Name: Nathan Logan / Duration: 3 Weeks
Theme: The Renaissance / Grade: 7th Grade Social/World Studies
Topic: The Renaissance and Reformation
Unit Summary: This three week unit will focus on the beginnings of the Renaissance from its origins out of the Black Death from the Dark Ages to the rise of City-States in Italy to the great artists, inventors, politicians and writers of its time to the Reformation where Christianity encountered its greatest schism ever since it split into Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox Christianity to the Counter-Reformation where the Catholic Church strikes back to regain its followers after the rise of Protestantism.
Key Concepts: Renaissance, City-States, Secular, Florence, Venice, Diplomacy, Machiavellian Ideas, Martin Luther, Desiderius Erasmus, Indulgence, Reformation, Denomination, Theology, Predestination, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Trent, Seminary, Heresy, Henry VIII, Tower of London, Annul, Mary I, Elizabeth I, Puritans
Instructional Objectives:
1.  Explain how the end of the Middle Ages and the Black Plague led people beginning to think more about secular life and less about religious (i.e. the afterlife) life.
2.  Describe why the Renaissance happened in Italy providing at least two reasons.
3.  Define key vocabulary terms including: Renaissance, City-States, Secular, Florence, Venice with 80 % accuracy or higher.
4.  List three reasons why the Renaissance happened in Italy.
5.  Detail five reasons how Italy became the center of trade for the Renaissance.
6.  List and describe three characteristics of Italian City-State governments during the Renaissance.
7.  Compare two ideas of modern diplomacy with 2 ideas of Machiavelli.
8.  Identify two key figures in the Reformation movement.
9.  List and describe three reasons why the Reformation movement came about.
10.  Identify three of Martin Luther’s contributions to the Reformation.
11.  List and detail three famous works by Leonardo da Vinci.
12.  List and explain the significance of three famous works by Michelangelo.
13.  Identify three famous works by Shakespeare.
14.  List two things the Council of Trent did to strengthen Catholic beliefs.
15.  Identify how many (in percentages) people in France became Protestants.
16.  Describe two ways the rulers of Spain did to keep Spain Catholic.
17.  List two ways Henry VIII tried to have male successors to the throne of England.
18.  Describe two ways Calvinism affected England.
19.  Identify who Mary I was and why she was called “Bloody Mary”.
20.  Illustrate ability to monitor learning answering comprehension questions with 80 % accuracy.
NCSS Standards
Thematic Strand: Time, Continuity & Change II
Performance Expectation: b) identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict and complexity to explain, analyze and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity. Pg. 82
Thematic Strand: People, Places & Environments III
Performance Expectation: h) examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes. Pg. 85
Ohio Standards
History
Describe the impact of new ideas and institutions on
European life including:
a. The significance of printing with movable type;
b. Major achievements in art, architecture and literature
during the Renaissance;
c. The Reformation.
People in Societies
Give examples of contacts among different cultures that
led to the changes in belief systems, art, science,
technology, language or systems of government.
Teaching Methods / Student Activities:
For each of the 3 weeks, please see the lesson plans in chronological order as to what the Teaching Methods / Student Activities will be for those weeks and specifically those days.
All of the Teaching Methods / Student Activities are found below within the lesson plans.
Assessment (s) Link to Objectives:
Like the Teaching Methods / Student Activities there will be multiple assessments that are, aside from homework and worksheets, multiple informal and casual assessments that I will put on the SMART Board and in the lesson plans for students to write down at the end of class and for me to gauge personally how well the students are doing.
All of the numerous and various assessments are found within the lesson plans below.
Conclusion:
By the time that the final test has come and gone and the students seem like they have tuned out all information of the Renaissance and Reformation they will have also gone to the Toledo Museum of Art where they will have observed both Medieval and Renaissance Art featuring atypical Renaissance and Reformation artwork and sculptures to act as a nice bookend. Also the students will have the opportunity the day after the test to finally bring everything together in an hour long question and answer session with a long PowerPoint featuring audio/video/pictorial content to find out what the students have learned and the over-arching themes of the Renaissance and the Reformation: that being the Renaissance was perhaps the greatest explosion of learning and culture our planet has ever experienced and will never experience again and many of the religious ideas that we take for granted and exploit on a daily basis were made possible through many persecutions and inquisitions during these times.
Materials: Computer, SMART board, TV, DVD/VCR, Flash Drive
Resources: Textbook, World History Journey Across Time The Early Ages by Jackson J. Spielvogel and the National Geographic Society published in 2005.
Nathan Logan / 3-04-09 Day 1 60 minutes
Topic: The Renaissance / 7th Grade World Studies
Lesson Title: Why Italy?
Goals: Students will be able to:
1.  Describe the impact of new ideas and institutions on European life during the Renaissance.
2.  Describe the essential characteristics of the systems of government found in City-States during the Renaissance.
Concept: Renaissance, City-States, Secular, Florence, Venice
NCSS Standards
Thematic Strand: Time, Continuity & Change II
Performance Expectation: b) identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict and complexity to explain, analyze and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity. Pg. 82
Thematic Strand: People, Places & Environments III
Performance Expectation: h) examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes. Pg. 85
Ohio Standards
History
Describe the impact of new ideas and institutions on
European life including:
a. The significance of printing with movable type;
b. Major achievements in art, architecture and literature
during the Renaissance;
c. The Reformation.
People in Societies
Give examples of contacts among different cultures that
led to the changes in belief systems, art, science,
technology, language or systems of government.
Pre-requisite Knowledge: Students will need to have prior knowledge of the geography during the Middle Ages and Feudalism as well as how the Black Plague affected late Middle Age life.
Objectives: By the end of today’s lesson, students will be able to:
21.  Explain how the end of the Middle Ages and the Black Plague led people beginning to think more about secular life and less about religious (i.e. the afterlife) life.
22.  Describe why the Renaissance happened in Italy providing at least two reasons.
23.  Define key vocabulary terms including: Renaissance, City-States, Secular, Florence, Venice with 80 % accuracy or higher.
Resources and Materials:
Textbook:
Spielvogel, J. J. (2005). World History Journey Across Time The Early Ages. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill / Glencoe.Technology.
Supplies:
SMART Board, Flash Drive, SMART Board Slides and Computer
Teaching Methods / Student Activities
Intro 5 to 8 minutes
Today, the main topic will be all about, “Why Italy?” , “How did the Renaissance just happen to occur in the city-states of Italy”, “Why did the change happen the way it did?” and “What type of new thinking came as a result of this rebirth of culture and society?”
Body 40 minutes
Begin by going over some key questions and asking the students, “Why was there a Renaissance? Why did it start in Italy? How did the geography and ways of life from feudalism and the Black Plague help to bring about City-States?”
The whole of the hour, the instructor will be going back and forth between discussion and the book (pages 609-610); asking students periodically about the key vocabulary words and major concepts in the text such as, ”Renaissance”, ”Secular,” and key City-States such as “Florence” and “Venice”. What “Renaissance” means. How “Secular” was a change in people’s viewpoints from a strictly religious life to a more living centered and active life. Finally, the key City-States of “Florence” and “Venice” and how they came about ever so briefly (that is hitting the City-States ever so briefly; these two will be covered mainly tomorrow).
The hour will be a discussion really starting with the students, asking them the questions (see below) at the beginning of the hour and then using the textbook (those two pages) and the four vocabulary words mentioned above to spring conversation and get a student-led discussion on what they think of the Renaissance.
·  “Why Italy?” ,
·  “How did the Renaissance just happen to occur in the city-states of Italy”,
·  “Why did the change happen the way it did?”
·  “What type of new thinking came as a result of this rebirth of culture and society?”
and, but not limited to
·  “Why was there a Renaissance? Why did it start in Italy? How did the geography and ways of life from feudalism and the Black Plague help to bring about City-States?”
Closure 10 minutes
Use SMART Board by tying up how the students and the instructor have been talking about the origins of the Renaissance by saying, “Well, we’ve finally started the Renaissance proper and we’ve laid the foundation for the next few days and tomorrow we’re going to go into the City-States and how the people left the country-side and went into the cities and how City-States came about.”
Assessment:
Informal assessment at the end of the hour; spending at least 10 minutes to get through every student, asking them what they’ve learned by constantly reminding them in a queuing fashion to remember the questions on the board from the beginning of the hour.
Reflection:
Yesterday’s lesson was a hastily made one because of the stress level that I’d been having because of a conflict between myself and another professor and a multitude of other things. Despite the lesson being hastily made (as in an hour) standards, goals, objectives and well thought out directions helped me. One thing I would have definitely changed was my iron fist (or rather lack thereof) in hours 1 and 2. Hour 2 actually got so out of hand that I had to move around some students, namely the trouble making ones I’ve mentioned in previous journal entries. First half of the hour was dedicated to the students finishing up the lesson and inventions from the previous day that Mr. Bell’s student mentor taught, so that went extremely well and it was fun seeing the inventions and forcing them to come up and talk in front the class even though they didn’t want to. I said, “I stutter and I speak in front of you everyday; so deal with it!” I was saying this jokingly of course. When that was done, I had the opportunity take the lesson back and make it my own by re-introducing the Renaissance and tying it back into the Middle Ages and Medieval Era.
Nathan Logan / 3-05-09 Day 2 60 minutes
Topic: The Renaissance / 7th Grade World Studies
Lesson Title: Renaissance Gets Wealthy and Diplomacy Begins
Goals: Students will be able to:
3.  Describe the impact of new ideas and institutions on European life during the Renaissance.
4.  Describe the essential characteristics of the systems of government found in City-States during the Renaissance.
Concept: Renaissance, City-States, Secular, Florence, Venice, Diplomacy, Machiavellian Ideas
NCSS Standards
Thematic Strand: Time, Continuity & Change II
Performance Expectation: b) identify and use key concepts such as chronology, causality, change, conflict and complexity to explain, analyze and show connections among patterns of historical change and continuity. Pg. 82
Thematic Strand: People, Places & Environments III
Performance Expectation: h) examine, interpret, and analyze physical and cultural patterns and their interactions such as land use, settlement patterns, cultural transmission of customs and ideas, and ecosystem changes. Pg. 85
Ohio Standards
History
Describe the impact of new ideas and institutions on
European life including:
a. The significance of printing with movable type;
b. Major achievements in art, architecture and literature
during the Renaissance;
c. The Reformation.
People in Societies
Give examples of contacts among different cultures that
led to the changes in belief systems, art, science,
technology, language or systems of government.
Pre-requisite Knowledge: Students will need to have prior knowledge of the Pros and Cons of Country Life vs. City Life from the previous day concerning the Italian City-States.
Objectives: By the end of today’s lesson, students will be able to:
24.  List three reasons why the Renaissance happened in Italy.
25.  Detail five reasons how Italy became the center of trade for the Renaissance.
26.  List and describe three characteristics of Italian City-State governments during the Renaissance.
27.  Compare two ideas of modern diplomacy with 2 ideas of Machiavelli.
28.  Illustrate ability to monitor learning answering comprehension questions with 80 % accuracy.
Resources and Materials:
Textbook:
Spielvogel, J. J. (2005). World History Journey Across Time The Early Ages. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill / Glencoe.
Technology:
SMART Board, Flash Drive, SMART Board Slides and Computer
Teaching Methods / Student Activities
Intro 5 to 8 minutes
Begin by opening up with,
“Yesterday we talked about some of the vague and broader reasons of why the Renaissance even occurred, what made it special, where it happened, how it even came about. Today we are going to talk about the engine or the cogs in the gears that made Italy one of the most established bases of economic trade and culture during the Renaissance.”
Body 40 minutes
·  The question from the previous day was “List the Pros and Cons of Country Life versus City Life. Where would you rather live? Give your reasons why.” Begin a discussion by asking the students about their responses