Monasteries and Religion of Norman Sicily

Essential Questions for the Lesson

What was the religious background of Sicily while the Normans ruled?

Why is the monastic makeup of Sicily different from Western Europe?

Students will be able to demonstrate through writing their understanding of religious tolerance in Norman Sicily.

Students will be able to interpret data regarding monastic information in Norman Sicily.

Formative Assessment: Students will read a passage on the board and participate in a classroom discussion about what it is saying about the topic. This will work on students’ analytical skills as well as engage them in the subject matter. This gives students opportunities to point out a different point of view that others may not have picked up on while reading the passage.
Summative Assessment: Students will answer questions regarding a new piece of information they learned from one of their peers. This goes along with the class activity of researching monastic resources from the Norman Sicily Project webpage. The assessment will push students to pay attention to their peers and seek out new information about the topic.

Slideshow Presentation (Formative Assessment on the second slide): Monasteries and Religion of Norman Sicily
Summative Assessment: Summative Assessment
Class Activity: Class Activity

Duration:	The teacher will…	The student(s) will…
10 minutes	Instruct students to read the passage on the slide presentation and engage in a classroom discussion regarding the reading. This will tie into the lesson and offer students to make different predictions about how the Normans will respond to other religions in Sicily.	Read the passage on the slide presentation and engage in a classroom discussion.
15 minutes	Lecture on the background of religion and monastic makeup of Norman Sicily.	Students will listen and take optional notes on the slide presentation.
25 minutes	Instruct the class to complete the activity that revolves around students finding information on the Norman Sicily Project webpage and answering questions on their research.	Participate by researching on the Norman Sicily Project webpage and answering questions on their chosen resource.
25 minutes	Instruct the students to participate with each other in filling out a worksheet with two other partners to find out more about the monastic history in Norman Sicily.	Engage with two other classmates by asking them questions about their research. They will then complete a worksheet based on the answers they received.