Choose a medieval-themed novel for students to read during the study of this time period. Books such as "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite De Angeli provide students with a glimpse into daily medieval life. Assign a reflection journal in which students keep track of the story elements of character, setting and plot. Also have students reflect after each chapter, writing down ways that daily life in medieval times differed from their own life.
Discuss some famous names from medieval history such as Richard the Lion-Hearted, Joan of Arc or Johan Gutenberg with students. Provide materials for creating a folded paper book. Instruct students to further research influential names from medieval history and write biographical notes about each. Students then create a sketch of each person and write a brie, biography of each one in the folded paper book. Instruct students to create a title and cover for the book.
Assign students the task of researching life as a medieval child. If reading a class medieval-themed novel that contains a child character, students have already found some supposed differences. Direct students to use online and print resources to locate factual information about life as a medieval child. After learning the ways a medieval child's life was the same and was different from their own, have students write a series of fictional journal entries as if they were a child of medieval times. Students should realize facts about medieval childhood during research, such as home-schooling, learning to read or write primarily for religious purposes, and being considered an adult as early as 12 years old.
Assist fifth graders in realizing the difference in the career choices their life today offers and that of the medieval population by explaining how social class determined the career path of medieval adolescents. Assign each student a medieval family situation by passing out slips of paper that state, for example, "You are the child of a poor farmer." Require that students research the assigned medieval social role and determine what type of education, apprenticeship or job possibilities would have been possible. Instruct students to create a poster that includes a self-portrait of themselves as a medieval adolescent and describes in words the path they feel their life would have taken given the assigned social role.