Italian Renaissance Lesson Plan- Lovin

Content Area: World History

Standard(s):
SSWH9 The student will analyze change and continuity in the Renaissance and
Reformation.
a. Explain the social, economic, and political changes that contributed to the rise of Florence and
the ideas of Machiavelli.
c. Explain the main characteristics of humanism; include the ideas of Petrarch, Dante, and
Erasmus.
Step 1: Desired Results
1- What is the big idea(s)? (Formulate it into a question or provocative statement)
How do ideas spread and how are they adapted/changed as they spread?
2- How does this big idea relate to the standard(s)?
The standard addresses change that occurred in the Renaissance, including alterations
in thinking, such as humanism. Many of the changes that occurred from the Middle Ages
to the Renaissance resulted from a shift in how people viewed the world. These changes
came partially as a result of rediscovering the classical works of Greece and Rome. As a
result, consideration of how ideas are temporarily forgotten, rediscovered, and
disseminated again is necessary to understanding the changes that took place from the
Middle Ages to the Renaissance.
3- What should students know, understand, and be able to do as a result of the lesson?
Students should know what the Renaissance is, what it means, where it began,
approximately when it took place, etc. They will also know characteristics and
conditions/ideas that contributed to the coming of the Renaissance. Students will
understand the reasons for the change in thinking from the Middle Ages to the
Renaissance and how the art of the time reflects these changes. Students will be able to
compare the thinking of the Renaissance and Middle Ages using art as a medium.
Step 2: Assessment Evidence
1- What formative assessments will you use to gauge understanding?
Students' answers to the questions during the gallery walk will allow me to determine
how they understand the material. It will allow me to see whether there are
misconceptions, confusion, etc. The students' responses to the closer question about
how the art work reflects society will show me if they understand the
conditions/characteristics of the Renaissance. Our short discussion after will also
indicate their level of understanding.

Step 3: Learning Plan

1- What co-teaching strategy are you using during this lesson?
One teach, one assist
2- What are your learning activities? (Step by step from start to finish, detailed enough for
someone else to follow)
Opener:
For the opener, students will use Padlet to share their ideas. They have used it once before,
but they may not remember how it works. Therefore, I will give a short explanation of
where you click to create a post, upload a picture, etc. The prompt will be: Think of a piece
of art, music, film, etc. that you think reflects our society today. Upload the picture, type the
lyrics, name of film, etc. on Padlet and type why you think your chosen piece reflects our
society. After, I will ask students to share what they picked and why. If students do not
volunteer, I will pick them to share.
http://padlet.com/wall/yq89l02iw8ay
Lesson:
To begin the lesson, I am going review briefly by showing the students a painting from the
Middle Ages. I will ask them to think about how this work might reflect medieval society. If
they struggle, I will direct them to think about the subject matter, which is religious. Next, I
am going to show the students an image of a piece of art from the Renaissance and ask
them what it might reflect about society. I will hear students' thoughts and we will move
on, leaving the question unanswered.
Next, I will quickly the students some background information. We will address the
following questions:
What is the Renaissance?
When did it take place?
What does the word 'Renaissance' mean?
What are some of its characteristics?
After, the students will participate in a gallery walk to learn background information about
some of the conditions that led to the rise of the Renaissance, focusing on Florence.
Categories for the gallery walk will include: Economics, Politics, Society, and Humanism,
and both text and images will be provided for each topic. Students will walk around to each
section. They will be responsible for answering the questions I provide for each of the 4
categories. Students can help one another as they try to answer the questions. After the
students have finished answering the questions, they will return to their seats. We will go
through each of the topics together; I will ask students to share what they learned about
each topic.

Closer:

Comment [C1]: As all my students had iPads,

Padlet provided an interactive online platform for
students to share their ideas. As students had to
write their names on their posts and the latter all
showed up on the board, there was accountability
for students to participate. As a teacher, it gave
immediate feedback about what the students
were thinking.
Comment [C2]: During the class period, we
were going to use symbolism in primary source
art pieces to think about the Renaissance, so I
wanted students to first think about symbolism
today and how art, music, etc. can represent our
society. Thinking about our current society first
served as an introduction to the Renaissance and
its art and connected the past to the present.
Comment [C3]: We had previously discussed
Medieval times, I continued with the theme of
pieces of art to review. I chose a painting from the
Middle Ages that depicted a religious subject
matter and used this as a platform for discussing
the role of the Catholic Church in everyday life.
Comment [C4]: This exercise served to get the
students thinking, as we were going to be
discussing the characteristics/conditions leading
to the Renaissance throughout the lesson. I
introduced the painting in the beginning, because
we were going to revisit it at the end of the lesson.

Comment [C5]: The gallery walk allowed

students to be more active in their learning, as
they are reading information/looking at images
and answering questions. Students did not only
listen to me tell them the information.
In addition, a gallery walk permitted students to
leave their seats and stand up as they engaged
with the information. This format catered to
kinesthetic learners and helped those who liked
to move around or had difficulty sitting still for
long periods of time.
Comment [C6]: This provided an opportunity
for me to better understand what the students
learned from the gallery walk. During this time, I
could answer questions, correct misconceptions,
and ask further questions to push their thinking.

For the closer, I will show the students the art piece from the Renaissance shown near the
beginning of class. The students will have to answer the following question: After learning
about the characteristics and the conditions that led to the Renaissance, how does this
work reflect Renaissance society? After the students answer the question, we will talk
about it as a class. I will ask their ideas and make sure we discuss humanism, patronized
art, etc. If the students struggle, possible questions might be:
What is the subject matter of the work?
How is the subject of this piece different from the medieval work we examined at
the beginning of class?
Why would the subject of this piece show ordinary figures instead of religious ones?
How does the subject matter reflect a focus on the individual/individual
achievement?

Comment [C7]: I chose to return to the

Renaissance art piece examined near the
beginning of class to ensure the theme of art as
symbolism was threaded through the entire
lesson. I wanted students to reflect on what they
learned throughout the lesson and contemplate
how they could apply their knowledge in an
analysis of the work of art.