LESSON
ONE Overall Unit Question:
How have world religions shaped who I am today?
Lesson 1 Includes:
- Lesson Question
- Learning Standards Addressed
- Performance Objective Addressed
- Resources Listed
- Learning tasks
- Assessment tasks
- Rubrics for assessment
- Reflection guide
Learning Standards Addressed:
Standard 2 - World History of Learning Standards for Social Studies.
- Students can analyze changing and competing interpretations
of issues, events, and developments throughout world history.
- They can analyze the roles and contributions of individuals
and groups to cultural and religious practices and activities.
- They can understand the development and connectedness of World
Religions over time.
Performance Objective Addressed: Describe belief systems that
influence or affect your life today.
Lesson 1 Question:
What does one's religion or philosophy have to do with one's lifestyle
and actions?
A. Lesson Introduction for Unit on World Religions:
What might you expect to learn in a unit about world religions?
Ask students to contribute their ideas, and share the names of
world religions that might be included in the unit.
Record responses on an overhead. Give students a copy of the
overall unit question and the five lesson questions. Ask them
to list a question they have about world religions, and invite
them to consider that question as the lessons proceed.
B. Set:
Next, use a visual presentation. Present a symbol for each of
the following in turn:
Star and Crescent ----- Islam
Aum ---- Hinduism
Lotus ----- Buddhism
Yin, Yang circle ---- Confucianism
Six pointed star ----- Judaism
Cross ---- Christianity
Ask students to record their reactions. Have they seen them
before? Do any of them evoke any emotional repsonse?
How does what we believe shape how we act towards others and
toward other belief systems? Continue with this discussion question,
and invite students to pair-share their ideas for two minutes
before opening the discussion to the class for three minutes.
The idea is to build their curiosity for the unit and motivate
their explorations of world religions.
C. Teaching and Learning Tasks:
Individually students complete the following interest inventory
to explore how belief systems influence their lives as teenagers.
Inform students ahead of time that they should be prepared to
share their responses with others. It is important that students
know this information will be public and not confidential, since
that may affect what they write.
Student
Interest Inventory:
Name: ______________________________ Date: _________
1) Three words that best describe my beliefs are
_____________________________________________________.
2) In a lesson on world religions I would like
to learn more about
_____________________________________________________.
3) I wonder about __________________________________
____________________________________________________.
4) Religion really challenges me to _________________
____________________________________________________.
5) One thing that really bothers me is _______________
__________________________________________________.
6) Beliefs relate best to a person's life when
________________________________________________.
7) Belief systems do not relate to daily living when
_________________________________________________.
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D. Students discuss their responses with a group of two,
then four, then a group of eight.
E. Assessment Tasks: The group of eight then chooses
one person to share their group's conclusions.
F. Assessment: Papers are collected and checked for completion.
Excellent Presentations:
- demonstrate the ability to probe ideas and assumptions.
- ask and answer analytic questions.
- take an inquiring attitude toward diverse prepositions.
- evaluate evidence.
- formulate key conclusions.
- demonstrate participatory skills.
G. Closure:
Ask the following: If you were going to help to publish the
most important statement about world religions and how they shape
a person's life and actions, what would that statement be? Have
them write their answers in three sentences or less and pass in
before they leave class. Assign readings to be completed for next
class and allow students to begin if time permits.
Lesson Reflection:
Jot down a few reflective notes. Look at
this lesson from the students' eyes and adjust the work so that they
learn more successfully as the unit progresses.
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