Religion Blog and Presentation Schedule

During this project students will study the five major religions of the world. Remember that the Supreme Court has ruled that studying religion in an academic manner is not a violation of church and state laws (Engel v. Vitale, 1962, 370 U.S. 421.). However, students need to be sensitive to others, and remember that preaching and praying are not allowed in public schools. Keep it academic, and all of us will benefit by increasing our cultural literacy.

Monday, Oct. 8

• Determine which religions you would be interested in studying on an academic level.
• Submit a ranked list of your top three “religions to study” choices.
• Your submission sheet may also include information about class members that you would like to work with and why.
  

Tuesday, Oct. 9

• Meet group members and determine blog administrator (although every member needs to post information and keep track of sources used).
• Discuss what you already know about the history, beliefs and practices of the religion that you were assigned. Record this information on a tree map in your notebook.
• Review the possible terms to research. You do not need to define and/or discuss every term. Every student will be making a tree map of history, beliefs, and practices during your presentation, so let that framework be your guide.
• Review your tree map and decide where to begin your research. For credibility and academic pursuits, you need to find sources for information that you already know.
  

Wednesday, Oct 10 and Thursday, Oct. 11

• Your class will meet in the media center for research and blogging.
• Also explore books on the religions. Picture books are a great way to get a quick, visual overview of a religion.
• Give the teacher the group’s URL for linking your blog to http://www.mrsroehl.blogspot.com/.
  For academic credibility, use the flow map in your notebook to evaluate all web sites used.
• For academic credibility, information on the blog needs to be cited. Links to the web site used from the relevant blog post are sufficient. Refer to MLA format for books.
• Images also need to be cited.
  

Friday, Oct. 12

• We are back in the classroom to synthesis information that you have already gathered on your religion.
• You will complete a “word inquisition” on your religion and add to your tree map. Those tasks will help your group determine what work still needs to be done.
• Silent reading of religion background selections that are found in World Masterpieces.
  

Monday, Oct. 15

• In media center for blogging.
• At this time the blog posts should be becoming visual.
  

Tuesday, Oct. 16 and Wednesday, Oct. 17

• Reading activities in the classroom.

Monday, Oct. 22

• Begin Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse.

Tuesday, Oct. 23

• Groups use their blogs as visual aids during a class presentation on the history, beliefs and practices of their assigned religion. The presentation needs to be at least five minutes long.
• Audience members create a tree map for each presentation in their notebooks. The tree maps list details learned about the history, beliefs, and practices of each religion.
• Students need to review their classmates’ blogs this week and post comments to give feedback. The blogs will be linked to http://www.mrsroehl.blogspot.com/.