Fourth-grade students at Parkway Elementary School in East Meadow immersed themselves in history, learning about the Middle Ages. The unit commenced with two days of fun crafts and activities that brought their learning to life.
In East Meadow schools, elementary students engage in Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts units, or CKLA. The CKLA curriculum seeks to provide strong instruction, grade-level appropriate assignments, engaging content and rigorous learning activities to all students. For fourth-graders, the Empires in the Middle Ages unit was the second the year.
The program explores how the fall of the Roman Empire gave rise to both the Islamic Empire and emerging Western European kingdoms, shaped heavily by the growing influence of the Christian Church. Students examine the Crusades as a series of political and religious conflicts over control of the Holy Land, and study how scientific, philosophical, and cultural knowledge moved from the ancient Greeks to Arabic scholars and later into Latin Europe. By tracing these interconnected histories, the program helps students understand how the roots of past civilizations continue to shape today’s global and political landscape.
Learning about everything from events in Europe, the rulers of ancient empires and the rise of Middle Eastern powers, students practice taking notes from informative text, and writing informative, explanatory and persuasive paragraphs. At the end of the unit, they demonstrate a strong understanding of key vocabulary, determining importance through note taking and strong paragraph writing skills.
On Nov. 25 and 26, students in Parkway’s classes took a trip back in time, creating projects that represented things they’d learned about during the unit. This included creating a coat of arms, stained glass art, crowns and a bow and arrow. As the teachers explained the projects to each class, students were encouraged to remember why they were creating each project and to explain the significance of each item.
The coat of arms, a sort of family crest unique to each creator, had symbols and colors that represented each of the students interests.
Rosanne Pascazio, a fourth-grade teacher at Parkway, explained how to create a coat of arms, showing symbols from the past — such as a deer representing harmony, a key representing knowledge and a tree representing strength.
“These are the things that represent you,” she said.
