Preface
This page is a quick guide to this unit about a medieval scriptorium. 8th graders are at the cusp of learning to do more in-depth research and are at the perfect age for a larger group project. This lesson about scriptoria in the Middle Ages is a great start to the school year for an English or history class, as it can be a springboard for follow-up lessons about this time period. It’s written and presented in a fairly informal voice to help draw the students in and help them be more comfortable with the lesson materials.
Each section is broken up into smaller, “bite-sized” pieces. There is a good mix of text, images, and videos to keep things moving and to help keep 8th graders interested. Students are exhorted to keep in mind the end goals and assignments for this unit up front with another quick reminder at the end.
At the bottom of each lesson page, there are links for more research. Students in 8th grade are more than likely beginning to write papers that require additional research, and this lesson will help them learn how to do so. Each page has links embedded as a way of citing sources (perfect for an online “paper” to show students how it can be done in a digital setting) in addition to the “learn more” links at the bottom of the page. Students should be encouraged to look through these additional pages to help them better understand the nature of the scriptorium, the scribes who were creating manuscripts, and the tools and accessories that they needed to use.
As a way to apply their learning directly, they will create a how-to guide, using the materials that they have read and looked up. Another group will use this guide to create a scriptorium and a scribe’s desk (in whatever way fits their group’s creative inclinations), afterward reviewing the previous group’s guide to discuss what might have been missing or what new things they learned from the other group.
This should be a short, but lively unit for 8th graders to begin to dig in deeper to a subject and start to apply that knowledge in a more concrete manner. If you would like to use this lesson on your own schedule, students should start on the Context page instead of this one. If you’d prefer, I would love to be able to present this lesson to students directly as a way to help keep them engaged in the material and to answer any questions they might have.