Download World Religions Plan

Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Title: World Religions
Lesson Author: Chelsea Brechtel and Stephanie Newhall
Key Words: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism
Grade Level: 10th Grade World History II
Time Allotted: 50 minutes
Rationale/ Purpose (so what?)
Nature and scope of topic. Why is this significant to the mission of educating future citizens?
Religion is an important part of contemporary culture. It is important for students to
understand the nature and influence of the major world religions in order to understand
the similarities and difference between modern cultures. Understanding is essential to
promote tolerance and respect, as far too often people tend to fear and reject that
which they do not understand. Students will see that the values and beliefs of other
religions are more similar to their own than they may have realized.
Background/Context:
Students learn about the history and development of major world religions throughout
World History I and World History II. Based on what I would have observed throughout
the year I would determine if it was necessary to include a lesson before this one to go
over basic information about each religion. Otherwise, this lesson would introduce the
final unit of study for the year, which would focus on contemporary culture as well as
current economic, social, and political issues around the world.
Key Concept(s) include definition:
Holy book- a sacred religious text containing the history and/ or guidelines for a religion
Religious practices- the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a
personal God or gods (but we will be expanding on this definition!)
Monotheism- Belief in only one God
Polytheism- Belief in more than one God
Prophet- A person who speaks by divine inspiration or as the interpreter through whom
the will of a god is expressed
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Fall Lesson Plan Template.
NCSS Standard(s)
SOL Information
NCSS Theme I. Culture . Social studies teachers should plan, provide, and
assess experiences that provide for the study of culture and cultural diversity. The study of
culture prepares students to ask and answer questions such as: What is culture? What
roles does culture play in human and societal development? What are the common
characteristics across cultures? How is unity developed within and among cultures? What is
the role of diversity and how is it maintained within a culture? How do various aspects of
culture such as belief systems, religious faith, or political ideals, influence other parts of a
culture such as its institutions or literature, music, and art? How does culture change over
time to accommodate different ideas, and beliefs? How does cultural diffusion occur within
and across communities, regions, and nations?
SOLs:
WHII.15a: The student will demonstrate knowledge of the influence of Judaism,
Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism in the contemporary world by describing their
beliefs, sacred writings, traditions, and customs.
Essential Knowledge
Judaism
• Monotheism
• Ten Commandments of moral and religious conduct
• Torah: Written records and beliefs of the Jews
Christianity
• Monotheism
• Jesus as Son of God
• Life after death
• New Testament: Life and teachings of Jesus
• Establishment of Christian doctrines by early church
councils
Islam
• Monotheism
• Muhammad, the prophet
• Qur’an (Koran)
• Five Pillars of Islam
• Mecca and Medina
Buddhism
• Founder: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
• Four Noble Truths
• Eightfold Path to Enlightenment
• Spread of Buddhism from India to China and other
parts of Asia, resulting from Asoka’s missionaries and
their writings
Hinduism
• Many forms of one God
• Reincarnation: Rebirth based upon karma
• Karma: Knowledge that all thoughts and actions
result in future consequences
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Essential Skills
Identify, analyze, and interpret primary and
secondary sources to make generalizations
about events and life in world history.
(WHII.1a)
Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Guiding Question(s):
What are the defining elements of a religion?
What are the major characteristics of the five major world religions?
How are major contemporary religions similar to and different from one another?
(Origins, beliefs, practices, etc.)
The day’s big question:
Why is religion often the source of major conflicts despite similar principles and origins?
Lesson Objective(s): clearly emerges from big question and rationale and standards
and will align with your assessment in Procedure and Process
Obj. 1 Students will be able to distinguish between the elements of the five major
religions by analyzing wordles from their holy books.
Obj. 2 Students will define “religion” in their own words by thinking critically, working
together, and utilizing/ reviewing prior knowledge to participate in a concept mastery
activity.
Obj. 3 Students will be able to synthesize what they’ve learned to create a journal
entry about why they think religions are often the source of conflict despite having
similar principles and origins.
Assessment Tool(s) to be usedAssessment 1. Observation and Discussion: We will observe the students progress
while they are completing their work, participating in activities, and discussing their
thoughts with their peers. We will also discuss as a class.
Assessment 2. Concept Mastery Routine: We will be able to assess students though
their participation in the concept mastery activity as well as by checking their completed
diagrams for completion and understanding.
Assessment 3. Writing Assignment. The journal writing assignment addressing the big
question will be graded on the student’s ability to think seriously about these topics and
effectively communicate his or her ideas.
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Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Materials: Historical
Source(s):
Material B:
Islam Wordle
Material C:
Christianity Wordle
Material D:
Judaism Wordle
Material E:
Buddhism Wordle
Material F:
Hinduism Wordle
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Additional
Materials/Resources:
Material A:
PowerPoint Presentation
Material G:
Concept Mastery Worksheet
Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Procedure/Process:
1) JUST DO IT! The “Hook”: Students will work in small groups for this activity. Provide
each group with 5 “wordles”, one from each of the major world religions. Students will use
clues in the wordles to try to determine which Holy book each wordle came from. They should
be prepared to discuss which wordle they think goes with each religion and their reasons for
choosing them. (Materials B-F) 5 minutes
2) Instructional sequence:
Obj #
See
above.
Seating
Processing Activity and Procedure
Check for Evidence of
Understanding
Students will be paired up before class
begins. Direct them to sit with their partners
as they come in at any table they choose.
Material A
Have students share their
thoughts and discuss their
reasoning. When students give
See above.
their reasoning for why they
Just do it.
5 Minutes
thought each wordle belonged to
certain religions we will get a good
idea of how much prior knowledge
they have.
“It looks like everyone has had a chance to think about which wordles belong to
Transition:
each of the religions. Now let’s talk about some of the ideas you had”
After the students are done with the “just do Encourage all students to
it”, discuss as a class which wordle belonged participate in the discussion. Make
to which religion and what made the
a conscious effort to call on
students arrive at their conclusions.
different students each time. Allow
sufficient wait time for students to
“What clues made you match each wordle to formulate ideas and volunteer to
each religion?” “Were there any you had
answer.
trouble with?” “Did you notice any
Objective
similarities?” “Any differences?” “What might
#1
account for similarities?”
I anticipate that they may have trouble
distinguishing between some of the wordles,
in which case there will be the perfect
opportunity to discuss the similarities and
common origins of many religions.
(Material A) 5 Minutes
“You’ve learned about these individual religions in World History I as well as this
Transition: year in World History II, but in order to understand religion in it’s modern context
we need to think about religion as an overarching concept.”
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Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Concept Mastery: Religion
Students should remain in their original
mixed-ability groups. Guide students
through the concept mastery routine.
Begin by showing an example and going
through explaining each step briefly. We
This is an activity that involves
will do the concept mastery by
discussion so we will be able to
discussing each step in small groups
Objective
monitor student progress and
before discussing as a class. As we
#2
understanding. We will also
complete each step, we will fill in the
collect the worksheets to check
blank form on the active board. If
for understanding, completion,
students are not considering the
and critical thinking.
characteristics of each of the five main
religions, we should be sure to guide
them to do so. This activity will ideally
include a discussion of the primary
characteristics of each religion.
(Material G) 30 Minutes
“Today we’ve talked a lot about what religion is in our modern world.
Through our activities we have noticed a lot of similarities amongst the
Transition:
different religions. However, religion has historically been and still is today
the source of many conflicts. Let’s talk a little about why this is the case.”
3) Closure- Lead a brief wrap-up discussion on the similarities and differences between the major
world religions. Highlight anything that did not come up during the just do it or concept mastery (shared
origins- geographical and theological, shared prophets, similar beliefs, similar practices, shared sacred
sites, etc.). Ask students to think critically about why they think there is so much conflict that emerges
from religious differences. There could be many different answers to this question. Instruct students to
think about the concept of religion and the discussions we’ve had and use that knowledge to write a
journal entry addressing the big question as well as their thoughts on how to avoid religious conflict and
promote tolerance in the future. This assignment will be collected and graded on the student’s ability to
think seriously about these topics and effectively communicate his or her ideas. (Material A) 10 Minutes
Modifications/Accommodations for Diverse Learners:
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The wordles present the information in an appealing way for visual learners.
While the original excerpts of religious texts might be at a reading level above that of
many of the students, the wordles make these documents much more accessible.
We could adjust the amount of guidance we provide during the concept mastery
according to the abilities of the students in each particular class.
Students would be placed in mixed ability groups before class. Students will be able to
use their strengths and get help from their group members in areas they struggle with.
The final writing assignment could be modified by allowing students to use bullet points
instead of writing it in the style of a journal.
Fall Lesson Plan Template.
Materials
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