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Scenario for Guild Masters

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 Scenario for Guild Masters


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The First Half of the Third Week in the Guild Project:
Pairs of students arrive at the door of a classroom during homeroom period. They have come to apply for an apprenticeship into the guild of their choice. The students have been provided in their Language Arts class with a list of questions and the time to prepare answers to them. They have brought these completed answers to the guild master of their choice in hopes of gaining admittance as an apprentice. The teacher asks the students questions from their prepared list. If the teacher believes that the student has presented himself for apprenticeship in the proper mannner and that they have answered the questions correctly, an apprenticeship card or intern card is signed and issued to each student.
The teacher has met with the language arts teacher and the learning center director previously and has been given information about the history of three guilds. The teacher has also been supplied with a list of questions with directions to ask prospective apprentices applying for a particular guild. The teacher will ask questions from this list which must be answered appropriately. The now, master of the newly appointed apprentice instructs them to report periodically over the course of the Guild Hall project for:
Other teachers have been similarly prepared and all the guilds are represented throughout the team. These include the seven great guilds:
  1. The Arte de Calimala (guild of workers in wool)
  2. The Arte della Lana (guild of wool merchants)
  3. The Arte dei Giudici e Notai (guild of judges and notaries)
  4. The Arte del Cambio (guild of bankers)
  5. The Arte della Seta (guild of silk weavers)
  6. The Arte dei Medici e Speziali (guild of physicians and pharmacists)
  7. The Arte dei Vaiai e Pellicciai (guild of furriers)
- the 14 lesser guilds,ususally called the craft guilds:
  1. Butchers
  2. Shoemakers
  3. Blacksmiths
  4. Builders
  5. Secondhand Dealers
  6. Wine-dealers
  7. Innkeepers
  8. Sellers of Salt, Oil, and Cheese
  9. Tanners
  10. Armorers
  11. Ironworkers
  12. Girdlemakers
  13. Woodworkers
  14. Bakers
- and the seven liberal arts guilds:
  1. Grammar
  2. Logic
  3. Music
  4. Rhetoric
  5. Arithmetic
  6. Geometry
  7. Astronomy
It is also explained to the students that within their group of 4 (composed of two pairs), they must keep the knowledge that they acquire secret until the presentations at the end of the unit. In other words, one pair should not divulge their knowledge to the other pair during the course of the project until their presentations at Guild Hall. This "secrecy" reflects what actually took place during the Renaissance as competition between guilds was very high and no guild wished to give away secrets from his master's house.
During the Course of the Guild Hall Project:
Students periodically will stop by during homeroom at their guild master's room to ask for advice and help. The teachers are supplied with interesting tidbits of information (curiosa), advice, hints on designing a personalized guild banner , and instructions on their charitable contributions which they can share with their apprentices. Directions and specific information to share have been given to the master teachers ahead of time. The teachers will have appropriate guidance tips for finding additional information about their chosen guild. They have been instructed to then initial the apprenticeship card of the student on the spaces provided on the back of the card in order for the student to obtain extra credit for their project. Once a tidbit of information has been imparted, the teachers are instructed to send the apprentice on their way with one of the supplied dismissal statements.

Authors: Bonnie Panagakis, Chris Marszalek, Linda Mazanek
URL: http://www-ed.fnal.gov/lincon/f97projects/cmarszalek/scenario3.html