Learning is the ultimate thrill and it is the greatest gift we can give
our children. The Renaissance was a veritable learning explosion, its
effects felt around the globe. Never before, or since, has there ever
been such a dramatic shift in mankind's attitude toward creative self-expression,
exploration and discovery. The great artists, writers and scientists of
the Renaissance model for our children the power of a vibrant imagination.
Through the stories of these creative giants, our children will witness
the value of courage, discipline, curiosity and commitment.
1. Renaissance was fueled by curiosity, creativity and commerce. The
continual exchange of ideas was critically important.
2. The Renaissance marked a departure from a monotonous, spiritually-focused
civilization to a civilization that emphasized the importance of the individual
and the individual's role in society. A personal commitment to excellence
was to become the ideal way to pay tribute to an all powerful God.
3. The Renaissance was a distinctly European event whose effects were
felt around the world. These effects were most prominent in science, literature,
architecture, exploration and the arts.
Scene 1- What makes a truly extraordinary story? Give examples of super
stories. Teacher tells a story, children listen for key elements.
Scene 2 - The Story of Wonder unfolds. Teacher begins story, crafting
a picture of immense darkness that is shattered by a mysterious event
that transforms the darkness into radiance. What is this mysterious event?
Perhaps the answer can be found in our learning centers.
Scene 3 - 5 learning centers
Art - Examples of "before and after" art (really, Middle Ages and
Renaissance)
Science - Copernicus' heliocentric model and Ptolemy's earth centered
model.
Literature - Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Middle Age Church Document
(not chosen yet).
Music - Renaissance vs. Gregorian Chant
Architecture - Gothic Cathedrals vs. Renaissance Cathedrals
Question: What is different in each pair? Can you discover a pattern
in these differences?
Scene 4 - A good detective always keeps track of clues. Detectives are
just naturally curious. We will, in a day or two, meet up with a character
whose curiosity notebooks (his collection of really cool stuff) are astonishing.
Perhaps we too should start such a notebook of our very own, a place to
deposit our discoveries. Students will design their Leonardo da Vinci
Curiosity Notebooks. Notebooks will include: notes on class activities,
drawings, sketches, anything that a child thinks is really cool and interesting,
cartoons, photographs, newspaper and magazine clippings, idle thoughts,
surprises, disappointments, etc... (this will be an excellent resource
for future writing assignments).
Scene 5 - Let’s get back to the story...what about that mysterious
event ? Looks like "more realistic", "more emotional", "less boring",
etc... might be possible answers. Whatever happened, it surely changed
the way we look at the world. Students will record their insights in
their
notebooks. A classroom mural/timeline will start to come into use.
Whenever something new is learned about the Renaissance, it will be
added to the
mural.
The story continues, with this mysterious event taking shape. It becomes
evident that things were becoming more "lifelike", more "human". A new
term is introduced - "humanism". That word kind of makes sense, doesn’t
it ? Something new to add to the mural and into the notebooks.
Scene 6 - A good storyteller always makes sure that the setting is
clear. Here, we must pause and consider the idea of "era", especially as it applies
to a timeline. The class will construct their own personal timelines,
marking significant events, out to age 50. This will later be divided
up into significant "era's", with a connection soon to be made to the
Renaissance era. Students share and post their timelines.
Scene 7 - That mysterious event, the one that turned darkness into
light, must have really been something. Darkness and light are opposites,
what
would the opposite of death be? If the darkness lasted 1000 years,
would it seem logical to you that maybe their was a period of light
(life) before
then. Teacher then draws that sequence on the board - life-death-life.
What do we call it when new life appears? If we do something more than
once, we often say that we (repeat) it or (re-do). The key word here
is "re", which of course, is a "prefix". What might this second appearance
of life be called then? Students will have derived a definition of Renaissance
- rebirth. The "re" here is very important, for it tells us that the
darkness had not always been there. Students record this in their notebooks
and
on the mural.
Scene 8 - Yes, the Story of Wonder is about a new beginning, a rebirth.
But not just any rebirth. This rebirth was especially powerful, for it
was fueled by curiosity. How can you tell if someone is curious? Students
record thoughts in notebooks.
Scene 9 - The Tower of No-Babel
You are about to experience, first hand, what it is like to learn
without being able to ask questions. You will have to bury your curiosity,
your
natural instinct to ask questions. You will be working in pairs, each
of you will have 12 blocks. Between you will be a privacy shield. Player
A will begin by building a tower out of 6 of the blocks. Player B will
not be able to see this tower. Player B’s goal is to duplicate
Player A's tower. Player A can give verbal instructions to Player B,
but Player
B can ask no questions whatsoever. If Player B does ask a question,
he or she is disqualified. Points will be awarded as follows: 2 points
for
each block in first layer, 4 for 2nd layer, 6 for 3rd layer, 8 for
4th layer, 10 for 5th layer and 12 for 6th layer.
How did it feel to not be able to ask questions? Record these feelings
in your notebook. Make sure that A and B switch roles.
A and B will then repeat this activity, this time questions will be allowed.
How did asking questions help ? Write down your answers in your notebook.
Scene 10 - Perhaps you are wondering where this magnificent event took
place? Well, I forgot. However, there are clues spread around the room
which might shed some light on the matter. Students will disperse to four
groups, where there will be four geographical clues pointing to Florence,
Italy. Atlases and globes will be available at all centers. Students will
record their guesses in their notebooks. Provided they do not need additional
clues, Florence , Italy will be added to the mural. Students will also
be provided with blank, Renaissance era maps that they will update as
the story progresses.
Scene 11 - A picture is worth a thousand words. The class will either
watch a video or visit a museum for an overview of the Renaissance. During
this event, students will record significant people, places and events
in their notebooks.
Scene 12 - Why Italy? Why would this rebirth, this significant event
take place in Italy? Perhaps it would help if we reviewed what we know
so far. Two things are known - there was a burst of curiosity and learning,
an intense interest in making things more human or realistic (remember
humanism?) Why would Italy be a good place for learning to begin? Students,
working in small groups, will attempt to answer that question, recording
results in notebooks. Hint: look at its geographical location and features.
Scene 13 - The Commerce Web. To better understand what was happening,
it might be helpful if we knew a little more about the neighborhood,
the
Italian neighborhood that is. Looking at a Renaissance era map, let's
pick out a couple of Italy’s neighbors. Students will transfer
the names of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea onto their blank
maps.
If you wanted to travel to one of those countries, what would be the
fastest way? And where do ships typically sail in and out of? Students
record these answers in their notebooks.
Outside, or in the gym, the outline of the Mediterranean and of Italy
will be constructed using string or yarn. Students will disperse around
the edge, positioning themselves at strategic ports. We will then begin
to spin a web with bright red yarn, connecting each port to the Italian
ports and with one another. It will soon become apparent that there was
a great deal of traffic coming into Italy.
I suggest that the teacher take a photograph of this moment, to be posted
on the mural. Students, working in groups, will then record their insights
in their notebooks. Students should also sketch the web in their notebooks.
Scene 14 - And so it began, an explosion of curiosity and ideas that
was going to shake the world. What kinds of things do you think were
going
to be affected (remember the movie?). Students recall events from movie.
Now seems to be a good time to introduce you to the greatest mind that
has ever lived, the King of Curiosity, the one they call the "Renaissance
Man". Together, we are going to explore the life of this man....a man
like no other. His name is Leonardo da Vinci. KWL time - record in
notebooks,
on chart paper.
Teacher models basic research strategy, visiting library, accessing CD-ROM's,
information from Internet. Key questions:
What do I already know about the topic?
What would I like to know?
Where can I go to get information?
Who can help me?
How do I get the information?
What do I do with it once I get it?
Students will eventually be responsible for selecting a key figure from
the Renaissance (or a certain event) from a group that has been pre-selected
based upon MI fields of interest.
Skills to be taught: Note-taking, discerning between useful and useless
information, color-coding, summarizing, verbally rehearsing, rough drafts,
final drafts, publishing.
Students will select their "research" topics from the following list:
Music - madrigals, Dufay, Da Vinci
Art - Raphael, Da Vinci
Logic - Galileo, Copernicus, Da Vinci
Linguistic - Shakespeare, Petrarch, Guttenberg
Interpersonal - Entertainment, Communities, Explorers
Intrapersonal - Everyday Life, The Church, The Home, School
Kinesthetic - Michelangelo, Donatello, Da Vinci
Notice that Da Vinci is mentioned in several categories. This has been
done to underscore the fact that he is indeed a Renaissance learner.
The framework for the model research being done by the teacher, will
be MI theory. I will attempt to identify significant areas of achievement
in each of the seven categories. It should become apparent to the class
that da Vinci was not a particularly gregarious person.
Scene 15 - Life of Leonardo movie, CD-ROM "Leonardo, the Inventor",
or Internet visit to Leonardo da Vinci Museum.