Medieval Harp Photo by Raul Barrios on Unsplash

The Door in the Wall Literature Unit Study

The Door in the Wall by Marguerite de Angeli

The information here is for a wide range of ages, grades K-12, depending on which objectives and activities are selected, so please check first to make sure your choices are appropriate for your own family. New information will be added as time allows. Links to lesson plans and activities here represent materials that can be printed and added to your notebook for this unit.

Learning Objectives:

Many parents and teachers will need to create their own goals. You can compare the goals at these sites to create your own goals depending on how stringent your requirements need to be. All links have several suggested activities for different ages.


To gain an appreciation and understanding of life in the Middle Ages by reading The Door in the Wall.
To gain an understanding of the Middle Ages by completing activities, discussions, and the use of other books.

Timeline

The Middle Ages
Story takes place during the time of Edward the Third

Online Time Line Creator http://www.ourtimelines.com/create_tl_2c.html

Vocabulary

Vocabulary words from The Door in the Wall for each chapter with definitions http://www.saskschools.ca/~cathcurr/la/ditw.html

General vocabulary words from this timeframe

Kings Curtain Peasant
Middle Ages Queens Helm
Joust Chivalry Villains
Barons Chain mail Rents
Wattle and daub Noblewomen Coat of Arms
Serfs Monarch Craftsmen
Minstrel Jester Gatehouse
Knight Tower Heralder
Crenel Half-timber Fortress
Castle Armour Page
Ward Bailey Vassal
Battlement Dungeon Moat
Noble Archer Trebuchet
Drawbridge Battering ram Catapult
Feudalism Crossbow Siege
Palisade Breach

WordWeb free downloadable software to look up words. https://wordweb.info/free/

Online Dictionary https://www.dictionary.com/

Book Resources

Door in the Wall by deAngeli

The Usborne Book of Castles by Leslie Sims

Castle by David Macaulay

Eyewitness Books Castle by Christopher Gravett

Eyewitness Books Knight by Christopher Gravett

Eyewitness Books Medieval Life by Andrew Langley

If You Lived in the Days of the Knights by Ann McGovern

What Were Castles For? by Phil Roxbee-Cox

Knight and Armor Coloring Book by A.G.Smith (Dover Coloring Book)

Middle Ages My World by Peter Chrisp (activities book)

Games

Using the instruction guide for the GeoSafari you can create a ton of cards for this unit. GeoSafari is GREAT for long car trips https://archive.org/details/GeoSafari-Manual
Geosafari (File folder game Ideas will work for Geosafari and Vice Versa)
Donna Young’s Instructions https://donnayoung.org/homeschooling/games/geocards.htm
Make cards:
Timeline events to their date Matching card
True or false cards
Vocabulary Words to real pictures.

Choose games to make https://web.archive.org/web/20040111040408/http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec670/Cardboard/matrix.html
Board games
Ideas for making your own board games at Mary’s Site https://www.angelfire.com/wi2/GamesForLearning/ideas.html

Try your hand at making a file folder game to match this topic. Here are some sample File folder game boards.
Blank Game boards to create any game for this unit
https://timvandevall.com/product-category/board-game-templates/
https://justfamilyfun.com/board-game-templates/

Owl and Mouse online Heraldry Game
https://www.yourchildlearns.com/heraldrygame/index.html

Rescue at the Castle! Printable game
https://web.archive.org/web/20090303225630/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/castles/activity.html

Shoot For Your Life – Virtual Archery Skills https://www.camelotintl.com/village/games/

Recipes

Medieval Cooking A Boke of Gode Cookery
https://web.archive.org/web/20050129085031/https://www.godecookery.com/godeboke/godeboke.htm

Medieval cuisine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_cuisine

British Museum How to cook a medieval feast: 11 recipes from the Middle Ages https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/how-cook-medieval-feast-11-recipes-middle-ages

Medieval Food & Cooking
https://www.castlesandmanorhouses.com/life_04_food.htm

Recipe Table of Contents
https://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/recipe_toc.html

Medieval Dietary Norms
https://medievalbritain.com/type/medieval-life/medieval-recipes/medieval-cuisine-what-did-people-eat-in-the-middle-ages/

Medieval/Renaissance Food Clip-Art Collection
https://web.archive.org/web/20020207131356/http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/food-art/

Field Trips

Medieval Field Trip
See what your local museum and art museum has to offer.

Visit Medieval Times https://www.medievaltimes.com/
A Teachers’ Guide https://www.medievaltimes.com/education
The website also has information on inventions from the era, castle defense, medieval lifestyles and more.

The Society of the Middle Ages is a medieval group dedicated to recreating the martial arts, arts and crafts, and engineering technologies of the past from 400 AD to 1500 AD. See if there is an event by you.
https://sma-inc.org/

Castle with drawbridge, moat, hidden rooms and dungeon for sale. $2.3M Castle in Michigan Harks Back to Medieval Times
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2009-Victoria-Hl-Rochester-MI-48306/24364811_zpid/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/08/24/castle-for-sale-michigan-drawbridge-hidden-rooms/7883975001/

Check the internet for Medieval or Middle Ages exhibits in your area.

Arts and Crafts

Create Your Own Coat of Arms
https://web.archive.org/web/20050521163043/http://teacher.scholastic.com/lessonrepro/results/view.asp?SubjectID=2&SubheadID=6&TopicID=24&GradeID=&PageURL=%2Flessonrepro%2Freproducibles%2Fprofbooks%2Fcoatarms%2Epdf
Make a simple castle and then lay siege to it.
https://web.archive.org/web/20120228073458/http://www.rain.org/~philfear/castle.html

Castle to print and assemble https://www.stormthecastle.com/paper-castle/make-a-cardboard-castle.htm

Instructables castle to print and assemble https://www.instructables.com/Paper-Castle-1/
Make a Knight’s Helmet
Make a Coat of Arms https://glazermuseum.org/coatofarms/
Learn about the Middle Ages, feudalism, knights, and chivalry while making a coat of arms. https://www.ducksters.com/history/middle_ages/knight_coat_of_arms.php
Medieval related crafts. Choose to make a mosaic, triptych, bunting, and many more. https://www.bakerross.co.uk/craft-ideas/category/teachers/cultures/medieval-cultures/

Activities and Lesson Plans

Lesson Plans for 7th Grade https://web.archive.org/web/20040603132103/http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/door/doortg.html

Information and General Resources

Excerpts from Newbery Award Acceptance Speech https://web.archive.org/web/20160311230330/http://www.deangeli.lapeer.org/Books/Door_in_the_Wall.html

Medieval Siege describe some of the major weapons and strategies used in what became a medieval arms race. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/trebuchet/race.html

Worksheets:

Make your own worksheets with these worksheet creation tools:

  • SchoolHouseTech https://www.schoolhousetech.com/ This company gives away two free software worksheet factories one for Basic math and one for wordsearch utility that will make wonderful complements to this unit when you include the clipart listed in the clipart section.
  • Start Write – This program makes nice reports and handwriting worksheets for the unit. https://www.startwrite.com/
  • Teacher’s Pet will turn any text into a worksheet I like to use it with the Wikipedia text or texts from Project Gutenberg. Open up a Microsoft Word “New” and then open the template and add ins’ for Teacher’s Pet and add one paragraph at a time and click the appropriate tab for the type of question you want. https://www.teachers-pet.org/
  • TeachNology has several online worksheet makers and a ton of Rubric makers. Rubrics work great with Homeschool Tracker because they give you total points and you count up exactly how many points your child gets. https://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/
  • Online Crossword Puzzle Maker to use with your vocabulary words or locations or even dated from the timeline. https://www.happychild.org.uk/wks/english/ssm/crosswords01.htm

Evaluation Ideas:

Assemble a three ring binder and please include: