World Religion Lesson Plan

A world geography teacher wanted to come to the library to give an introduction to world religions.  I created a lesson plan that worked on a rotations.  We had the students stay at tables, and rotated the activities to them.  The first thing I created was a Smore to link all the videos and information the students would need in one place.

Station 1
Students began the station with a handout that shows an image of a human sacrifice.  The handout has a few discussion questions to get students thinking about what is happening and what it made them feel.  Then they read a second handout with more information on sacrifices.  Finally they watched the video.  I had one laptop set up at every table.

Station 2
The next station had students completing an online scavenger hunt.  I listed 10 questions about Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam and sacred places of each religion.  Students could use Google to find the answer and then Google Maps to find the location.  The worksheet they completed had a blank for the questions and then a world map for them to write the number of the correlating location.  One example of a question- The holiest city in Islam, the place where Muhammad was born.

  The map I used.

Station 3

Students watched videos describing the festivals Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Diwali.  As they were watching, the completed a Venn Diagram finding the comparisons and differences between the three.  The videos are located on the smore.

Station 4

Students used this website Common Religious Sign and Symbols to identify three religious symbols.  I cut card stock into squares, and they drew the symbol on one side with marker, and used their pen or pencil to describe the symbol, and what religion it belongs to, on the back.

For the larger classes, I used the iPads.

Station 5 

I used an excerpt from Ki no Tsurayuki's The Tosa Diary for students to analyze.  This is part of a Japanese Haibun.  Haibuns typically are short descriptions of a place, person or object, or a diary of a journey or other series of events in the poet's life.  Students read the haibun and filled in a chart with direct quotes from the poem.

This was a great lesson!  It went really smoothly and students seemed to enjoy it.  I think any lesson that can include visuals for students can catch their attention.  Also, the stations only lasted about 10 minutes each, so they were never on any topic for a long time.  I'm hoping to do more rotating lessons like this soon.

Allegiant

Synopsis:
One choice will define you.

What if your whole world was a lie?
What if a single revelation—like a single choice—changed everything?
What if love and loyalty made you do things you never expected?

The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and painful memories.

But Tris’s new reality is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.

Told from a riveting dual perspective, Allegiant, by #1 New York Times best-selling author Veronica Roth, brings the Divergent series to a powerful conclusion while revealing the secrets of the dystopian world that has captivated millions of readers in Divergent and Insurgent.

Review:  Let me start by saying Divergent is maybe my favorite young adult book ever.  I loved it so much, I completely ignored my family for a weekend while I read it.
It became my go-to book, my constant recommendation.  "You HAVEN'T read Divergent?!?!?"

It became my go-to book, my constant recommendation.  "You HAVEN'T read Divergent?!?!?!?  Here, take it now.  Read it.  You'll love it!"

I was able to get my hands on an advanced copy of Insurgent.  I couldn't believe my luck.  I immediately dropped everything to read it.

Right now, I couldn't even tell you what it was about.  Really, do you remember?

When Allegiant came out last week, I didn't think I would buy it right away.  However, I heard there is a big twist ending, and many readers were unhappy with it.  That definitely got me interested.  I like reading blogs, Goodreads, EW, and really, really didn't want to have the ending spoiled.  So, I went to Target and picked it up.  

Here goes: Not terrible, but not great either.  Tris and Tobias leave Chicago to go see what is happening "outside the fence."  They learn Chicago was only one of the "experiment cities" in the United States, and begin piecing together why the government chose to do this.  A new crop of characters are introduced, with a new crop of problems Tris and Tobias must get caught up in to try to solve.  I won't spoil the ending for you, but I was pretty surprised.  I think the main reason I didn't love the book is because there are all of these serious and profound "deep thoughts" throughout.  Especially near the end.  Seriously, teenagers cannot possibly have these types of thoughts running through their heads.

A sample:

“The first step to loving someone else is to recognize the evil in ourselves, so we can forgive them.” 

This is a big theme throughout the novel- self sacrifice.  I understand this is a different world, but I had a hard time believing all they corny things Tris and Tobias came up with.

I still love Divergent and Veronica Roth.  I was just disappointed with the last two books.  However, I am still excited to see the movie!