Cutting-edge Technology Meets Medieval Times at the Junior School Fair

Who said depicting history has to use techniques from, say, the Dark Ages? At the Junior School’s Medieval Fair on Tuesday, March 2nd, the Grade 4 students demonstrated their prowess over not only the medieval arts, but also the most modern technology.

An annual event, the Medieval Fair is the culmination of a unit on medieval studies incorporated across the curriculum: in music, art, English, French literature, math and multi-media. Each year, the gym at 296 Lawrence is transformed into a medieval village, with students dressed in appropriate attire. To an audience of their parents and teachers, the students explain the nature of medieval arts and perform them as well. This year, the audience was treated to choral performances, vocals accompanied by students on the recorder, keyboard and xylophone, a maypole dance, and several dramatic vignettes.

Also situated in the gym was an amazing model of a fortified village made out of recycled materials, and two crafting workshops, where students demonstrated stained-glass making and calligraphy. And incorporated into this medieval scene was a movie screen. The Siege of the Castle, a stop-motion animation with sophisticated effects and student-created narrative, depicted the unpleasant realities of having one’s fortified castle attacked. Using iMovie and I Can Animate, teams of students worked together to produce the film. If that weren’t enough, parents could also listen at individual laptop stations to a documentary on the making of The Siege of the Castle.