Freedom of Faith ELA Unit Syllabus

Grade 10, Fall 2014

Ms. Green
WEEK ONE
MONDAY

Introduction TOPIC: Reviewing the Scavenger Hunt: What will the Freedom of Faith unit
look like in English?
ACTIVITY: Piecing together faith collaborative writing project
TEXT: Bits and pieces of text from the Torah, Vedas, Dharma, Bible, and
Quran
HOMEWORK: If you need to, rewrite your groups piece of scripture and
hand it in tomorrow.
TUESDAY Judaism TOPIC: Multiple Perspectives, Optical Illusions, and Stereotypes: How do
religious stereotypes divide & unit us?
ACTIVITY: Humans of New York & stereotypes/Religion Intro; Final project
Explanation; Begin discussing tradition in Judaism
TEXT: Humans of New York website
HOMEWORK: Share your picture, story, and perspectives on the "Humans
of Geneseo High" blog. See Ms. Green's example for guidance.
WEDNESDAY Judaism TOPIC: A Closer look at Jewish Traditions: What do you know? What dont
you know? Is religion just religion, or is it culture too?
ACTIVITY: Students will exam the idea of tradition through various songs,
texts, holiday traditions, folk art, and recipes. Students will make challah
bread.
TEXT: Various traditional Jewish texts (songs, recipes, holiday rituals, etc.)
HOMEWORK: Bring in a traditional song, recipe, or story from your culture
or experiences with family/friends.
THURSDAY Judaism TOPIC: Hasidism: How do perspectives and values differ from sect to sect
in a religion? Can you think of any other examples of sects in other
religions? Why do sects exist?
ACTIVITY: Watch Hasidism documentary and complete reflection
worksheet.
TEXT: Secret World of Hasidism YouTube video (National Geographic)
HOMEWORK: Answer Judaism question on the Freedom of Faith wiki.
FRIDAY Hinduism TOPIC: A Closer look at the Caste System: Create a Silhouette
ACTIVITY: After learning about the caste system in social studies and
writing from the perspective of people from various castes, you will create
a silhouette of a Hindu individual from the caste you wrote about.
TEXT: N/A
HOMEWORK: Finish your silhouette for the Freedom of Faith open house.
WEEK TWO
MONDAY Hinduism TOPIC: Hindu Gods, Mythology, and their relationship with humans
ACTIVITY: Working with a partner, research one of the many Hindu Gods.
Create a short verbal presentation to share with the class.
TEXT: Websites for Hindu Gods research
HOMEWORK: Answer Hinduism question on the Freedom of Faith wiki
TUESDAY Hinduism TOPIC: Religion Reinvented
ACTIVITY: Create your own monotheistic or polytheistic religion: What is
your religions origin? What are the names of your god/gods? What are
your beliefs, traditions, and religious symbol? Research other religions
that we have not studied to inform your creation.
TEXT: n/a
HOMEWORK: Finish your Religion Invented graphic organizer
WEDNESDAY Buddhism TOPIC: The 3 types of texts in the Tripitaka: How do different formats
convey different messages?
ACTIVITY: SOAPSTone Graphic Organizer
TEXT: Various excerpts from the Tripitaka
HOMEWORK: Look up a sutra that resonates with you. Add it to the
Google Doc and write one paragraph in which you reflect on the major
themes within it.
THURSDAY Buddhism TOPIC: The Dalai Lamas response to the Invasion of TibetWhat does it
say about the values of the Buddhist religion?
ACTIVITY: Read an excerpt of the Dalai Lamas novel as a full class and
compare the Dalai Lama to MLKJ and Gandhi
TEXT: The Art of Happiness in a Troubled World (Dalai Lama)
HOMEWORK: Answer Buddhism question on the Freedom of Faith wiki
FRIDAY Buddhism TOPIC: Meditation and the Bodhi Tree: Reaching Enlightenment with an
open and clear mind and walking down the eightfold path
ACTIVITY: As a special mid-unit/Friday treat, we will go outside and
meditate under a tree using the same principles that Buddha himself used.
TEXT: N/A
HOMEWORK: None.
WEEK THREE
MONDAY Christianity TOPIC: Messages in Metaphors: Buddhist koans & sutras, and Christian
parables and the moral messages they convey; Brief introduction to
Christian texts
ACTIVITY: Messages in Metaphors graphic organizer; Connecting
visualization to written metaphors (make your own metaphor)
TEXT: Koans (Zen Masters), Sutras (Buddha), and Parables (Gospel of
Matthew)
HOMEWORK: Finish writing your own metaphor and creating a visual
representation of it for the Freedom of Faith open house.
TUESDAY Christianity TOPIC: Artistic Representations of the Virgin Mary and Jesus; What
consistencies exist? What inconsistencies? How do line, value, and color
archetypes influence the way we feel about ideas? Where do we see this
in modern advertisements?
ACTIVITY: How does artistic symbolism color our perception of Christianity
and religion? Religion and Fine Art jigsaw activity with Hands on Writing
strategy (sticky-note strategy)
TEXT: Lamentation of Christ' (Andrea Mantegna), The Last Supper
(Leonardo Da Vinci), The Deposition from the Cross (Jacopo Pontormo),
The Crowning With Thorns (Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio), The
Yellow Christ ( Paul Gauguin), Christ of Saint John on the Cross
(Salvador Dali), stained glass windows
HOMEWORK: Answer Christianity question on Freedom of Faith wiki
WEDNESDAY Christianity TOPIC: Separation between church and state; What does Under God
really mean in the Pledge of Allegiance? Patriotism and Religion? Should
they be one in the same? Why, or why not?
ACTIVITY: Multiple Perspectives on the Pledge of Allegiance: Create a
Google Form survey with your book club group to poll family and friends
on this debated issue.
TEXT: New York Times article Under God or Not (Beverly Gage)
HOMEWORK: Send your surveys to family and friends.
THURSDAY Islam TOPIC: Activate prior knowledge on Islam; Briefly discuss similarities
between Christianity and Islam; Revisit the Islamic Revolution from social
studies; Introduce Persepolis and discuss text format (graphic novel
literacy)
ACTIVITY: Begin reading Persepolis as a class. At select points, work with a
partner to recap the character development of Marji, the visual
representation of her narrative, and the historical timeline of the Islamic
Revolution.
TEXT: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
HOMEWORK: Read Persepolis and answer Islam question on the Freedom
of Faith wiki




FRIDAY Islam TOPIC: Marji and Malala? Two perspectives on radical religion, social
oppression, and social justice.
ACTIVITY: Suspended Themes of Social Justice graphic organizer
TEXT: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi), Diary of a Pakistani Schoolgirl
HOMEWORK: Finish reading Persepolis and complete your I am Malala
graphic novel page for Monday.
WEEK FOUR
MONDAY Islam TOPIC: The conclusion of Persepolis, Final Project finishing touches
ACTIVITY: Share graphic novel pages and discuss the end of Persepolis in
book club groups, final project finishing touches
TEXT: Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi)
HOMEWORK: Finish your projects for the open house and keep in mind
you will be submitting them for a final grade.
TUESDAY Conclusion
Open House
Tonight!
TOPIC: Reflect on the major unit themes of diversity, acceptance, and
multiple perspectives. Review Pledge of Allegiance surveys from week 3.
ACTIVITY: Put finishing touches on final projects/set-up for the Freedom of
Faith open house/museum walk.
TEXT: n/a
HOMEWORK: Bring your parents to the open house tonight to show off
your hard work throughout the unit!