The Magna Carta: a View to the Future of Human Rights

3

THE MAGNA CARTA

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION: the Right to Rights

This lesson plan represents a disciplinary contribution to the teaching of Civic Education in the English Language.

It also aims at building team collaborative school projects in light of an integrated and cross-disciplinary perspective.

It has been devised to enhance a blended mode learning system, based on the integration of virtual and physical mobility and the use of ITC supporting new interaction methodologies.

A Chunked Lesson Plan for High School students

2

1

4

YOU WILL ALSO ...

1. Improve you knowledge, abilities and competences in the English Language.
2. Revise and learn main facts about the British historical and social context during the 13th century.
3. Broaden you knowledge about human rights in the past and today.
4. Build up you own responsibilities and elicit behaviours more consistent with human rights principles.
5. Develop autonomous learning and share knowledge and experience with your mates.

YOU WILL LEARN

1. What Magna Carta is.
2. Why it was created.
3. What it declares.
4. Why it has become one of the most celebrated documents in history.
5. What you can do to preserve its legacy.

What you should know

13th Century Historical Background

King John on a stag hunt

England was ruled by King John, the third of the Angevin Kings. Although the kingdom had a robust administrative system, the nature of government under the Angevin monarchs was ill-defined and uncertain. John and his predecessors had ruled using the principle of vis et voluntas, or "force and will", taking executive and sometimes arbitrary decisions, often justified on the basis that a king was above the law. Many contemporary writers believed that monarchs should rule in accordance with the custom and the law, with the counsel of the leading members of the realm, but there was no model for what should happen if a king refused to do so.

John had lost most of his ancestral lands in France to King Philip II in 1204 and had struggled to regain them for many years, raising extensive taxes on the barons to accumulate money to fight a war which ended in expensive failure in 1214. Following the defeat of his allies at the Battle of Bouvines, John had to sue for peace and pay compensation. John was already personally unpopular with many of the barons, many of whom owed money to the Crown, and little trust existed between the two sides. A triumph would have strengthened his position, but in the face of his defeat, within a few months after his return from France, John found that rebel barons in the north and east of England were organising resistance to his rule

The rebels took an oath that they would "stand fast for the liberty of the church and the realm", and demanded that the King confirm the Charter of Liberties that had been declared by King Henry the First in the previous century, and which was perceived by the barons to protect their rights. The rebel leadership was unimpressive by the standards of the time, even disreputable, but were united by their hatred of John.

John loses Normandy and other French possessions after the Battle of Bouvines

A TIMELINE TO BE COMPLETED ...

1199

1209

1214

June 15, 1215

1216-17

John is excommunicated over a dispute with Pope Innocent III

Richard I dies and is succedeed by his brother John, nicknamed 'Lackland'

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

If you carry on, you will know very soon ...

If you carry on, you will know very soon ...

LET''S GET STARTED WITH A VIDEO

Take some notes while you are watching and listening because in the end you will be asked to answer some questions!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xo4tUMdAMw

AND NOW IT''S YOUR TURN: do the following activities sticking to the instructions

Click and listen

Then, answer the questions on an audio file and post it on our Gsuite Classroom.

Add info to the cooperative Coggle Map to summarise and remember main facts about the Magna Carta.

EAGER TO KNOW SOME MORE ABOUT THE MAGNA CARTA?

Visit the site of the British Library

Read this document in Italian and work it out with the Teacher of History

How does the Magna Carta sound if read in the original Latin language? Click to know ...

A Glossary for better understanding the complex world of words in the Magna Carta

The rights of EVERY MAN are diminished

when the rights of ONE MAN are threatened

TAKE A BREAK ...

THINK AND REFLECT

NOW YOU ARE ABLE TO WORK ON SOME OTHER ACTIVITIES

Write a brief essay. Click to know about what and how to send it.

Give your contribute to the Human Rights Padlet!

+info

A way for a change?

Click and fill in the attached Google Form. The most voted campaign for human rights will be debated in class and we will choose the best way to support it!

+info

I CARE

For a better world ...

i

stay united and supportive

3

2

1

4

THANKS!

introductiOn