The only thing your high schoolers may know about Vikings is that they wore horns on their helmets—and according to a Crash Course World History video, that's not even true! Watch a short description of Vikings as tradesmen rather than pillagers of villages, and how modern Scandinavia and Iceland was formed by their voyages.

Concepts

the vikings, christianity, iceland

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Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Have class members watch the video independently before a discussion on the Vikings
• Encourage pupils to write a research paper that further debunks popular myths about Vikings and Leif Erikson
• Prompt small groups to write their own sagas, either fictional or nonfiction, and present them to the class in a dramatic retelling

Classroom Considerations

• Contains a few off-color jokes that high schoolers will likely find hilarious but may possibly derail a class lesson
• Animation shows Vikings slaughtering monks
• Comment section contains language that may not be appropriate for the classroom

• This video is hosted on YouTube

Pros

• Beginning of the video contains a fun reference to Thor that learners will enjoy
• Addresses the historical nature of the tenth and eleventh century Viking sagas—or lack thereof
• Examines what historians know about the religion of Vikings, as well as the similarities between Greco-Roman mythology and Norse mythology

Cons

• None

Common Core

SL.9-10.2 SL.11-12.2 RH.9-10.2 RH.9-10.3 RH.9-10.4 RH.9-10.9 RH.11-12.2 RH.11-12.3 RH.11-12.4 RH.11-12.9