Day 2: Introduction to the Renaissance
Rita Wahba World History, 9th Grade Period 3, 50 minutes
Subject of lesson: Introduction to the Renaissance
OVERVIEW / RATIONALE
This lesson, the second in the unit on European change and progress, will begin to examine what is known as the Italian Renaissance. This lesson will frame the rest of the unit, as students will begin to understand how Europe held an entirely new attitude of change and reform. This attitude then inspired the cultural, intellectual, social, and scientific changes that we will learn about throughout this unit.
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS/ ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Should the Italian Renaissance be considered a continuation of or departure from the Middle Ages?
How did the Italian Renaissance begin?
Why caused a change in attitude during the Renaissance? Why is it developing now?
How does the past affect the present?
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
Students will evaluate whether the Italian/European Renaissance should be considered a continuation of or departure from the Middle Ages.
Students will be able to explain the origins of the Renaissance in Italy.
Students will be able to analyze a text, image, or map about why the Renaissance began in Italy.
STANDARDS
8.1.9 A - Analyze chronological thinking.
8.1.9 B - Analyze and interpret historical sources.
8.4.12 B - Evaluate historical documents, material artifacts and historic sites important to world history since 1450.
8.4.12 C - Evaluate how continuity and change throughout history has impacted belief systems and religions, commerce and industry, innovations, settlement patterns, social organization, transportation and roles of women since 1450.
MATERIALS
Different sources about Italy and the Renaissance
PowerPoint Slides
Promethean Board and Marker
Video Links
OPENER
Do Now: What is a renaissance? What does the word mean to you? (2 minutes)
Review Do Now (3 minutes)
BODY OF THE LESSON
End of the Middle Ages
Ask the students if they remember concepts from the previous unit on the Middle Ages. What were the important themes?
Answers that I expect:
Church, feudalism, king, manor, Catholicism, Crusades, Black Plague
Use the video “Middle Ages Review” to recap if necessary.
Discuss how the Middle Ages transitioned into a period known as the Renaissance.
Start of the Renaissance
What does Renaissance mean?
Renaissance = rebirth
What do you think that is referring to? A rebirth of what?
Collect answers – we will see how they relate to some of the key ideas of the Renaissance period
Show the intro of this video to get students excited about the Renaissance and give them a glimpse into the time period.
http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/index2.cfm
Why Italy?
Students will be broken up into groups and given a source to analyze about why the Renaissance began in Italy. I will be walking around to answer any questions that the students may have. Each group will then share out the reason that they learned about why the Renaissance began in Italy.
Source #1 – Economic
Quote from http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/arts-and-culture/so-how-did-renaissance-begin
“From an economic viewpoint, Italy is said to be the source of the birth of the Renaissance, since finance was a key factor in spurring on works from a new creative force of artists and writers. By the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Italy was trading with Asia and Europe, increasing its wealth, and in addition, luxuries acquired during the Crusades boosted the wealth of Genoa and Venice. Many of the paintings during the High Renaissance era were commissioned by the Medici family, or those who had links with them, such as the Sassetti or the Tornabuoni.”
Source #2 – Geographic Features
-easy access to water and land
-central location in Europe
-network of roads from the Roman Empire
Source #3 – Ancient Roman traditions
Source #4 – text about urban centers from http://www-student.unl.edu/cis/hist100w05/online_course/unit3/lsn09-tp01.html
“The Renaissance took place against a largely urban background. The key political unit in fourteenth-century Italy was the city-state. The urban nature of Renaissance society was important because the older medieval class distinctions did not dominate urban societies. Urban centers were socially more open than the feudally-dominated rural areas and offered individuals many more possibilities for advancement.”
After the students complete their group work and share their ideas, we will move on to the philosophy behind the Italian Renaissance.
Ideas of the Renaissance
Question - so what was this rebirth?
The Italian Renaissance centered on an idea known as humanism.
“Humanism triggers the Renaissance”
I will show a video about Petrarch, the father of humanism. The students will watch the video.
http://www.history.com/videos/humanism-triggers-the-renaissance#humanism-triggers-the-renaissance
The students will then share their reactions to the videos.
Quote about humanism:
"The Renaissance gave birth to the modern era, in that it was in this era that human beings first began to think of themselves as individuals. In the early Middle Ages, people had been happy to see themselves simply as parts of a greater whole – for example, as members of a great family, trade guild, nation, or Church. This communal consciousness of the Middle Ages gradually gave way to the individual consciousness of the Renaissance."
– McGrath, Alister, In the Beginning, Anchor Books (2001), p.38.
A student will read the quote from the board. I will pause him/her after an idea is read and make sure that they understand the words and meaning before continuing. I will then ask the students how they interpreted this quote.
Discuss differences between the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. Does this demonstrate that they should be considered 2 distinct time periods?
Have the students answer this question for a few minutes.
Then, ask them to consider similarities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Both had periods of scholarship, church still important etc.
CLOSURE
Do you notice any connections between humanism and the problem that you articulated in your proposal yesterday?
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
-I will see how students analyze the given text/image and whether they are able to make meaning of it and connect it to the start of the Italian Renaissance.
-Informal Assessment – I will see how students respond to the quotes and videos in order to examine their critical thinking skills.
Subject of lesson: Introduction to the Renaissance
OVERVIEW / RATIONALE
This lesson, the second in the unit on European change and progress, will begin to examine what is known as the Italian Renaissance. This lesson will frame the rest of the unit, as students will begin to understand how Europe held an entirely new attitude of change and reform. This attitude then inspired the cultural, intellectual, social, and scientific changes that we will learn about throughout this unit.
ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS/ ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Should the Italian Renaissance be considered a continuation of or departure from the Middle Ages?
How did the Italian Renaissance begin?
Why caused a change in attitude during the Renaissance? Why is it developing now?
How does the past affect the present?
GOALS/OBJECTIVES
Students will evaluate whether the Italian/European Renaissance should be considered a continuation of or departure from the Middle Ages.
Students will be able to explain the origins of the Renaissance in Italy.
Students will be able to analyze a text, image, or map about why the Renaissance began in Italy.
STANDARDS
8.1.9 A - Analyze chronological thinking.
8.1.9 B - Analyze and interpret historical sources.
8.4.12 B - Evaluate historical documents, material artifacts and historic sites important to world history since 1450.
8.4.12 C - Evaluate how continuity and change throughout history has impacted belief systems and religions, commerce and industry, innovations, settlement patterns, social organization, transportation and roles of women since 1450.
MATERIALS
Different sources about Italy and the Renaissance
PowerPoint Slides
Promethean Board and Marker
Video Links
OPENER
Do Now: What is a renaissance? What does the word mean to you? (2 minutes)
Review Do Now (3 minutes)
BODY OF THE LESSON
End of the Middle Ages
Ask the students if they remember concepts from the previous unit on the Middle Ages. What were the important themes?
Answers that I expect:
Church, feudalism, king, manor, Catholicism, Crusades, Black Plague
Use the video “Middle Ages Review” to recap if necessary.
Discuss how the Middle Ages transitioned into a period known as the Renaissance.
Start of the Renaissance
What does Renaissance mean?
Renaissance = rebirth
What do you think that is referring to? A rebirth of what?
Collect answers – we will see how they relate to some of the key ideas of the Renaissance period
Show the intro of this video to get students excited about the Renaissance and give them a glimpse into the time period.
http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/index2.cfm
Why Italy?
Students will be broken up into groups and given a source to analyze about why the Renaissance began in Italy. I will be walking around to answer any questions that the students may have. Each group will then share out the reason that they learned about why the Renaissance began in Italy.
Source #1 – Economic
Quote from http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/arts-and-culture/so-how-did-renaissance-begin
“From an economic viewpoint, Italy is said to be the source of the birth of the Renaissance, since finance was a key factor in spurring on works from a new creative force of artists and writers. By the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, Italy was trading with Asia and Europe, increasing its wealth, and in addition, luxuries acquired during the Crusades boosted the wealth of Genoa and Venice. Many of the paintings during the High Renaissance era were commissioned by the Medici family, or those who had links with them, such as the Sassetti or the Tornabuoni.”
Source #2 – Geographic Features
-easy access to water and land
-central location in Europe
-network of roads from the Roman Empire
Source #3 – Ancient Roman traditions
Source #4 – text about urban centers from http://www-student.unl.edu/cis/hist100w05/online_course/unit3/lsn09-tp01.html
“The Renaissance took place against a largely urban background. The key political unit in fourteenth-century Italy was the city-state. The urban nature of Renaissance society was important because the older medieval class distinctions did not dominate urban societies. Urban centers were socially more open than the feudally-dominated rural areas and offered individuals many more possibilities for advancement.”
After the students complete their group work and share their ideas, we will move on to the philosophy behind the Italian Renaissance.
Ideas of the Renaissance
Question - so what was this rebirth?
The Italian Renaissance centered on an idea known as humanism.
“Humanism triggers the Renaissance”
I will show a video about Petrarch, the father of humanism. The students will watch the video.
http://www.history.com/videos/humanism-triggers-the-renaissance#humanism-triggers-the-renaissance
The students will then share their reactions to the videos.
Quote about humanism:
"The Renaissance gave birth to the modern era, in that it was in this era that human beings first began to think of themselves as individuals. In the early Middle Ages, people had been happy to see themselves simply as parts of a greater whole – for example, as members of a great family, trade guild, nation, or Church. This communal consciousness of the Middle Ages gradually gave way to the individual consciousness of the Renaissance."
– McGrath, Alister, In the Beginning, Anchor Books (2001), p.38.
A student will read the quote from the board. I will pause him/her after an idea is read and make sure that they understand the words and meaning before continuing. I will then ask the students how they interpreted this quote.
Discuss differences between the Renaissance and the Middle Ages. Does this demonstrate that they should be considered 2 distinct time periods?
Have the students answer this question for a few minutes.
Then, ask them to consider similarities between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.
Both had periods of scholarship, church still important etc.
CLOSURE
Do you notice any connections between humanism and the problem that you articulated in your proposal yesterday?
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
-I will see how students analyze the given text/image and whether they are able to make meaning of it and connect it to the start of the Italian Renaissance.
-Informal Assessment – I will see how students respond to the quotes and videos in order to examine their critical thinking skills.