Woodland fourth graders participate in Medieval Fair

WOODLAND — Fourth graders at North Fork Elementary School took part in a daylong Medieval Fair capping off their study of the Middle Ages. The day was filled with a variety of activities capitalizing on the students’ lessons, culminating in a medieval market where students sold their own homemade arts and crafts for currency they had earned as part of their studies.

Students also engaged in numerous writing opportunities. “During our Middle Ages unit, students were asked to engage in rich conversations about the world around them and build their background knowledge to comprehend a variety of complex texts,” said Matthew Kamel, a fourth grade teacher at North Fork. “As a whole, students critically analyzed what life was like in the Middle Ages, then compared and contrasted different roles of the feudal system.”

The medieval market spawned from an existing student store concept. “Our student store has always been a fourth-grade tradition,” explained Kamel. “As long as we use this curriculum, we will plan to turn our student store idea into a learning experience by having an annual Medieval Fair.”

“We also realized creating the decorations used during the fair would be too time-consuming for just us to do,” said Kamel. “So, we reached out to parents and were lucky to have a team volunteer to help transform the hallway with banners and other decorations.”

Some of the more popular lessons from the unit included learning about the different social classes that existed during the Middle Ages. “The way they made connections to their own lives was fascinating to hear,” Kamel said. Students also enjoyed learning about the Black Plague and were able to relate this tragic time in history to similar events they faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Learning is all about making connections,” Kamel said. “Studies show that students learn content knowledge more comprehensively when those lessons incorporate interactive learning.”