MrDonn.org - Our Lesson Plans for World History Illustration

Our Lesson Plans
for World History
& Learning Modules
for Kids

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  1. The Middle Ages for Kids - Learning modules, European Medieval Times - from the dark ages to the Renaissance - feudalism, the church, castles and commoners, rise of towns, crusades, the plague, the triumphs, the defeats, the Magna Carta and more.

  2.  Middle Ages, First Day of Medieval Europe Unit, lesson plan. Add to this, a lesson on geography during the Middle Ages to complete a one day lesson plan

    • Activity: Time Period. Introduce your unit on Medieval Europe by having your kids define the time period.  Ask: “Who knows what medieval means?” (Get some answers. Direct one student to look up the definition of medieval in the dictionary. Adjust students’ answers as needed.)  Say: “That’s right. Medieval means middle—but, the middle of what?” (Get some answers.) “Historians mean in the middle of history. In medieval times, the cavemen were long gone.” The Middle Ages (or medieval times) refers to a block of time in history from 500 CE to about 1500 CE—a period of 1000 years. Wherever you are on the globe—be it Asia, Africa, South America, or Europe—if you are talking about a piece of history that happened between 500 CE and 1500 CE, you are talking about something that happened in the Middle Ages. For the next few weeks, we’re going to take a look at what was going on during the Middle Ages in just one piece of the globe—in Medieval Europe. Medieval Europe was a time of knights and vassals and castles and war.

    • Activity: Time Line. Say: “Today, I want each of you to organize a timeline for yourself. We don’t have much to add to our timeline right now, so we’ll just get it ready to go.”  Direct students to get out a piece of paper or use the handout provided entitled: Timeline. Fold paper in half and then in half again to create four sections. Label sections 500 CE, 750 CE, 1000 CE, and 1250 CE.  Say: “You do not need to memorize a lot of dates. This timeline is to give an idea of sequencing.”  Ask: “Who knows what sequencing means?” (If you have to, have a student look it up in the dictionary and read the definition aloud.)  Say: “Timelines are a helpful way to quickly see the sequence of events.” Teacher Note: Throughout the unit, direct students to take out their timelines and update them based on the information studied to date. Allow 3–5 minutes for this activity with each update.

  3. Middle Ages: Justinian's Code Lesson Plan and Classroom Activity

  4. Middle Ages: The Manorial System - Pleasant Peasant Poems, lesson plan with activities

  5. Middle Ages: The Vassal Game,  one day lesson plan and simulation

  6. Middle Ages: First, read the page on Medieval Knights. Then, working in small groups or independently, write your own code based on today's social code of behavior.

  7. Middle Ages: Lesson Plan for Comparison of Two Documents, The Magna Carta and the Declaration of Independence, and the creation of a third - the Declaration of the Rights of Students

  8. Middle Ages: A Bakers Dozen, Medieval Guilds, lesson plan with activities

  9. Feudal Japan: S.P.A.M. (Samurai, Peasant, Artisan, Merchant) - (1 day) Lesson Plan, Game.

  10. Russia: Start of the Russian Revolution - (3-4 days) Lesson Plan.

  11. World Cultures: What is Culture? (90 minutes) Lesson Plan with handout

  12. Australia's Great Barrier Reef (2-3 days) Lesson Plan and Personalities Handout.
    See also: Australia

  13. India/Pakistan Dispute over Kashmir (4 days) Mini-Unit with Background and Handouts

  14. Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2 days) Simulation for the Classroom with background, role descriptions

  15. Colonial Mexico The Pre-Independence Mexican Indian Uprisings; Did they help or hinder Mexico's drive to independence from Spain? (Rise of Democratic Ideas; 19th Century, 9th-grade World History) This is a learning module Don created in college. It had useful information, so I threw it online. Hope it helps!

  16. Holidays Around the World - Ancient Roots, Modern Holidays; mini-learning modules for over 30 different holidays, with holiday games, lesson plans, activities, for the classroom.

  17. WW2 - The Home Front

    WW2 - Leaders in the News

    WW2 - Headlines in the News

    WW2 - More Lesson Ideas - Neutrality, National Interest, Hiroshima