Iron Age Celts - Lesson Plan

suggested activities

Discussion: 

Send the link to this lesson to your student and ask what they think Wales is and who lived there 2000 years ago, ask them to look at the name of the lesson. 

If they are not sure where Wales is, explore it in Google Maps and look through the photo gallery under the map together and discuss what places they would like to visit in Wales and why. Ask them what they think Iron Age is and why it is called so.

Before your students play the game Iron Age Celts, ask them what objects could be found in Wales that were used by Celts.

Ask your student to open the link to the game Iron Age Celts and ask them to look at the bog and explain what they can see there.

Play the game (either at the lesson or at home), if played at the lesson ask your students to share the screen and discuss the game as you go

Explain that they will have to click on every object to do a mission or choose a mission on the right.

Students learn the words Iron Age Celts (this is done last as students' homework).

The recommended way of learning the words is:
Scatter
Speller
Learn

To check the students have learnt the words the following lesson invite them to share the screen and do the Learn part together

Students answer the questions about the missions at home:

In the Roundhouse
What thing did you find in the bog?
What is a roundhouse?
What did Dion’s (the boy with blue hair) mother ask him to do?
What kind of Goddess did Dion meet at the river? What did she ask of him?

Build a Hillfort 
What thing did you find in the bog? Why is it there? 

What do you need to build a hillfort?

Design a Torc
What did you find in the bog? Who wore it? Where was it made?
What were Celts good at?
Who is the torc for?
What kind of torc did you design?

A tale of weaving
What did you find in the bog this time? What was it used for? What was it made of?
What do you need to do to make a cloak for Fearless Efion ? Put the steps in the correct order:
a). get weaving
b). collect wool
c). spin the wool
d). dye the wool

Dream for a druid
How many gods were there in the bog? What were their names?
What plant did the druid cut and catch?
What did the druid want Brion to do? Did Brion like it? How did he feel?

The smartest warrior
What did Celtic warriors look like when they went into battle?
What did they enjoy doing?
What did Celts do with the heads of their enemies?
How many heads were there at the beginning of the game? What do we learn about them?
What does Brion need to be a real warrior?
What did the warriors use to make their hair white and spiky?
What colour were warriors’ tattoos?
Which patterns could Celts weave and which they couldn’t?
What weapons and protection did Brion get?

The war chariot
Who were Celts fighting 2000 years ago?
You found the wheel in the bog what was it attached to before?
Who won and who ran away in the game?

Romans rule
How long did the Romans live in Britain?
Would you rather live in a Hillfort or Roman town?
Where do the Roman come from?
Which language did the Romans speak?

Students write a short report about the most interesting things you have learnt about Celts and print it out to read out loud for your teacher.

Students create a Celtic cartoon
Choose a scene, your characters and what they will say, then create the cartoon and print it out to show and read to your teacher.

Students learn the story by heart
Iron Age Celts made sacrifices to gods, killed their enemies and put their heads on the gates to protect themselves. They lived in tribes, rode in chariots, made swords, shields and helmets out of iron. Before the battle they would have religious ceremonies and after a good fight they would sit down to a great feast, eat delicious food and drank wine.

Feedback

Please, students and teachers, leave your 
feedback in the comments below.

Pocahontas

Discussion questions:

• Have you heard about Pocahontas?
• Do you know who she was and where she lived?
• Do you know about any other important women in history?

Read Why is Pocahontas famous? Life in an Indian village. Meeting the colonists. Pocahontas gets married. Pocahontas in England. 

HERE

and answer true or false:

• Pocahontas was a Native American.
• She was born in Britain.
• She helped her people make friends with colonists who had come to America from Britain.
• Pocahontas was born in the 17th century.
• Pocahontas lived at the same time as the famous writer Charles Dickens.
• Pocahontas was famous as a peacemaker.
• She was brave, because she was a soldier.
• Pocahontas saved an Englishman named Peter Smith from being killed by her father
• Pocahontas lived in the western part of what is now the United States.
• Virginia was the name of the first British colony in America.
• Pocahontas’s people were fishermen as well as hunters and farmers.
• Maize is another name for sweet corn.
• Christopher Columbus called Native Americans Indians because thought he discovered India.
• Pocahontas was like a queen.
• Her father was leader of a tribe.
• Pocahontas had 4 names.
• ‘Pocahontas’ means 'little snow feather'.
• Pocahontas lived in a metal 'long house'.
• Boys learned to hunt with spears or bows and arrows.
• Girls learned how to look after babies and make clothes from wool.
• Children played games, such as football and hopscotch.
• The Native Americans at first welcomed the colonists.
• Pocahontas’s people traded with the colonists.
• The Native Americans showed the colonists how to hunt and make ‘long houses’.
• When Pocahontas was about 12, she saved a colonist’s life.
• John Smith was a farmer’s son.
• John Smith once he was captured by Turks and made a slave, but escaped to Russia!
• The colonists had many dangers: disease, starvation and fights with Native Americans.
• Smith was kind to the Native Americans, so they liked him.
• Pocahontas may have married when she was 14.
• The colonists kidnapped Pocahontas.
• While she was a prisoner, Pocahontas became a Christian.
• She was given a new name, Rosalind.
• In 1615, Pocahontas and John Rolfe got married.
• Pocahontas and John Rolfe had a son, Thomas.
• Pocahontas and John Rolfe’s marriage helped stop the fighting between the Native Americans and the English.
• In 1617, Pocahontas went to England.
• Pocahontas died of smallpox at the age of 23.
• Pocahontas's became an important person in Virginia.

Play the game Pocahontas HERE and answer the questions below:

1. Pocahontas’s father was?

a warrior

a chief

a farmer

2. The colonists crossed _________ to get to America.

The Pacific Ocean

The Indian Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean

3. Native Americans made their knives from:

stone

bone

metal

4. Native Americans made their plates from:

china

stone

wood

5. What did Native Americans put on their beds for comfort?

animal skins

woolen blankets

feather mattresses

6. At pow-wows Native Americans

gathered together and dance

played drums and flutes

fought each other

7. Why did the Powhatan and the English settlers’ children spend time in each other’s homes?

to play games and make friends

to learn each other’s language

to learn about new food

8. Native Americans made their fish hooks from

metal

bone

stone

9. Native Americans made their blankets from:

wool

feathers

animal skins

10. What was the colonists’ town called?

Georgetown

Jamestown

Elizabethtown

11. Why was John Smith asking for food?

because it was winter

because they couldn’t grow any food

because they ate all the animals

12. What food didn’t Pocahontas give to the settlers in the second game?

fish

corn

tomatoes

13. Pocahontas believed that John Rolfe was:

kind

horrible

handsome

14. In the 17th century Poor people in had homes built from:

brick

wood

stone

15. Potatoes were brought to England from:

Africa

Asia

America

18. In the 17th century poor English people didn’t wash very often and _____ lived on their bodies.

bees

lice

flies

19. Only the very rich people had money to buy _______ from other countries, as they were so expensive.

foods

pets

clothes

20. In the 17th century poor English people didn’t have any toilets and just threw everything into the ______.

rivers

streets

fields

21. It was exciting for Pocahontas:

to welcome English settlers to her country

to visit England

to get married

Read the Fun Facts and answer the questions:

1. Why did Native Americans covered themselves with bear grease?

2. What sex were the first colonists? Why?

3. Why did Native American farmers put dead fish in the soil?

4. What things have been named after Pocahontas?

5. What were some of the foods new to the colonists?

6. How did Native Americans get across rivers and lakes?

Do the Quiz: Pocahontas.

Test your teacher and ask them to name these famous Russian women:

Learn the new words HERE.

Shakespeare (the History of English)

Warm-up:

1. Who was William Shakespeare?

2. What country was he from?

3. What is he famous for?

Watch the video and do additional video exercises HERE

Watch the video HERE and fill in the missing words:

1. ____________ words and phrases were invented by William Shakespeare.

2. He gave us handy words like “_________”,“_________” and “anchovy”.

3. He came up with a word “_________” soon after he ran out of words to rhyme with crocodile. (What words can be rhymed with “crocodile”?)

5. The nation of ___________ finally took him to their hearts when he invented the word “hobnob”.

6. Of course it’s possible other people used these words first but dictionary writers like looking them up in Shakespeare because there were more ‘___________’ and people ‘poking’ each others’ eyes out.

8. Shakespeare’s poetry showed the world that English was a rich, vibrant language, with ________ expressive and emotional power.

9. And he still had time to open all those _______ in Stratford.

Match Shakespeare's catchphrases with their definition:

1. As dead as a doornail
2. A plague on both your houses
3. Eaten out of house and home
4. Fair play
5. Lay it on with a trowel
6. Brevity is the soul of wit
7. Break the ice
8. Get your money’s worth
9. Good riddance
10. Green eyed monster
11. Foul play
12. Love is blind
13. Hoist by your own petard

• It means you are happy that someone or something is gone. Скатерьтю дорога.
• It means that the shorter your speech is the better. Краткость сетра таланта.
• A feeling of jealousy. Жадность.
• When somebody eats all your food. Сожрать все под чистую.
• Dead. Мертвее мертвого.
• When you are unhappy with both sides of the argument. Чума на оба ваши дома.
• When you cannot see anything bad in the person you love. Любовь слепа.
• Unfair play in a game or sport. OR Unlawful or dishonest behavior. Нечестная игра.
• To exaggerate, especially in order to flatter somebody (informal). Утрировать, бессовестно льстить кому-то.
• British slang for correct or okay. OR It means someone or something is honest and good. Честная игра.
• To spend money well. Стоит потраченных денег.
• To stop being shy and start talking to people for the first time. Сделать первый шаг
• When you wanted to do something bad to another person but instead it happened to you because of your actions. Не рой яму другому, сам в нее попадешь.

Read about Shakespeare HERE and do the activities below:

Read Why is Shakespeare famous? and answer True or False:

• William Shakespeare is one of the world's greatest writers. He wrote novels and plays but he wasn’t interested in poetry.
• Shakespeare was born in London, in England.
• He became famous for writing plays.
• Most people now say he was the best writer of all time.
• Shakespeare lived more than 300 years ago. Yet people still go to see his plays.
• William Shakespeare was born in 1564. He grew up in Tudor England in the time of Queen Elizabeth I.
• He lived in boring times.
• Shakespeare died in 1616.

Read The young Shakespeare and fill in the gaps:

1. Many people think his birthday was 23 April - __________.
2. William's short name was  __________.
3. Shakespeare's father job was making __________.
4. At school Shakespeare had lessons in __________, __________, and __________.
5. If boys were naughty, the teacher __________ them.
6. In 1582, Shakespeare got married. His wife, Anne Hathaway, was a ________ daughter.
7. Anne Hathaway was ___ years older than William.

Read Shakespeare in London and choose the best answer:

1. Which stories tell us why Shakespeare left Stratford-upon-Avon:

• He had to run away from home, after poaching deer.
• He fell in love with a girl from London.
• He went off to be a soldier.
• He was a tutor in a rich family's home.

2. Why London?

• London was where poor people became rich
• London was the biggest city in England.
• London had markets, shops, taverns (inns), churches and palaces.
• London had theaters.

3. Why did Shakespeare stop writing plays for some time?

• Shakespeare became an actor and stopped writing.
• The theaters shut because of the plague.
• He liked writing poems more than plays.
• He was very sick.

Read Plays in Shakespeare's time and answer the questions:

• What was the name of the theater that Shakespeare started with his friends? What does this word mean?
• What were theaters like?
• What is so special about the modern Globe Theater in London?
• What was unusual about the actors in Shakespeare's day?
• What role in what play did Shakespeare play himself?
• What special effects did they have, why were some of them dangerous?
• What kind of plays did Shakespeare write? What kind of play is Julius Caesar? Romeo and Juliet? A Midsummer Night Dream?

Read More about Shakespeare and match the time with what happened:

• 1598
• 1603
• 1613
• 1616

1. The Globe Theater burned down.
2. Shakespeare fell ill and died.
3. Queen Elizabeth died. The new king was James I, from Scotland. James liked the theatre.
4. By this year Shakespeare got rich and famous.

Play the game William Shakespeare Take part in the To Be or Not To Be? game show. - You can turn on the subtitles - press letter S in the right upper corner.

Answer the questions:

1. What did you have to do in the first challenge Ruff Guess? What characters did you see in the 1st challenge?

2. What facts did you learn about in the first challenge?

3. What did you have to do in the second challenge Box Office Bonanza? What objects did you see in this challenge?

4. What facts did you learn about in the second challenge?

5. What did you have to do in the third challenge Shaky Sayings? Can you remember some of the sayings?

6. What facts did you learn about in the third challenge?

7. Do you remember what you answered to some of the questions in the Bedazzling Quiz Showdown?

Do the quiz about Shakespeare Here. See the bottom of the page.

Are you an expert on Shakespeare now? Answer the questions and see:

1. At school as a punishment, children were given...

• fines
• beatings
• days off

2. Before Shakespeare was a writer, he was an...

• actor
• artist
• acrobat

3. Which of these is a play by Shakespeare?

• Oliver Twist
• Hamlet
• Crime and Punishment

4. What was the name of Shakespeare's theater?

• the Rose
• the Curtain
• the Globe

5. Who played roles of young women like Juliet in Shakespeare's time?

• A boy
• A girl
• An old woman

6. What did Shakespeare's father make?

• Pens
• Gloves
• Shoes

7. Where was Shakespeare born?

• Stratford-upon-Avon
• London
• Birmingham

8. Complete Shakespeare's phrase: A _____ on both your houses

• death
• plague
• fire

9. Shakespeare was only ____ when he got married:

• 16
• 14
• 18

Learn the words HERE.

QUIZ YOUR TEACHER ask him/her these questions about Russian famous writers (but be sure you know the answers yourself:)

1. Name a famous Russian writer who wrote ‘Crime and Punishment’. What is it about?

2. Name a famous Russian writer who wrote ‘War and Peace’. What is it about?

3. Name a famous Russian poet who wrote ‘Eugene Onegin’. What is it about?

4. Name these people: