For Sixth Graders: Knights

[jester]

If you have one hour to present an overview of knighthood to a class of sixth graders: what aspects would you cover?

[InsaneIrish]

the knightly virtues. Specifically Justice, Mercy, Honor, and Franchise.


AND talk about what a medieval knight was, their responsibilities like who they governed and why.

And FEALTY. What it was, and what it meant.

[James B.]

I normally cover the changes in what a knight was over time and arms and armor.

[Kaos]

Don't talk for an hour about the 'boring' bits of history, like who was bossing who around, but also tell them some exciting tales of what knighthood was about.
It doesn't have to be all blood and gore, but it always helps to include some humour, like the tale about the knight who got his helmet stuck on his head during a tournament. Kids love this. And haul a truckload of kit along to show, only telling things turns stale after a while.

[Donal Mac Ruiseart]

Probably don't need to tell you but . . . .

If you have armour to show off, by all means do so. Kids love that.

One thing I've done is to bring it in in the duffel bag, set it out on the floor for them to look at, and then don it.

Then I fall to the floor and scramble to my feet to dispel the myth.

The school may have some restriction about weapons, but if you can bring a realistic sword, battle-axe, and/or mace; the kids would probably love to see those.

[Donal Mac Ruiseart]

. . . the knight who got his helmet stuck on his head during a tournament.

That happened to William Marshall . . . .

[Kaos]

Thanks for that! I couldn't remember who it was, -shame on me, just saw a doc about him - this is a imaginative story that literally stuck for ages.

Some of the kids I know also love the 'Horrible histories' books, not everything which is written in it is ultra correct, but it really shows how kids like things presented to them. (Okay, I admit, I love these books too )

[Andrew Young]

I dont recommend waxing too much virtue with kids who love slaughtering things on video games. It would seem logical but it never makes an impact with them at that age....rather....you impress them by being virtuous, kind and gentle yourself...lead by example rather than ""telling them how virtuous knights were and how they should act"" ....which is about as true as saying their are good sides in a war and bad sides....easy to say but it overlooks different perspectives of why people fight for their cause. Just be yourself...at that age and especially nowadays, kids need role models who are normal people that show them respect and show kindness......that will do more for a kids outlook than tellling them about "chivalric deeds."


talk about armour and related technology in modern equipment.

talk about movies...PEOPLE RELATE TO MOVIES....talk about the equipment or armour in a film and how realistic it was....or were the inspiration was derived from in a historical context.

talk about the evolution of armour.


Ultimately my recipe is simple:


--use humour (a little slapstick if fine)

--never talk for more than 2 minutes without picking something up to show them (think about your age....they are easily distracted to constantly stimulate them with visual imagery as you speak)

--never take yourelf too seriously...be their friend when speaking to them

--try to bring up volunettes EVEN IF TO HOLD SOMETHING as you talk about it.

--if youre able, have volunteers try stuff on

--avoid too much talk of weapons...dont feed a problem with kids and violence as it already exists. Rather....my little secret.....you can discuss armour and why it changes which indirectly discusses and explains weapons and their evolution against armour. (teachers will appreciate it if you dont fill their thoughts with ideas about chopping up people and killing)


--make some posters using enlarged photos if you dont have actual examples...



....try to connect with them using analogies that they would understand.

Bearing in mind Im not too keen on glorifying weapons...I made an analogy to a class that asked why polearms were better than swords. I made the simple analogy that a big shovel moves more dirt than a small hand held one. They understood that, made sense to them.


Talk about medieval things that still exist today:


--cultural concepts

--architectural mofits

--language (origin of the english language is always neat to mention)

--disease...talk about the plaque and how studying history to understand diseases and medicine is smart)

--talk about how many suits of armour were made of high carbon metal that was better that most cars hoods, doors, etc.

--rattle off loads of misconcpetions about the middle ages...peasents...falling off a horse....medicine (which was more logical than we realize)


Create a notebook of neat facts to mention....

[Baron Alejandro]

the knightly virtues. Specifically Justice, Mercy, Honor, and Franchise.


AND talk about what a medieval knight was, their responsibilities like who they governed and why.

And FEALTY. What it was, and what it meant.

For sixth graders?

[Jehan de Pelham]

Don't dumb the stuff down just because it's sixth graders. Balance the presentation with shiny bits and good info, presented with a minimum of technical terms. Use a lot of metaphors and comparisons with stuff they already know.

Bring the stuff in a bag, or get it onto a table in such a way that you can reveal it as you like, hidden under a cloth or some such.

First off grab their attention with a shiny bit. A helmet passed around the room will do well, I think.

Explain their role in enforcing law and order. They were the policemen and army of their day.

When they get bored, straight tangent into a shiny bit and pass something else around. Perhaps a pair of gauntlets--one this way, one this way.

Explain how knighthood and chivalry was a way to transform from a lawless society to a lawful society, from a society without a social contract, to one bound by law and order.

And then explain how knighthood was transformed itself from a primarily military role to a social and official role.

Talk about the physical aspects of knighthood. The constraints and realities of bearing harness.

I think this is enough for an hour, and will provide a firm understanding of the essentials. They will get enough of the other stuff from other sources.

And agreed. Don't even bring the weapons. They know about these already.

John
Jehan de Pelham, ecuyer and servant of Sir Vitus
www.mron.org

[Sean Powell]

Edit: Double-post

[Sean Powell]

6th graders are smarter then many people think, just a little immature.

I like to draw attention to the things that are INcorrect in movies and popular culture. If it's your son/daughters 6th grade class, grab a copy of their history book and do a quick scan-through. As I remember mine was remarkably skimpy on the how and liked to focus on vague generalities of 'why'. It completely missed that feudalism was different in England then it was in France or Spain. It completely missed that knights in 1066 were different from the 100 years wars.

Props are good, very good. Kids survive on cool details and like to be smarter then everyone else (it proves they are as smart as the grown-ups).

Talk about stirrups, horses and how effective a mounted combatant can be. Most 6th graders have played video games that include 'knights' as a unit but probably don't know that 'knights' never directly fought against Roman Legions.

Be prepared for comparisons to other games like WoW.

Kids are more accepting of 'gore' then you might believe. It probably comes from the video games. A picture of one of the Visby skulls when you talk about weapons is a good attention grabber... but don't push the gore.

Practice your public speaking skills. Kids are used to professional speakers (teachers) and Television actors that have the benefit of editing and dubbing out mistakes. They can be easily lost if you aren't engaging and cool in the first 2 minutes.

Plan for 40 minutes of talking and 20 minutes of questions. If the questions don't come early and get answered as they come, the kids won't hold them until the end.

Most important: Every history teacher they have had up until now has LIED to them. Every history teacher WILL lie to them up to and probably including college. They have be taught generalities but not the exceptions because they need to understand the generalities before they understand the exceptions. That doesn't change the fact that many generalities are lies. In 1492 Columbus sailed the oceans blue, except for that pesky Viking 400 years earlier and except for the people who walked here on a land bridge a millennia before that. When you can point out where their history teachers were wrong (generally by omission or glossing over of details) they love it. It makes them feel superior.

Good luck!
Sean

[Argyle the Wanderer]

for a good visual try bringing a sample of maille and also point out to them that chain maille is incorrect maille meens net or chain so it is redundant!


sorry that just gets under my skin...



you might want to check out the "stupid demo questions" just incase some get thrown your way

[Murdock]

For kids that old point out that most of them would have a full time job at their age back then.

They'd all likely be pesants, and probably do whatever their dad did if they were boys and get married in a few years and have babies if they were girls.

[Andrew Young]

Just to be clear Im not suggesting they are dumb...maybe a bit naive and silly...but not dumb.

what Im driving at is attention span and integrating modern things with historical ones...makes it more relevant.

Facts are facts....they just need to be presented in a lively way and ALWAYS interact with your audience...dont drone on and on and on ....snore zzzzz.

Bear in mind Ive also done at least 1100 presentations so Im speaking from experience with a two hour show in as far as feedback and return invitations goes. The more you can tie in the modern word with the old, the more youll make it seem important to them.

[Konstantin the Red]

It's helpful to remember the demi-Frenchified spelling "maille" isn't any too correct either -- not for modern English. Four letters will do fine with any serious student of these obsolete military technologies.