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This final project aims to teach students about the Viking era which is an important part of the history of Denmark.
Since many cultures often have a simplified and inaccurate perception of the Vikings, my goal is to give the students an accurate and nuanced view on their life, culture, and beliefs. Furthermore, the project emphasizes the Vikings' relation to England in terms of travel, colonization, and language, which makes it relevant to use in the context of teaching English.

I find this project to be useful since the material about non-English-speaking countries for auxiliaries is limited and, therefore, I wanted to provide some material that can be used by anyone yet is targeted specifically towards Danish/Nordic auxiliaries. Apart from English, this material can also be applied to other subjects such as History.

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Structure of the lesson
The lesson is structured around the PowerPoint (see the attached file). The themes of the lesson are structured as follows:
1) Brainstorm
2) The begining of the Viking era
3) Viking raids
4) International trade
5) Norse Mythology and conversion to Christianity
7) Language: Runes and Old Norse vs. English
8) Vikings and gender

Activities
1) Start the class with a brainstorm on the topic. Apart from being a good and simple speaking activity, it encourages the students to reflect on what they already know/believe about the Vikings. Write their input on the whiteboard.

2) Watch YouTube clip from the TV Series "Vikings" and discuss the significance of the raid in Lindisfarne (see PowerPoint, slide 4).

3) Discuss gender roles in the Viking era: Use slide about the remains found in Birka, Sweden, to discuss gender equality in the Viking era (please note that this slide is left blank on purpose). One student is asked to go to the board and draw what they believe the warrior looked like - the students are likely to believe that these are the remains of a male warrior. Afterwards, the LA reveals that it is a woman and not a man (details about the activity can be found in the notes. See PowerPoint, slide 11). This activity was suggested by the teacher.

4) Answer follow up questions at the end of the lesson (see PowerPoint, slide 12).

5) Drawing important cities on a map of Denmark (or, alternatively, the trade routes and/or mark Lindisfarne and Danelaw on a map of Europe). This activity can be used at the end after discussing the questions of activity 4 or as a follow up exercise after the first lesson.

Evaluation and meeting the learning objectives
The follow up questions from activity 4 can be used to evaluate the lesson, especially question 1 and 2 since the objective for the students is to repeat what they have learned. These questions are a helpful way for the students to know if they have achieved the learning objectives. Activity 5 can be used for this purpose as well.

Responding to different learning styles and levels
The PowerPoint accommodates to auditive and visual learning styles since it includes lot of pictures and key words as well as a video clip. Activities 3 and 5 accommodate students who need to engage in a creative way in order to learn. During the follow up questions in activity 4, the teacher can help the language assistant pair up the strong students with the weaker ones so that they can help each other.

This project is a little information dense and mostly useful for students from 2nd grade and above, nevertheless, it can be adapted to students of 1st grade by shortening the presentation and including fewer activities, such as only activity 1, 4 and 5. Also, for 1st graders, the video from YouTube might be too graphic.

Please find the links used for this project below or in the PowerPoint presentation.

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Cooperation between the teacher and the language assistant

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Cooperation between the teacher and the language assistant

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The teacher's role
Apart from helping me plan the lesson before class and suggesting things that I could include in my presentation, the teacher would help me clarify certain parts of my presentation during class. For example, he would translate difficult vocabulary to Spanish and ask relevant follow up questions when needed.

We taught the same lessons with two different 2nd grade groups, and after the lesson with my first group, he would give me some feedback and suggestions as to what I could do to make the lessons more dynamic and engaging which worked very well.

The language assistant's role
On a practical level, my role was to prepare the materials for the lesson and teaching the students about the history, culture, and lifestyle of the Vikings. Also, as they were answering the follow up questions at the end of the lesson, I talked to them one on one to help them practice as well as make sure they were not switching into Spanish. On a more fundamental level, my role was to be an ambassador for Denmark by teaching the students a fundamental part of the history of my country. Since many people associate the Nordic countries with the Vikings yet know very little about them, I believe it's my job to give the students some insight into my cultural heritage.

Cooperation between the teacher and the language assistant
In class, I was in charge of presenting the information about the Vikings and preparing the activities, however, as mentioned before, the teacher did ask follow up questions throughout the lesson and translated certain words to Spanish when necessary, either verbally or by writing them on the board. He would also discipline the students if they were not paying attention. Apart from that, he helped me solving any technical issues that occurred during the lesson. This dynamic worked very well.

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On this page, you can find both a printable map of Denmark and other maps that you could use for this lesson.

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Blank World Map - World Map and Countries Map in Blank/ Printable/ Geographical/ Labeled/ Physical/ Political.

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A Blank Denmark Map: Denmark or the Kingdom of Denmark is a Nordic country located in the northern part of Europe. Denmark is located to the southwest of Sweden, Norway from the north, Germany to the south of it. Among the Scandinavian countries, Denmark lies in the southernmost part and is comprised of the Jutland peninsula and an archipelago of 443 islands. Among these islands, the three large islands which make the most parts of Denmark are Zealand, North Jutlandic, and Funen island.

Denmark is not divided into provinces rather it is a unitary state made up of proper Denmark and two autonomous territories of Greenland and Faroe Island. Denmark is stretched to an area of 42,943 square kilometers and a population of proper Denmark of 5.83 million as of 2020. In the early 20th century, Denmark bought the concept of social and labor-market reforms that is the basis of the welfare state model with a highly developed mixed economy. A blank map of Denmark can be used to specify different locations.

Blank Denmark Map - Outline

The absolute monarchy in Denmark was abolished on 5 June 1849 when the constitution of Denmark was signed. The absolute monarchy system which started very early in 1660 was replaced by a constitutional monarchy organized as a parliamentary democracy. Copenhagen which is the country's capital, the largest city as well as the major commercial center of the country became the place where the government and national parliament are seated. Although Denmark became a member of the European Economic Community in 1973, it manages to retain its own currency called krone by negotiating certain opt-outs.

Printable Map of Denmark

Denmark has been the founding member of many organizations which include NATO, OSCE, the United Nations, the OECD, the Nordic Council. It is a developed country that measures high in some metrics of national performance, that include, protection of LGBT equality, civil liberties, and democratic governance. It also provides its citizen a high standard of living, essential human rights and other facilities.

Transparent PNG Denmark Map

Denmark is well known in the world for its bike culture. Danish Flag is the oldest flag in the world which is more than 800 years old.

Map of Denmark for Practice Worksheet

Denmark is the home of Stunning castles and palaces. Some of the famous palaces in Denmark are Kronborg Castle in Helsingor, Amalienborg Palace, Rosenborg Castle, Christiansborg Palace, Frederiksborg Palace, Marselisborg Palace, Fredensborg Palace, and many more. Apart from this, it has many art galleries and museums. It is the favorite place to visit for people who love art. The National Gallery of Denmark, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Museum, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, L Kunsten Museum of Modern Art, the ARoS Aarhus Art Museum, and Thorvaldsens Museum are some famous museums and art galleries in Denmark.

Visiting Denmark can be exciting where people will find peace, love for nature, pristine beaches, unique cultures, and tradition which will amaze people around the world. Denmark attracts lots of tourists each year.

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Printable Blank Denmark Map with Outline, Transparent Map

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A Blank Denmark Map: Denmark or the Kingdom of Denmark is a Nordic country located in the northern part of Europe. Denmark is located to the southwest of Sweden, Norway from the north, Germany to the south of it.

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The Vikings Raid and Burn Lindisfarne Monastery   THE VIKINGS SEASON 1

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Topic: The Vikings

Subject: English

Grade: 2nd grade of ESO

Materials needed: Computer, Projector, Whiteboard, Internet connection

Technologies used: Youtube.com, Internet, PowerPoint slideshow

Objectives of the lesson plan:
1) To get acquainted with the Vikings' life style, history, and culture.
2) To practice speaking

Timing: Two lessons (2 x 55 minutes)

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Modern English is commonly thought of as a West Germanic language , with lots of French and, thanks to the church, Latin influence thrown in the mix. But this take on English leaves out a very important piece of the linguistic puzzle: Old Norse, the language of the Vikings. The English we speak today is riddled with lingual remnants leftover from a time when wearing ornately-decorated helmets was all the rage. Let's take a look at some Old Norse words that have withstood the test of time by fighting their way into our modern vocabulary.

How To Speak Viking

The Old Norse word meant an overseas expedition, and a was someone who went on one of these expeditions. In the popular imagination, the Vikings were essentially pirates from the fjords of Denmark and Norway who descended on medieval England like a bloodthirsty frat party - they pillaged, murdered and razed villages, only to sail right back across the North Sea with their loot.

Reality is far more nuanced, though. The earliest Viking activity in England did consist of coastal raids, but by the 870s, the Danes had traded sword for plow and were settled across most of Northern England in an area governed by treaties known as the Danelaw. England even had Danish kings from 1018 to 1042. However, the more successful and longer-lasting Norman conquest in 1066 marked the end of the Viking era and virtually erased Danish influence in almost all aspects of English culture but one: its effect on the development of the English language.

me, (though) it may seem at first, we still very to use the words the Vikings did in our everyday speech. (their) language evolved into the modern-day Scandinavian languages, but (they) also gave English the of hundreds of words.

[A note on the letter þ: the Old Norse letter, called thorn, makes the same sound as the "th" in "thin".]

Days Of The Week

The most obvious Old Norse influence on modern English is the word Thursday ( Þorsdagr), which you might guess means "Thor's day."

"Tuesday," "Wednesday" and "Friday" are sometimes also attributed to the Norse gods Tyr, Odin and Freya respectively, but the weekdays are actually named for the Anglo-Saxon equivalents of these gods, Tiw, Wodan and Friga. The similarity of these names points to the common ancestry shared by the various Germanic tribes in prehistoric northern Europe, centuries before their descendants clashed on England's shores.

War And Violence

If the Vikings are famous for one thing, it's their obsession with war. They didn't just bring death and destruction to medieval England, they brought really cool words for death and destruction. They were certainly a rough bunch. Just look at a Viking the (wrong) way, and he might (thrust) a into your .

Here are some more violent Old Norse words we can thank the Vikings for:

Society And Culture

Life in the Danelaw wasn't all murder and mayhem, of course. Ironically, these savage berserkers also gave us many Old Norse words now central to our more "civilized" culture:

Animals

Although most English animal names retain their Anglo-Saxon roots (cow, bear, hound, swine, chicken, etc.), the Vikings did bring a few Old Norse words to our animal vocabulary:

Some words associated with hunting and trapping also come from the Vikings. Sleuth now means "detective," but the original meant "trail" or "track." Snare, on the other hand, retains the original meaning of the Old Norse .

Landscape

Old Norse words are good for describing landscapes and weather. This was especially useful in Viking-inhabited northern England, where both and (rugged) terrain are often shrouded in , and oppressed by of wind and (low) (clouds).

Much of the Danelaw bordered swamps and alluvial plains, so it's no surprise that many Old Norse words for dirty, mucky things still survive in English:

The Norse Legacy In English

Thanks to the cross-cultural fermentation that occurred in the Danelaw, the English language is much closer to those of its Scandinavian neighbors than many acknowledge. By the time the Norman conquest brought the irreversible influence of French, Old English had already been transformed beyond its Anglo-Saxon roots.

This is still in evidence today: Modern English grammar and syntax are more similar to modern Scandinavian languages than to Old English. This suggests that Old Norse didn't just introduce new words, it also influenced how the Anglo-Saxons constructed their sentences. Some linguists even claim that English should be reclassified as a North Germanic language (along with Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish), rather than a West Germanic language (with Dutch and German). The Viking influence may be most apparent in the Yorkshire dialect, which uses even more Old Norse words in daily speech than standard English does.

English is probably too much of a hybrid to ever neatly classify, but its Old Norse is clearly there among the tangle of Anglo-Saxon, French and Latin roots. The language of the Vikings may have become subdued over the centuries, but make no about it: from (birth) we (die), Norse's raw energy simmers under the surface of everything we say.

More Old Norse Words

We use Old Norse words every day without even realizing it.

Verbs

Objects

Adjectives

The Body

People

Emotions

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139 Old Norse Words That Invaded The English Language

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Without the Vikings, English would be missing some awesome words like berserk, muck, skull, knife, and cake! Here's our list of Old Norse words in English.

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Information about the female warrior from Birka, Sweden

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Information about the female warrior from Birka, Sweden

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A female Viking warrior confirmed by genomics

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Objectives
The objective of this study has been to confirm the sex and the affinity of an individual buried in a well-furnished warrior grave (Bj 581) in the Viking Age town of Birka, Sweden. Previo...

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Final project © 2022 by Liv Kiilsholm is licensed under Attribution 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/