Middle Ages Illuminated Manuscripts: Informational Texts, Responses, Links

The Middle Ages is such a fun time period to teach to a span of age groups! Illuminated letters or manuscripts are recognizable images in fairy tales and other texts, but how often do we hear about its history? This resource provides you with lots of ways to guide students in learning some background information on the art form AND get them to practice designing an illuminated letter of their own.

INCLUDED:

• 10-page PowerPoint on Medieval Illuminated letters and manuscripts in the Middle Ages. It provides the history of Illuminations, the jobs included in creating them, and colorful images that show examples of the letters. (I use this with both 3rd and 7th grade classes. It gives a great overview of the topic at hand and is a nice tool for introducing the material before students begin a project on Illuminations.)
• PDF with response questions that works alongside an online video from the Getty Museum. It provides a link to the video on making illuminated manuscripts, then asks students to respond to eight questions regarding the video. This is to check for understanding and to ensure that students watched the video. It can be an in-class assignment, extra credit opportunity, or homework.
• Response sheet/artist statement for students to complete and reflect on their learning and completed illuminated letter design. This response gives prompts for students to compose artists' statements about their individual work, as well as demonstrate their understanding on concepts learned throughout the unit.
• Chemistry informational text referring to the process of using natural resources and pigments and their states of matter -- this includes some short response spaces for students to use context clues from the reading and includes a sorting activity (table with word bank). This reading and activity accompany the text Marguerite Makes a Book (published from the Getty Museum). Read-alouds of the book can be found on YouTube, but the book is a great addition to your classroom library!

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See this product in action on my art education blog here: http://mrskart.blogspot.com/2014/04/medieval-illuminated-letters.html

Coordinating Middle Ages Heraldry Handouts Found Here