Current Events

The Next Best Thing to a Time Machine:

History Studies at Abington Christian Academy

With paper crowns on their heads, fourth- through sixth-grade students at Abington Christian Academy banqueted with their hands on one-half of a roasted chicken, ribs, roasted potatoes, soup, and bread. As the culmination of their yearlong studies in Medieval, Renaissance, and Reformation history studies, the upper-elementary students took a May field trip to Medieval Times dinner theatre and Lambert Castle.

Though Lambert Castle is actually a castle from the Industrial Revolution, many of its furnishings and artwork are from the 14th century.

Students have been immersed in the culture and facts of the Middles Ages since they entered their classroom last August. Decorated in a castle motif, the room was adorned with shields, statues of knights on horses, and pictures of dragons. Classroom helpers were given courtly names such as "Board Blanchers," "Royal Monitor," and "Messenger."

Teacher and school administrator Jan Wells explains that the reason behind the pageantry is that students need to experience history in order to learn it and remember it.

“Ideally, I’d put the children in a time machine and take them back to the Middle Ages,” says Wells. “Since I can’t do that, we seek to bring history to the children through living history days, hands-on projects, and related field trips.” Her goal is to have students use all of their senses to experience a time period. 

It's also Wells' conviction that teachers don't have to make learning exciting: learning is exciting.

Throughout the year, students experienced Viking Day, King Arthur Day, and Medieval Day. During these events, they attended dramatic presentations by costumed adult actors who played the roles of medieval priest, King Arthur, Viking storyteller, Christopher Columbus, Rune interpreter, minstrel, and Viking homemaker. Students tasted pottage (a thick vegetable soup), salted herring, barley cakes, and fruit tarts.

Members of the community also came to class to explain medieval weapons, customs and dress. A local dance instructor taught the class courtly dances.

The students themselves donned medieval attire to sail in cardboard Viking ships, joust with nerf "noodles", and practice Viking war-training games, such as tug-of-war. To explore period recreational pursuits, students played chess, 9-men's Morris, and Hnefetafl.

Students learned the hard facts of medieval history--the people, the chronology, the events--by means of 30 history cards and a history song that covers the time period from 500 to 1500 A.D.       

Literature studies complement the history curriculum. Students read A Door in the Wall and Adam of the Road, adventure novels that explore the life and customs of the Middle Ages through the eyes of young people.

Art projects also reinforced what students were learning in history. A student teacher from Keystone College taught students the historic meaning of the fields and colors in medieval coats of arms. Each student created his or her personal coat of arms. In addition, students explored the history of the mythical creature the dragon and each designed his or her own personalized dragon, selecting from an array of possible characteristics from flying to marine to fire to ice creatures.

An art student from Kutztown University guest lectured on the progression of art from the Egyptian period to the Greco-Roman era, during the Middle Ages, and up through the Renaissance. Students learned how artists gained increasing knowledge of perspective and how this understanding was reflected in art through the ages. Students then put into practice what they had learned about vanishing points and using a view finder to create their own works of art.

Despite all they had learned about the Medieval and Renaissance periods throughout the year, sixth-grader Robert Schultz found out that there is always more to learn. "When we were at Medieval Times," he notes, "I learned that people in the Middle Ages settled their disputes with by fighting or starting a war."