Enjoy this video about castles!
Listen for words that you know already and listen for new words as you learn about castles.
Did you hear what the invention was that could destroy castles?
(gun powder, and then cannons that could knock down castle walls)
Here are a few words you might have heard: (A note to families: This list of words is only here in case your child happens to be particularly interested in learning and using new vocabulary words about castles. In no way do we expect them to absorb all of these so please just use it as you wish!)
fortress: a safe place for a lot of soldiers inside to protect.
palace: a large fancy home of a rich or important person
castle: a large building that is fortified (made strong and safe, and is also the home for a king or important person)
fortified: made strong and safe to protect from an attack
motte and bailey castle: a keep or fortified tower built on a raised earthen hill (motte), with an open area (bailey) around it, surrounded by an outer wall (called a palisade). A Motte and Bailey castle was an early type of castle.
keep: strongest part of the castle; a tower
moat: a large hole or ditch (maybe with water) surrounding a castle
fortress: a military stronghold
crenellations: the openings at the tops of castle walls; (or the battlements of a castle); used to look out for enemies or shoot arrows through
arrow slits or loopholes: holes in walls that were used to shoot arrows through to defend the castle
gatehouse: strongly-built main entrance to a castle
portcullis: large metal or wooden gate that could drop down to prevent people from entering through the gatehouse
murder holes: openings in the ceiling inside the gatehouse where rocks or arrows could be dropped on attackers
If you want, draw a picture of something you learned about castles.
