakkalyn.woodcroft@sjasd.ca

The Crusades, which began in 1095, brought a change to Europe. During the Middle Ages, especially the first part, there was little travel and therefor little exchange of ideas, materials, etc. The Crusades brought change by the influence traveling to the Middle East had on the Crusaders. They brought back new approaches to learning, new knowledge in science and mathematics, new flavours and manners, and a host of other things. 

Read more about the Crusades here. 

1. What prompted the Pope to call for a Crusade

2. There were a number of Crusades, which one was most successful?

3. Would you have joined a children's crusade? Why or why not. 

Read here for some of the effects of the Crusades

4. What effect did the Crusades have on land ownership?

5. At the start of our studies back in the Fall, societies seemed to have everyone fairly equal, The Hunting and Gathering societies, or a very rich and very poor class, the Agrarian societies (like ancient Egypt, Rome). With the rise of the Merchant class, what class of people are we seeing develop? Hint, most populous class in Canada. 

Next Week, The Black Death, the end of the Middle Ages, and the start of the Renaissance. 

Medieval Gothic Churches

Thursday-May 28

Keep handing in the videos for the Grade 8 Farewell

Next Week, I will keep being online at 1pm, but from school. You can also book an appointment by phoning the school to come in and see a teacher.

Friday-Kahoot

Go on a tour of some of the beautiful Medieval churches, but around a 1000 years ago.  For your own tour, here is a link to a virtual tour of Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral, before it burned last year, a Gothic church built in the Middle ages, about a thousand years ago.  Here is link to the outside. Here is a another Notre Dame Cathedral in France, a little newer, but still very old, and my personal favourite.  This church, Sainte-Chapelle, is older than the two Notre Dame churches. Here is a link to multiple pictures of multiple Gothic Churches from the Middle Ages. 

 

Note  the pointed arches

and the ribbed vaults.

the huge doors  

the flying buttresses

all the tall windows  

the grotesques

 

 and gargoyles  

Gargoyles doing their work while the teacher was caught in the rain.
 

And inside be prepared to see some Relics

Relic were usually items brought back from the 'Holy Lands' by returning crusaders. Items that supposedly touched Jesus or some other holy figure. One such relic that has been in Częstochowa since the Middle Ages is the Black Madonna, said to have been painted by St. Luke on boards from the table of the holy family. Its power is said to have rebelled and killed invaders, including the person who put two slashes onto the face.

People come and pray to the Madonna and are said to be miraculously healed, leaving their crutches, wheelchairs, glasses, walkers, etc behind.  Here is a small sample of several walls that are covered with these medical devices. 

Whether you believe in relics or not, one undisputed fact is that people who come and visit the relics, called pilgrims, enrich the local economy as any tourist would, paying for food, lodging and other services. The relics often paid for the building of the church. Częstochowa has had pilgrims/tourists visiting for a thousand years enriching the local economy because of the Black Madonna. 

Relics in popular culture today

Information here and here and here on the role of relics and what some of them were/are. Take some time with the above links and enjoy the virtual field trip. You might find it a little cool in the churches, and remember, no matter how hot outside, shoes, covered shoulders and covered knees inside the church, and a uncovered head for men. 

Some more information about Stained glass here  And some more information on cathedrals here.

1. If Kris came back to town from the crusades with a piece of wood and a nail that he said came from the cross that Jesus Christ died on, how could this artifact help the town economy? (if people believed him).

2. Looking down from above, what shape did gothic churches have?

3. The first part of the church built, the part with the alter where the priest stands, is the ______ part of the finished Church (North, South, East, West).

4. Would the designer of one of these Gothic Cathedrals live to see the finished work?

5. Books were scarce and most people couldn't read. Where in the Church can they see stories from the Bible?

Wednesday-May 27

 -For those done Green Knight Part 2 Questions-I made a mistake on the form so that you couldn't answer the 2nd last question, so I gave full marks on that question. Corrections are also possible for full marks. Check powerschool for your mark and what corrections you may need to do, but many of you were perfect already!

-Submit something for the Grade 8 Farewell video. See yesterday's post for details.

-Kahoot today

Below, food questions for the Middle Ages. 

Here is a dish called Bruce. Tripe is the lining of a cow's stomach.

You can find dishes, complete with descriptions here and here and here.

1. From the links above, blog which dish you would most want to try.
2. Again, from the links above, which dish would you most want to avoid?

 Read this link here and be prepared to answer questions from your reading.

 3. Describe 2 ways that travel (in particular, the Crusades) changed meal time during the end of the Middle Ages.

4. Who would eat rye bread/whole wheat bread?

5. Who would eat raw vegetables?

6. Would being rich lead to a healthier diet? Explain.

7. Many of our foods were developed as a result of preservation practices during the Middle Ages. In the days before fridges and canning, foods were prepared in various ways so that they would last longer. These various methods of preparation gave the foods a distinctive taste. Read the article here and tell us what you last ate that would have been preserved in a Medieval style. Some more information can be found here

8. A ploughman is a field worker from the Middle Ages, a peasant or serf, and a ploughman's lunch is a common menu item today, such as at this local restaurant. What would you get if you ordered a ploughman's lunch?

Bonus Question-What is ironic about a fancy restaurant offering a ploughman's lunch?

 If you are done your reading early, research for our medieval feast, from recipes here. If you are making Tartee, get busy catching the humming birds.

Monday, May 25-1pm meeting

Those that did Part 1 Questions. In Powerschool I have recorded your marks and commented if you lost any marks. Read the comment and correct for full marks. 

No Meeting Tuesday, but there will be new stuff on the blog

Tuesday-Work on the Grade 8 Farewell submissions 

Wednesday Kahoot

Thursday-More Middle Ages

Friday-Kahoot

Past Due

Shields are Due

Story Part 1 Questions 

Last Week's Journal 

Friday, the 22

 Shields due today.  Click here for details. Check kidblog for Nika's awesome early submission

Questions on Part 1 of The Green Knight also due today

Part 2 of The Green Knight-Have read by Monday

Friday Journal-How about trying a review? Some excellent classmate reviews are here.  If not a review, send something else. If you need a sentence prompt, When I pulled the pan from the oven . . . 

Kahoot Friday-Shows and dancing and . . . 

Thursday, May 21

Fill in your drawn shields.  Click here for details. Due Friday

Questions on Part 1 of The Green Knight-due Friday

Part 2 of The Green Knight-reading Today

Friday Journal-How about trying a review? Some excellent classmate reviews are here

Green Knight story Part 2, with option to have it read aloud to you, click here

or play the story below.

Wednesday, May 20

Start filling in your drawn shields.  Click here for details. Due Friday

Questions on Part 1 of The Green Knight-due Friday

Part 2 of The Green Knight-reading Thursday

Kahoot on Shields, The Green Knight, and other things as suggested yesterday

Next Class, Tuesday, May 19

Friday is a divisional down day. Look for catapult kits being delivered on Friday

Monday is Queen Victoria day. We talked about her in December about how she changed how Canadians celebrate Christmas. What else do you know about this woman who never visited Canada, was the Queen of Britain, spoke German with her husband and survived a half dozen assignation attempts? 15 Facts about Queen Victoria

Tuesday

Because we only had the one Kahoot last week, today a Kahoot on Queen Victoria and Victoria Day.

Have Part 1 of the Green Knight read or listened to. 

Have your shield shape drawn out

Have your journal completed

Start assembling your Catapult, instructions below

Wednesday- Kahoot day, starting at 1

To help boost our spirits on this rainy cool midweek day, here is our Happy List. Feel free to add more suggestions

Grade 8 Farewell Video-We need video clips, talk about your favourite Memory at Bruce, How you have changed while at Bruce, Hopes and plans for the future after you leave Bruce. 10 seconds or less per clip. Submit as many clips as you like. Here is the Showbie code-RRMZR

Presentation?

A Kahoot on Manitoba. Hopefully you studied up yesterday

More work on our Shields

Tomorrow-Last day of School this week. Journal Day. 

For your Journal, if you haven't done so, how about writing a review. Reviews done can be found here https://rm10lass.blogspot.com/2020/05/friday-yay.html

So far we have a review on the Book Five Feet Apart, The shows Modern Family and Monday Heist, Game Stations, and the movie Peter Rabbit. 

Reading, The Green Knight

Coat of Arms

For your coat of arms, make it about yourself. You may wish to incorporate the meaning behind your name from an earlier lesson onto the coat of arms. You may also wish to include the knighted name you picked for yourself, and the oath you took.

Come up with a design. For some suggestions click here. Put things on it that represent the best about you. Most coats of arms have Latin on them, Canada's coat of arms has "desiderantes meliorem partial" and  "a mari usque ad mare" Perhaps some Latin on your Coat of Arms? Here is a link to translate English into Latin. Here is a list of some famous latin mottos that you may wish to adapt.

Look at the meaning below of various colours and symbols. Like stain glass windows, most people, who couldn't read, would be looking at the shield and gathering meaning through the colours and symbols.

Create your Coat of Arms on paper or digitally. When we are finished we will be sharing on Kidbog. 

Tuesday, May 12 Happy Birthday Manitoiba

Class Meeting at 1, as always

Presentation?

Corrections of Thursday's Questions

Corrections of Yesterday's Questions

Still looking for some more Journals

Manitoba turns 150 and Shields

Tomorrow-A Kahoot on Manitoba. Study up

As talked about earlier, shields would have symbols on them, and usually a cross. Shields designs from the Middle Ages are still used today, but not for battle, but for Coat of Arms. Below is Manitoba's Coat of Arms.

                                            

"The original Coat of Arms of Manitoba was granted to Manitoba by a Royal Warrant of King Edward VII on 10 May 1905. The shield is also featured on the provincial flag and the design is based on the 1870 Great Seal of Manitoba. The bison represents the Aboriginal peoples of Manitoba who used the bison for both food and clothing. The red cross on white at the top of the shield is the cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. This cross was also found on the arms of the Hudson’s Bay Company which originally governed the territory from which Manitoba was established." From the Province of MB

Coat of Arms have become fancier over time. Below is Manitoba's Augmented Coat of Arms, created in 1992

The Royal Crown is at the top, representing constitutional sovereignty. It sits on the back of a beaver, a nod to the province’s historic role in the fur trade and Canada’s national animal, holding a prairie crocus, the province’s provincial flower.

The beaver is standing on a golden knight’s helmet and it faces left, a symbol of the province’s co-sovereign status in Confederation.

Below that is the shield, the original coat of arms. At the top, the red and white cross is the Cross of St. George, the patron saint of England. The Cross of St. George is also in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s coat of arms, the centuries-old company which used to govern the land which now makes up the province. The buffalo is symbolic of the animal which used to freely roam the prairies.

To the left of the shield is a unicorn, a symbol of Scotland, to touch on the role of the province’s Scottish settlers. Its green and white collar represents Manitoba being known as the Keystone Province, and it also includes stone, for the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Fort Garry, maple leaves for Canada, and, dangling down, a Red River cart wheel, the early form of transportation here.

To the right of the shield is a horse, used by European settlers, as well as First Nation and Métis peoples. Both the horse’s beaded collar and the cycle of life medallion hanging from it represent the province’s Indigenous people.  

Below the shield, left to right, is a wheat field, prairie crocuses, and white spruce trees, symbolizing the province’s southern agricultural fields, provincial flower, and the forested areas in the north.

Underneath is a strip of blue and white waves to symbolize the thousands of lakes and rivers in the province.

At bottom is the province’s motto in Latin, Gloriosus et Liber, or Glorious and Free, taken directly from the national anthem.  Winnipeg Free Press May 12, 2020

Thursday's Questions and Answers

Governments around the world have succession plans for who will be next in charge. According to this legend, what happened in England when Arthur's father died with no clear successor?

they made it so that the first person to pull out the sword in the stone would become king

The duke was in charge until a new king was found

The wizard Stole the baby and took him into the woods

There was no one to keep the land in order so the place turned into a wasteland with people robbing other people, people fighting to be king, and people getting jumped all because there was no king to set the rules.

Everyone was fighting for who should be king, always ending with nobody winning. Everyone was in a helpless situation to the point where they decided that whoever pulls that sword out of the rock shall be king.

Arthur went missing and then they had no king. Then the sword in the stone appeared and on it, it said that who pulls it out is the king of England and Arthur pulled it out.

This story has many different versions, but all the versions seem to have Arthur as a scrawny lad, but with something else that was big and strong. What would that be?

His Heart!!

Merlin said that Arthur should be King for two reasons, one reason is found in the answer above. The 2nd reason is because of birthright, who his parents were. This was the way much of Europe was ruled for the last thousand years plus. Even today, the official head of Canada is the Queen, a title she holds by birthright. Is this a good system? Defend your answer.

i think this is a good system, i think that the whole air to the thrown thing is a good idea, but i think that they should be the king/queen till a certain age, like 80's so that way the queen as example would still have a life to live after "retirement" and not having her work till she dies. And when the queen/king hit's that land mark the next in line steps up. it could also prevent the king/queen from making any rash and bad decisions.

It is because if you are born into a royal family you grow up around it and you would know what to do and also you would be trusted but it’s also not fair because this way one family gets to make the decisions and there are no new mindsets to help make decisions.

I think it’s kinda unfair because only her family gets to be queen and king and nobody else gets a chance. I think it should be similar to the prime Minister or President Like a vote.

I feel like we should have a say in who will rule us because if someone is going to be in a high state of power, we should be able to at least say who we think deserves that power and has our trust.

No, it’s not a good system because the person who can be holding the title by birthright might not be a good ruler, not prepared and careless about their choices. Just because that person’s parent was a good king/queen does not mean they will be good too, since even if they share the same DNA, they are not the same person with the same personality. A person holding this king of title should be responsible and make their choices carefully and seriously, since their kingdom depends on them. If a person does not have these qualities, it might lead to the whole kingdom breaking apart, just because the person who got the title did not fit the checklist of a good ruler.

I think it is a good system because the person that becomes the queen or king or prince and they rule a country, they already know stuff about it and how to do it because they have been passed knowledge from their mothers and fathers and have been living that life. A random person, even if the person is incredibly smart, will not know as much as the kids. As an example our Ukrainian president at the moment has never been in politics and knows nothing about it and making a joke of himself and the country and its getting worse and worse. Same thing with Trump.

We are going to make our own personalized Coat of Arms

Step 1 Research your Name

Many of our names can be traced back to the Europe during the Middle Ages. Can you trace your name back? Here is a link that might help to look up your last name(surname) and/or here and here is a link to look up your first name (Would have been called your Christian name in Medieval Europe and when I went to school here in Winnipeg).  Names have historical significance and a literal meaning. Feel free to blog below the significance and/or the meaning behind your name.

Monday, bright and sunny, class meeting at 1

Monday

Presentation?

Corrections of Thursday Questions-Tuesday, still waiting for a few more to answer

Also Still looking for some more Journals

More Knights, shields and Castles 

Your video below is proving to be very popular on the School's Instagram. I have posted it here as an unlisted youtube video. I tried my best to get the singing and acting synchronized and to include all the submissions. Tough to do during these pandemic times.  I was rather pleased with how the shorter contributions some of you made complimented the longer contributions some of you made.  Well Done Team!

Below is a video clip that is being shared among all the grade 8 students about storming a castle.  In the clip, King Richard 1, the Lion Heart, is leading his troops into battle to storm the castle. While based on a true story, below is the Hollywood version. What was in those sacks hung on the gates that caused such an explosion?? Hollywood special effects is the answer. Actually, the castle was taken when the people inside the castle heard the sappers at work.  King Richard was killed when he was supervising the sappers. He was taunting the castle cook to try and shoot him, and then a boy shot him in the shoulder. King Richard died 12 days later of gangrene, which couldn't have been a nice death. Before he died, he forgave the poor and sent him on his way with some money. After he died, one of his followers recaptured the boy, flayed him alive and then hung him. 

1. Wha is a Sapper?

People who tunnel under castles

2. What is flayed?

To have the skin removed. To be flayed alive would be very cruel

3. Stop the video below at about 47 seconds. What 2 structures of the castle would enable those inside the castle to actually attack anyone who was hanging flammable sacks on the gates. 

The Murder holes above the gate, and the arrow slit on the round tower that faces the gate

4. What structure feature did this castle lack that would have made it more difficult to reach the gates and the walls?

A Moat

5. On castles that have moats, the bridges into the castle are often now made of stone. Why would the castle defenders back in the middle ages insist that those bridges actually be made of wood?

Much easier and faster to destroy a wooden bridge when an army approaches

6. This castle, Edinburgh Castle, was never taken by force, it had huge cannons and is very high up on a hill. Some scenes from Harry Potter are inspired by this castle. The castle was conquered several times, why?

The Water source was outside the castle