1 Use the Experiential Exercise in place of a Preview activity.

After you complete the Experiential Exercise, proceed with the rest of the lesson. 2 Understand the intent of the activity. This activity is designed to help students experience some of the challenges facing groups competing for control of the same territory. As the activity progresses, the territory representing Jerusalem becomes increasingly valuable. This is intended to model the importance of Jerusalem to Christians, Muslims, and Jews. As Christianity and Islam developed, competition over Jerusalem led to conflict among the three groups. 3 Prepare the classroom and materials. Do the following: Scatter eight pieces of poster board or cardboard on the classroom floor or on the ground outside. Seven pieces should be colored and one should be white. The pieces of poster board represent territory in the Middle East. Place some pieces close enough to enable a student to reach two pieces with two parts of his or her body (as in the mat game Twister). The white piece of poster board represents Jerusalem. Place it in a central location. Secure the pieces of poster board so that they cannot move. 4 Place students into three groups of equal size. The three teams represent the three groups who competed for territory in the Middle East during the Crusades. As an optional approach, have students affix a red, blue, or green sticker to their shirts to indicate their team affiliation. Teams must have an equal number of students. Have extra students alternate during the next round of play, or assign them to be your scorekeepers during the activity. If you have a large class and are concerned about classroom management issues, consider having only six students from each group compete during each round. You can alternate the players in each round so that all students have a chance to play, and the students not playing can help their team members strategize from the sidelines. 5 Explain the rules of the game. Tell students that they will play a game in which teams compete to acquire territory represented by the pieces of poster board on the floor. The territories are worth different amounts, and their values may change in each round of the game. In the presentation, project Information Master 10A: Rules and Scoring and review the rules with students, but cover up and do not display the table with the directions and scoring guide for each round. Tell students that teams will receive points for each piece of territory where they have members at the end of a round. Emphasize that students may not push, shove, or grab each other. Also, tell students that they may not move any of the territories. 6 Conduct Rounds 13 of the game. Use the following procedures for each round of the game: Before each round, have teams line up along the sides of the classroom. Reveal the appropriate row on Information Master 10A, and review the directions and scoring guide for that round. Make sure students understand that in the first round, the white territory is worth 1 point, but Blue team members on the white territory will earn 5 points. In the second round, both Blue and Red team members earn 5 points for being on the white territory; and in the third round, all group members earn 5 points for being on the white territory. Answer any questions students may have about that round.

 During each round of play, audibly signal the end of the round. Consider playing 20 to 30 seconds of high-energy music and then turning it off to signal the end of the round. After each round, tally the scores for each team and record the total in the appropriate row on Information Master 10A. 7 Conduct Round 4 of the game. Reveal the appropriate row on Information Master 10A, and review the directions and scoring guide. Make sure students understand that the Green team members on the white territory will be able to determine if members of any other groups will also be allowed to claim white territory. 8 Conduct Round 5 of the game. Reveal the appropriate row on Information Master 10A, and review the directions and scoring guide. Have each team discuss its strategy and write down its plan for claiming territory. Have each group read its plan aloud, and then announce that Round 5 will not be played for safety reasons. 9 Debrief the game. Ask students, Blue team, how did it feel to earn more points for the white territory first? In Rounds 2 and 3, why did competition over the white territory increase? Green team, how did you feel about deciding who should occupy the white territory in Round 4? Blue and Red teams, how did you feel about this? Were the plans you all developed in Round 5 justified? Why? Can you think of any time in history when a single territory has been considered more important or more desirable than any other and has caused competition and conflict? 10 Discuss the conflict over Jerusalem. In the presentation, project Jerusalems Old City (Visual 10 in print materials). Lead a classroom discussion by asking the following questions: How is the area on the map divided? What religions are represented in the different quarters? What important landmarks do you see? With which religion is each affiliated? What do you think makes this an important or special city? Why might people have conflicts over this city? Tell students that the visual shows a modern-day map of the historical part of Jerusalem known as the Old City. Today, Jerusalem is located in the nation of Israel in the Middle East. Explain that throughout history, Jerusalem has been fought over by followers of the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths because of its historical and religious significance to each group. 11 Connect the activity to the lesson. In the activity, students experienced increasing competition to control a single piece of territory. Explain to stu-dents that during the 7th century, Jerusalem became part of the expanding Muslim empire. For centuries, Jews and Christians were still allowed to live there and practice their faiths. However, growing tension between Muslims and Christians in the 11th century led Christian Crusaders to attempt to seize control of the Holy Land, including Jerusalem. In the reading that follows, students will learn about the causes of the Crusades, how the Crusades affected Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Europe and the Middle East, and how new Muslim empires rose to power following the Crusades.