Shield Lab teaching notes

About this lesson

One lesson, three parts. Students design a coat of arms on a 3D shield, read the blazon the lab writes, and fix any part that breaks the rule of tincture. Then they swap blazons with a partner and draw each other's arms on paper from the words alone.

Everything you are asked to say or point at is written here in the words that are on the screen. The lesson only uses what it has already taught.

How to read this guide

1. Say what to tell the class, in a sentence or two. Use your own words if you like.
2. Students do the steps, in order. Read them out or put them on the board.
3. Screens should show what you see when you walk round the room and the step worked.
4. What goes wrong the usual problems, and the fix.
5. Ask one question to check the idea, not the clicking.

Part 1: design arms and read the blazon (15 minutes)

1. Say Heralds described a shield in one short sentence called a blazon. Another herald could draw the shield from the sentence alone. Today the lab writes your blazon for you.
2. Students do Pick a shield on the Style bench. Open the Arms bench. Tap a tincture for the field. Tap an ordinary, such as Cross or Chevron, and give it a tincture. Tap a charge, such as Mullet or Key, then how many and where. Read the blazon at the top of the bench after each tap.
3. Screens should show A shield with the new arms, and a sentence at the top of the Arms bench such as: Vert, a chevron Or between three keys Argent.
4. What goes wrong The charges sit in a different place than expected: the Where buttons put them on the ordinary or round it. The bend goes the other way than expected: dexter is the shield's right, which is your left.
5. Ask Point to each word of your blazon. Which word is the field, which is the ordinary, and which are the charges?

Part 2: the rule of tincture (10 minutes)

1. Say Heralds sorted tinctures into two metals, Or and Argent, and five colors. They kept metal off metal and color off color, so a shield could be read from far away.
2. Students do Put a gold ordinary on a silver field and read the line under the blazon. Then change one tincture so the line goes away. Step back from the screen and compare the two.
3. Screens should show The line starts with Gold on silver and names the part that breaks the rule. It is gone when the design keeps the rule.
4. What goes wrong No line appears on a divided field: heralds did not apply the rule there, and the lab does not either. Furs, such as Ermine, are exempt too.
5. Ask Why would contrast matter on a battlefield? Which of your two designs reads better from the back of the room?

Part 3: the blazon swap (20 minutes)

1. Say Now we test whether a blazon really is enough. You will draw your partner's shield from their words alone.
2. Students do Copy your blazon onto a card, with no picture. Swap cards. Draw a shield on paper and color it from the card only. Then compare the drawing with your partner's screen. To check a blazon in the lab, type it into the Write a blazon box and press Enter.
3. Screens should show In the Write a blazon box, the words the lab understands turn blue. The shield on the stage changes to the typed arms.
4. What goes wrong A word does not turn blue: it is misspelled, or it is not on the bench. The lab names the word. Lion and eagle are on the bench. Dragon and unicorn are not yet.
5. Ask Find one difference between the drawing and the shield. Which word in the blazon caused it, and how would you make the word more precise?

A coding turn: a family of arms (ages 11 and up, 15 minutes)

Brothers carried their father's arms with a small mark to tell them apart. This is called cadency. The eldest had a label, the second a crescent, the third a mullet, and so on. In England it was a custom and was often not kept.

1. Say A loop runs the same lines many times. Each time, a number counts up. We will use one loop to make the arms of six brothers.
2. Students do Open the Arms by code group on the Arms bench. Type these lines, then press Run: field azure, then ordinary bend or, then for son from 1 to 6, then difference son, then draw, then end. Each command goes on its own line.
3. Screens should show A row of six small shields under the code. Each has the same arms with a different small mark at the top. Tapping one puts it on the big shield.
4. What goes wrong Line 3: This for has no end means the end line is missing. A word the lab does not know is named, with its line number.
5. Ask What changes each time the loop runs, and what stays the same? What would you change to make the arms of four brothers?

A making turn: a real shield (ages 8 and up, one more period)

The Export bench prints a template at full size, half size, or on one page. A full-size knight's shield is nine letter pages. The first page has the blazon and what color to paint each part.

1. Say The template is the size the lab says, never shrunk to fit. Your cardboard shield will be the size of the one on screen.
2. Students do On the Export bench, press Half size or Full size under A template to cut from cardboard. Print at actual size. Trim each page on its dashed line, tape the pages together, and cut along the black line. Paint between the gray lines, using the paint key on the first page.
3. Screens should show A PDF with the shield's outline in black and the arms in light gray lines. The first page has the blazon in italics and a line such as: Field: Azure (blue).
4. What goes wrong The printed shield is too small: the printer scaled the page to fit. Print at actual size, or 100 percent.
5. Ask How many pages does a full-size shield take, and why does the lab not shrink it to one page?

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