Nick Rossi10/31/12CI 403Weekly Plan

Renaissance Weekly PlanMondayTopic: Moving Out of Dark Ages

Content: Introduce the concept of the Renaissance

- Begins in Italy and spreads throughout Europe- “to be reborn”- rediscovered popular interest in art, literature, science politics- reemergence of focus on Greek and Roman classics- secularization/humanization of society/art to a certain small extent

Discuss the causes or influences from the Dark Ages on the Renaissance- Social/political effects of Black Plague- Luxuries from the Crusades = funding for art (patronage)- Lack of church control over the independent states of Italy

Assessment:Since the this period serves primarily as an introduction to the week and the unit, I would probably ask either for an oral discussion of the concepts discussed during the period if time allowed or would have students complete a written exit slip dealing with their knowledge about the subject as a formative assessment. The exit slip might be formatted in a KWL format or possibly just ask about any previous knowledge that students have had about the Renaissance in order to contextualize and focus the coming lessons.

TuesdayTopic: Renaissance Humanism

Content: Begin with a review of Martin Luther from last unit Lecture: Renaissance Humanism

- Essentially the value of man and man’s life/learning- Possibly expand into how this still influences society today

Introduce Desiderius Erasmus as a contemporary - Wrote letters back and forth to Luther both before and during Reformation- Both believed in the value of education and the corruption of the Church- However, Erasmus they did differ in a few fundamental ways

-> Erasmus = free will, Luther = predestination (although debate over single/double-> Erasmus did not support the Reformation due to violence/instability-> Erasmus places emphasis on human, Luther places emphasis on God

- Present students with some of the letters written by both concerning the other- Discuss how this might be handled today

Assessment: Students will be asked to create Venn diagram that compares and contrasts Martin Luther and Erasmus. This will be used as a formative assessment to see if students are beginning to construct historical knowledge and make connections to previous content. Being able to connect lessons to previous knowledge is essential early in the unit because it provides context for students and allows them build on a historical foundation instead of feeling lost. I will look over the diagrams and hand them back with any notes, additions and/or comments by the end of the week and will tailor my teaching to make up for any deficits that may be apparent from the assessment.

WednesdayTopic: Renaissance Art

Content: Building on the idea of Humanism discussed in the previous period by connecting to art Renaissance art placed emphasis on anatomic correctness and realistic representations of form

- differed from medieval and Byzantine forms- less focus on the spiritual/supernatural, more focus on the human/realist

Perspective: Renaissance 3D vs. medieval 2D Touch on major artists and works from the period Discussion: If there were these changes to make art more realistic/human, why does so much renaissance art still deal with religious topics?

- Familiar to viewers- Important to patrons, whether overtly religious or not- Christianity is still central to the belief systems of many artists and others in society

* Renaissance humanism is not secular humanism- Religious scenes did not always focus on the spiritual, mostly on the human element- While much of the art focused on religion, there was a movement towards contemporary life

AssessmentAt the end of class, I would present the class with some works of art from the medieval and Renaissance periods and have them identify the period they think the work was created in, giving their reasoning behind their choice or perhaps asking other students to provide explanation if the class is dominated by a few students. I would want to get a good sample of students to make sure the material is being understood by the whole class and not just a select few.

ThursdayTopic: Renaissance Science

Content: Begin class with the ELMO or SMART board projecting an image of Ptolemy’s view of the universe. Ask students what they think is wrong with the image (Earth at the center, infinite stars, etc.) Then show Copernicus’ model and see what they think the improvements are. Explain that Copernicus’ model was just one of the many scientific advancements of the Renaissance. Continue by asking students what the central element of science is as taught in their classes since elementary school. While I did not come up in this district, I can assume that their scientific education has been firmly based in the scientific method, based in the idea of empiricism that emerged through

the work of Francis Bacon and other Renaissance scientists. Juxtapose Aristotelian science (natural philosophy) with the Renaissance/modern scientific method. Discuss how students think people made conclusions about science before empiricism existed as the primary form of scientific inquiry and how that may have limited the accuracy of pre-Renaissance discovery. Draw upon many of the examples of pre-modern science, maybe focusing on specific examples from recent lectures/lessons such as leaching during the Black Plague. Assessment:The assessment for this lesson would be a group activity done during the last part of class around the idea of natural philosophy vs. empiricism. Students will be broken up into groups of 4-5 and given one of a handful of scientific questions (i.e. What does the heart look like and how does it work?) and asked to discuss how they think medieval and Renaissance thinkers would explain the phenomena. We would conclude class with each group sharing their conclusions with the whole class and the teacher sharing how thinkers during these periods actually did approach these questions, which will require research and preparation on the educators part. This activity will serve as a semi-formal formative assessment used to gauge if students comprehend the fundamental developments in scientific thought during the Renaissance period in various facets of science, both practical and theoretical.

FridayTopic: The Renaissance (Wo)Man

Content: Start class off with a bell ringer that asks students to try to think of a common thread between the last two class periods about art and science. This will hopefully guide students to identify Leonardo da Vinci as being present in both lessons. Introduce and discuss the concept of a Renaissance man using Da Vinci as a model

- Clarify why it is “man” and not “person” given the era- Explain and explore the “jack of all trades” element to the Renaissance man concept- Emphasize the importance of universal education- Expected to be skilled both mentally and physically- Is this possible today with such specialization of science and technology?- How might the term “polymath” be used today?

Assessment:Although I’m unsure if it would work with Sophomore students as they might be too old for an assignment like this, I would like to give the assignment of designing what they believe a “Renaissance man” would look like in the modern era. I would hope that some people would draw women, people of different ethnicities and with different skill sets. I would like to use this assessment to both see if they understand the concept in context as well as have the ability to apply it to their own lives and make connections between the historical and the contemporary. I would block out time so that students would have time to both design the person through text as well as create an artistic representation, eventually to be shared with the class. Due to time constraints, I would likely break students into groups so that we would have time to see everyone’s “Modern Man” creation and hopefully be able to discuss them a little bit.