CKLA Amplify Renaissance

Lesson 1 - Discovering the Topic: The Renaissance

Core Connections
Students will make inferences about the civilizations and time
periods that led to the Renaissance based on details from the
text.

Objective: I can use metacognitive skills to both develop and deepen comprehension by making inferences and using evidence to support understanding.

Key Vocabulary:

Concept - n. a general idea about a topic convey, v.
to make something known; to communicate

Document - 1. n. an important paper that provides
information; 2. v. to give evidence of an event or
opinion

Factor - n. cause or reason

Primary - adj. most important; main

Prose - n. a traditional style of writing that is not
poetry

Refer - v. to call attention to something; to look at
something for information

Word Work - Inspired

What part of speech is the word inspire?

Have a discussion with your partner about
who or what has inspired you to do well in
school.

Today we will learn about the events leading
up to the Renaissance and make inferences
about why they influenced the start of
this movement.

to influence or provide an idea about what to do or create

What do you notice about the graphic below?

Activity Page 1.1

Look at the map
and share what
you notice with a partner.

01

The shaded areas
were part of the
ancient Roman
civilization.

02

The dotted areas
were part of the
ancient Greek
civilization.

03

Locate the modern
countries of Spain,
France, England,
Germany, and Italy, and
label them on the Map of
Western Europe.

04

Virtual Museum Trip

Based on what you heard and what you see in
the image on page 29, describe life in a town
in the Middle Ages.

Virtual Museum Trip

What class of people grew in importance as a
result of this growth in trade?

What groups of people made up the middle
class?

How did trade affect life in the Middle Ages?

Virtual Museum Trip

Virtual Museum Trip

In what other ways did growth in trade and the importance of a middle class affect the
development of towns in the Middle Ages?

Virtual Museum Trip

What were some difficulties middle class people in towns faced during the Middle Ages?

Key Vocabulary:

Expression - n. the act of telling or showing thoughts or feelings;
communication (2)
Cultural - adj. 1. of or relating to the fine arts (painting, music,
etc.); 2. Of or relating to a particular group of people and their
habits, traditions, andbeliefs (2)
Revolutionary - adj. causing or relating to a great change (2)
Inspire - v. to influence or provide an idea about what to do or
create (inspired) (2)
Philosophy - n. the study of knowledge and truth (philosophers)
(2)
Economy - n. the system by which goods and services are made,
bought, and sold (4)
Values - n. strongly held beliefs about what is important (6)
Intellect - n. intelligence; the ability to think in a logical way (adj.
intellectual) (7)
Patron - n. a person who gives money and support to an artist in
exchange for works of art (patrons) (9)

What factors inspired the Renaissance movement?

Lesson Wrap Up

Explain how the

interests and activities

of humanists like

Petrarch

and his followers

inspired the
Renaissance
movement.

How did people and

their interests

contribute to the

Renaissance?

Think-Pair-Share. Have
students interpret the

following quote in

relation to humanism:
“What a piece of work

is man!”