Cathy Diez-Luckie
Welcome to Historic Heroes and Heroines!
Thank you for joining SchoolhouseTeachers.com for our series of weekly hands-on activities, Historic Heroes and Heroines, in which we focus on a notable figure from history. My name is Cathy Diez-Luckie from Figures In Motion. It’s a privilege to be able to share my love of history and art with you each month with projects centered around a different character who has influenced the world we live in.
Whether you are studying ancient or medieval history, the American Revolution or the Civil War, it is my hope that these weekly lessons will help you provide your children with meaningful activities to accompany your history studies. This month we will focus on one of the great kings of the Middle Ages: Charlemagne. We hope that these activities will enrich your child’s learning experience:
- Standing Cutout: The first of your weekly lessons will include making a standing cutout of Charlemagne in both a colored and color-it-in version. These cutouts may be used for dramatic plays, reenactments, or just for fun.
- Complete the Conversation: In the second week’s activity, your child will be provided the setting, background, and opening conversation between historic characters. Then, they (with your help) will finish the dialogue. My Teachers Notes will guide you with a brief historical background and reference.
- Coloring Page: A coloring page of Charlemagne is provided in week three.
- Accent on Art: The fourth of the weekly lessons will consist of a project relating to the life of the hero or heroine. This month we will look at the Palatine Chapel, the only remaining part of Charlemagne’s palace at Aachen. In other months we will study a painting, mosaic, or sculpture made of the character or associated with their life.
SchoolhouseTeachers.com will provide the lessons under this schedule, but you are free to do them at the pace that works for your family!
Week 1: May 1-4
Week 2: May 6-11
Week 3: May 13-18
Week 4: May 20-25
Use the final four weekdays of the month (May 28-31), following the Memorial Day holiday, for review, catch-up, or to go back to one of my other lesson sets archived on the site.
May’s Historic Hero: Charlemagne
Charlemagne was the greatest king to rule the Franks. He ruled for 47 years and spent more than 30 years fighting to expand his kingdom and to prevent the Franks from becoming barbarians. To strengthen his empire, he built roads, bridges, churches, and a new palace in Aachen. He brought the greatest scholars of his day to his court and established new schools and libraries, revived the arts, and copied ancient writings. He especially did not want his citizens to forget about Christianity, so he hired monks to copy manuscripts of the Bible.
Because Charlemagne had brought peace and prosperity to his kingdom as it was in the Roman times, he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800. Charlemagne was the founder of the Holy Roman Empire and the leader of the Carolingian Renaissance.
Join me for May’s hands-on project about Charlemagne!
Our desire is to provide you with the highest quality history supplements that engage your children while they learn about historic heroes and heroines.
Blessings to you and your family,
Cathy Diez-Luckie
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Learn more about Figures In Motion’s Ancient, Medieval, and United States history supplements. We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our history series: Famous Figures of the Civil War.
Review April’s hands-on project about Harriet Beecher Stowe!
Review March’s hands-on project about Robert E. Lee!
Cathy Diez-Luckie, publisher at Figures In Motion, is thankful for being able to educate her three children at home and loves to study history and literature along with them. With training in art and a graduate degree in chemical engineering, her diverse background includes researching polymeric materials, directing manufacturing at a medical device company, and illustrating children’s books for a publisher in New York. Her award-winning children’s book series (Famous Figures) integrates art and history and engages children with hands-on activities and movable action figures as they learn about the great leaders of the past.