This lesson aligns with the 7th grade Social Studies curriculum and works best when integrated into an interdisciplinary unit, such as Reliving the Middle Ages Across Lliterary Genres. Interdisciplinary Units are effective when teachers from two different content areas collaborate to plan lessons, assessments, activities and projects that support their content skills and standards. The content being taught in one course supports the content in another and students approach difficult, content-specific texts with more familiarity and gain better comprehension.  Students read two nonfiction articles about the Middle Ages, which lasted from about A.D. 500 to A.D. 1500. Both texts examine one of the most significant events of this time period-- the spread of the bubonic plague, or the Black Death. Each text is organized into cause-and-effect pattern of organization. One outlines HOW the disease spread (causes) and the other explains how it affected Europe (effects). Students analyze two texts by different authors writing about the same topic, the Black Plague, and compare/contrast how each author shapes their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence. 

Students will critique the influence of the target culture on global philosophy and professional discourse. Additionally, students will learn that the juglares during the Middle Ages traveled to towns and cities singing about deeds carried out by local heroes who fought against enemies of the kingdom. In this way, ballads and epic songs were born.

Allows students to use interactive maps to trace the development and spread of Islamic Empires.

Students will understand the subtleties and stylistic features of texts on unfamiliar topics. Additionally, students will learn the characteristics of epic poetry that narrated the exploits of the heroes and their virtues that were considered exemplary during the Middle Ages.