You may think that Tax Day is behind you, but for our Medieval Villagers it has been occurring every Tuesday at the King’s decree. Here are some of the villagers’ thoughts and opinions on the impact of taxes in Medieval Times.
In response to the question, how do you feel about the king’s current taxation system, the villager replied:
“I think it’s really fair because the rich have to pay more, about ¼ of their total money. There are up sides and down sides.”
“It’s a little unfair to those who don’t make a lot of money, like the peasants. I think that the wealthy should pay a larger proportion. The peasants are the backbone. Without them I wouldn’t have food.”
“I don’t like it. I don’t like the King. I’m French and he conquered us, so I’m not a big fan of his. I am a peasant and we have almost no money. We (my family) also have a bossy Lord who works us all day.”
“I think he’s taxing a reasonable amount. He’s not as greedy as some. He may want to raise them higher. I think that some of the peasants are getting a bit rich, which isn’t reasonable.”
In response to the question, how does taxation in Medieval Times compare to today, the villagers replied:
“In Medieval Times, it doesn’t feel like our taxes do anything good for us serfs. At least today everybody gets roads and schools from our taxes.”
“Taxes in Medieval Times were kind of different than today. Today there aren’t as many steps, taxes just go from the people to the government. In the Middle Ages, it went to so many people: from the peasants to the vassals to the lords/ladies, to the Dukes/duchesses, to the Kings/Queens. Everybody got a part of the taxes.”
“Taxes today seem different, like they’re more even. Everybody pays the same amount, like with sales taxes. In the Middle Ages everybody paid a percent and it could change depending on what the King decided. It seemed more random.”
Though there may be a bit of debate among adults on that last point, the Kestrels are very thoughtful in their discussions and debates around taxation. I hope you enjoy this little window into their thoughts.
As you can imagine the excitment and energy has been running high the last few days. The children are happily sharing their stories, while giving pointers and ideas to those who have yet to present. Tomorrow afternoon, we will begin our class discussions and student reflections on the process that brought each student through presentation day.
The Kestrels spent our theme time this week learning about… Medieval Trade!
Day 1- Trade: Exports and Imports
We began our study by focusing on modern day international trade. We learned about imports and exports. Each student brought in an item from home that had a mark saying where it was made. The students discussed their objects in groups answering the questions: What is the object? What is it used for? Where was it made? What material is it made of? Why might have this object been imported to the United States? The students then wrote down what their object was on a post-it and stuck it on our map in the country the object was made. (You may have guessed it- China was full of post-its!)
We discussed why certain objects are made in certain places. Then we thought about all the objects we’ve learned through our studies that were traded in Medieval Times. We ended our first lesson on trade by viewing a map of Medieval Europe and saw what the exports for each region were.
Day 2-Medieval Trade Research
The second day in our unit we became historians and did research on different aspects of Medieval Trade. The students were put into teams to research Peddlers, Travel, Merchant Motels, Markets, and Trade Fairs. Each group read a part of the book A Medieval Merchant by S. Kallen and took out the most important parts to create a visual representation of the topic. We had organized lists, concept maps, and even a beautifully draw geographical map! The students then presented their findings to the rest of the class. Here are some of the things we learned: Peddlers are one of the earliest representations of Medieval Trade. Peddlers travelled from place to place carrying their wares on their backs. They often sold their goods door-to-door. Peddlers usually traded cheap items such as needles, scissors, knives, and religious ribbons. But if they were lucky they could trade in finer objects such as herbal medicines, silver cups, metal utensils, and cloth.
Medieval Traders traveled by sea and by land. Land trails were privately held by the nobility and were ill kept because a well-kept road also meant an easy attack route for enemies. Merchants loaded their wares into carts and travelled these muddy roads in all weather conditions. They faced the ever-present threat of attack by bandits. Sea routes were often easier to travel, but storms presented a danger to sea traders as well.
Merchants travelling a great distance could find a place to rest at funduqs, a merchant motel. Those that traveled as far as the Islamic cities of Alexandria, Damascus, and Tunis, often stayed at funduqs. There the weary merchants could rest, eat, bathe, stable their horses, purchase goods from locals, and hold business meetings. Merchants could also safely store their goods in secured rooms.
Local merchants sold their goods at weekly markets. The market day would begin at around 6:00am after the first mass of the day was over. The market was packed with people by 7:00am. Markets were a loud and smelly places with merchant voices raised loudly to “cry the wares” trying to draw attention of buyers. (We compared this to the River walk for Northfield dwellers).
The Annual or Bi-annual Trade Fair would lasted for up to six-weeks. There were considered more respectable than markets. Often held at the crossroads of important trade routes, trade fairs brought in merchants from many surrounding areas. In addition to the trade, there was also entertainment at these events, which could include: acrobats, jugglers, and sleight of hand artists. (Like Jesse James Days!) As the groups presented their information, listening students… or historians, took notes on important and interesting things they learned.
Day 3- The Experience of Trade
Our grand finale for the mini-unit on medieval trade was our very own trade fair. Students were asked to bring in two items to trade. Before the Trade Fair got underway, we learned a little about how to barter- so you may have some very good haggling Kestrels by now- and about actual and perceived values. Once the trade fair really got rolling it felt a little like an actual medieval trade fair- people were crying their wares and bartering continuously! Here are a few reactions that some of the Kestrels wrote after the trading was done:
“At first I was scared because I had never traded but today that changed. I was so happy with what I got.”
“It was hard to say bad things about the thing you wanted [in an attempt to decrease it’s value!] then you don’t want it any more.”
“We kinda all had a medieval accent when we were bartering.”
“Because I had an item that a lot of people wanted, I traded it for a good deal.”
“I had to barter a lot because people were very good at bartering.”
“When you wanted something it was difficult not to show desperation on your face.”
Our Medieval Life Theme is in full swing, and here is an update on our last few weeks of theme work.
The room transformation is nearly complete. Students discussed all of the floor plans that were presented by their classmates, and decided on the one that they liked best. They have been actively engaged in solving any problems that have arrived with the design, based on classroom traffic patterns, and needs for group seating spaces. The design has an established castle (complete with a Great Hall, Tower, and throne room). The Village includes a scriptorium (for book making) and market tables for future artists guilds and an interactive village economy. Students are anxiously awaiting news of their roles in the community based on their Quick Writes from last week.
The Kestrels have begun looking at the communication and dissemination of information during Medieval Times. The fact that only 5-10% of the members of society were taught to read, and that there were very few books available was a surprise to most students. They have been studying the process of medieval book making, learning about materials and processes. They have all become apprentice calligraphers (in traditional Medieval society, they would be ready to produce their first book in about 7-10 years). In our classroom, we have an accelerated apprenticeship process, which will enable them to produce their first book in the next month. As a result of their “Great Book Debate,” the Kestrels have chosen the book that they would like to publish. Stay tuned to future blogs for an update on this decision, including student reasoning and how it informed their decision.
Through our read aloud, The Seventh Expert, the Kestrels have been working in small teams to make decisions for a small medieval community. As they build their background knowledge, each decision they make impacts the chances of their village’s survival. They use both supply and effort points to try to move their village to more solid standing. In today’s readings, the villagers received an unwelcome visit from the Earl of Cheshire, who has just gotten word of this group of “vagabonds” trying to create a village on his land. Each group discussed whether the villagers should agree to pay taxes to the Earl (in the form of much needed food and supplies) in exchange for his protection. The alternative, refusing, would put the village at war with the Earl. To inform their decision, the Kestrels learned about taxes, tithes, and the Peasants’ Revolt. The majority of the groups chose to pay taxes, and two refused. Both are learning about the dramatic effects their decision has on their already struggling village. In this desperate time, two of the village’s nearly ran out of supplies, which would bring an end to the village. All groups were proud to see that their collaborative decisions have carried them through to a 5th year in New Haven.
Things are super busy. Still having great weather. Still having a great time. We're trying out two kinds of videos -- snapshots of our activities with kids from different classes and then short reflection on the day.
Here are a few images from Special Person’s Day. I know that all of the guests made this a very meaningful day for the Kestrels. When our class was sharing their highlights of the day with one another, all of their ideas had to do with interactions with others. Many mentioned how much they enjoyed letting their Special People have a, “window into their school world.” One student mentioned how, “cool it was to see the look on my grandma’s face when I looked up during our song.” A number of students mentioned how proud they were of all the harmonies they played on their instruments and sang with their voices, stating, “it sounded really awesome when the whole school did it all together.”
The instrumental piece that the Kestrels played together was so complicated; with so many layers of instruments that it was hard to believe it was 4th and 5th graders playing together. The next time you are at school, please take a minute to look at the Peace Tree that the students created (hanging on the gym wall). In it’s branches, it holds an individual symbol that represents Peace from each child in the entire school.
Please help to extend our thanks to all of the Special People who came on Tuesday. Our intention was for them to feel honored for the important roles that they all play in the lives of all of the children at Prairie Creek.
The Kestrels and the Robins took an opportunity to learn about Nigerian Masquerade on our field trip to Carleton on Tuesday. History professor, Thabiti Willis, and students in his Masquerades in Africa Course, shared with us their research on the tradition of African Masquerade. Thabiti had gathered video footage of the celebration along with interviews with elders, as well as photographic evidence. His students, in turn, did further research on the subject using this archive. There were many high points to the day, but I think two aspects stood out.
One was the opportunity for our Prairie Creek students to see a model of college students going through a very similar process as they will soon be going through in their Honors and 4th grade projects. The Carlton students did a beautiful job of explaining what questions they were seeking answers to in their research, with each presenting a video collage synthesizing their findings. Once complete, each presenter took a small group of students and answered their individual questions about masquerade while showing them the Photographic Exhibit.
This, in turn, led to a second highlight of the day. The masquerade celebrations seemingly had little connection to the lives of most of our students at Prairie Creek. Quizzical looks could be seen on the faces of our students during the presentation, as they tried to make sense of the tradition. Because of this, I wondered if they would be a bit frozen in their question and answer groups, wondering, “where do I begin?” What happened was quite the opposite. The Kestrels and the Robins were full of questions and asked them with urgency. Their Carleton guides were very thoughtful in framing their responses, often helping our children connect this new understanding to their own life experience.
Back in the Kestrel’s classroom, we will follow-up by connecting student’s new understanding of this rich Nigerian tradition, with the family traditions that wrote about in their Quick Write this week.
*Special thanks to Adrienne Falcon (who helped us to connect with this opportunity, and plan and fund our trip), and Thabiti Willis and his students, who created such a meaningful experience for our students.
The Kestrels have been thinking like both scientists and mathematicians in our most recent geometry study. At the fourth and fifth grade level, developing an understanding of the attributes of shapes is one key to future understandings. We have been examining the concepts of angles, parallel and perpendicular lines, as well as the shape names from quadrilateral to nonagon.
In class today, the Kestrels learned a scientific method for categorization: the Dichotomous Key. With a grouping of 20 shapes, they worked with a partner to categorize shapes based on common attributes. The richness of the conversations between partners was what struck me today as I guided groups. Old understandings were being reinforced and new understandings were being developed as students discussed shapes using math vocabulary. One conversation went something like this:
“OK, we have 9 shapes left. What do they have in common?”
“We still have some with one right angle.”
“But, what is the opposite? Obtuse angles?”
“No, that doesn’t work. Some have both an obtuse and a 90 degree angle.”
“How about sides. Oh, yeah, that’s it. What if we have one group that has opposite sides that are a parallel and one that doesn’t have any parallel sides?”
“That works. Let’s do it.”
In this one conversation alone, there were eleven references to math vocabulary. For anyone who has worked on learning a new language, obvious similarities can be seen when children are learning the language of math. These conversations in which students internalize math concepts are key to helping children “know what they know” as mathematicians. The more often we can have these math conversations, in a wide variety of settings, the more children begin to see math coming alive in their world.
Many of us have grown comfortable having conversations with our children around reading concepts (characters, setting, predictions, and making connections for example), but it often takes a little more forethought to keep mathematical concepts in our conversations. At home, we are using math throughout the day (in the grocery store, the kitchen, the stairs that need fixing, the house that needs painting, the planning of garden rows, budgeting for holiday gifts). I would love to challenge all of the Kestrel Families to have some math conversations with your child over the next week, when it comes up in your daily activities. After you do, I’d love to hear from you. What went well? What challenges came up? Were their conversations or ideas that you’d like to share with other families? I am looking forward to hearing from you!
