Religion, Day 8 - Class Recap

Today, we finished the religion unit in class - the last bit of fire has been extinguished on the unit! This is a photo of a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, taken in 2011.

Dear class,

If you attended class today, you are now done with the Religion unit! I'm glad everyone worked hard and I am looking forward to grading the tests and getting them back to you soon. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Oye Como Va" by Carlos Santana. Selected for today because of last weekend being Cinco de Mayo (remembering a famous Mexican victory over the French) and because Carlos Santana is an amazing Mexican-American guitarist. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/10/18:

News Brief – Kanta
Religion Test
Work Time

Homework: Read the blog! If you have not turned in your Country Profile Project, please do so immediately. I will be working on getting requested revisions to students who turned it in before the deadline!

Know your grade and how to improve it -  Russian Revolution work (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post). Next news brief: Peter.

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News Brief: Kanta had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Trump-Kim Jong-un summit set for Singapore on 12 June. We found North Korea in our world maps and noted that we did a news brief about it.

The next news brief was assigned to Peter.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Religion Test: After the news brief, we started the test (I hope you did your homework and studied)! This took most of the rest of class, but that is okay. I'm glad students were taking their time and being thorough with their work.

Next class, we will continue learning about demographics and watch a documentary. Thanks for your hard work and focus today in class! Moving on to the last new learning target of the year!

Religion, Day 7 - Class Recap

Buddhist prayer flags at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu. Photo taken in 2015.

Hi everyone,

I had a lot of fun today, playing Jeopardy to review religion concepts and vocabulary! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "God's Plan (Clean)" by Drake. Selected for today because of persistent student recommendation and because of the title's connection to the religion unit. Lyrics (not clean) here.

AGENDA 5/8/18:

News Brief – Josiah
Crash Course
Jeopardy Review
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Study the religion vocabulary for test next class! Know your grade and how to improve it: Russian Revolution work (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Country Profile Project if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Kanta.

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News Brief: Josiah had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: NYTimes.com - Kim Pays a Second Surprise Visit to China, Heightening Diplomatic Drama. This was a breaking news story out of China, which we found in the world map packet, and also checked in about what students were up to outside of class.

The next news brief was assigned to Kanta.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Crash Course: Before playing Jeopardy, I wanted to show part of a Crash Course video that might help students understand 1) Islam a bit better, 2) How religion impacts society in a variety of ways. It was only the first 4 minutes or so of this video - and there are lots of other Crash Course videos on the history of religion, if you are interested!

Again, just another opportunity for studying, if you want. I like that the videos are closed captioned, because they are very fast paced!

Jeopardy Review: We played "Jeopardy" to review religion unit vocabulary and concepts before the text next class!

I told students that I would put a question from the test on the blog, in the hopes of encouraging students to look, so here it is:

The term that describes a "branch" of a religion is: a) Worship. b) Pillar. c) Secular. d) Sect.

Keep studying!

Study Guide: At the end of class, it was study time for the test. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked last class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:

Google Drive: Major Religions Vocabulary Study Guide

Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the religions we went over last class! The test will be next class! See you then! :-)

Religion, Day 6 - Class Recap

The streets of Kathmandu at night are really something. The prayer flags lining the streets in Thamel are a nice touch. Photo taken in March, 2015.

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed today's class, especially because of the interesting nature of what we were discussing. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Mustt Mustt" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Selected because this is a representation of Sufism (some consider this to be a branch of Islam), Explanation of the song can be found here.

AGENDA 5/4/18:

News Brief – Bob
ISIS and Sunni/Shia
More Religions/Atheism
Vocabulary Guide

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing the Country Profile Project if you have not - revisions needed, as well.  Next news brief: Josiah.

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News Brief: Bob had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - US accuses China of pointing lasers at its pilots from Djibouti base. We found Djibouti on our world maps and talked about this story for a bit. We then continued to talk about what people were up to outside of the class, including what people are up to over this weekend.

The next news brief was assigned to Josiah.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

ISIS and Sunni/Shia: To start this section, I asked the class to brainstorm what we knew about ISIS, especially as we have been talking about the group in our news briefs for the entire year so far. I wanted to hear what we remembered and also maybe some assumptions. Next, I asked students to get out paper for notes on the rest of the class and I played this video from VOX, which does a great job of quickly explaining the rise of ISIS and what is going on in the Middle East:

YouTube.com - The rise of ISIS, explained in 6 minutes

I also talked a bit about the demographics in the Middle East, including showing this map of where two of the main sects of Islam live:

NYTimes.com - Behind Stark Political Divisions, a More Complex Map of Sunnis and Shiites

Specifically, I wanted to look in depth at the central role that the two main sects of Islam have in conflict, by watching this video:

One of my main points with this is that we cannot stereotype "all Muslims" in many of the conflicts that the world is in, just as we cannot stereotype "all Christians" or any other religion. If you are really interested in learning a lot more about ISIS, I encourage you to read through this lengthy article: TheAtlantic.com - What ISIS Really Wants.

More Religions/Atheism: Next, we did a sort of blitz through a few other religions that students wrote to me they identified with (I think these are important to cover), along with Atheism (belief that there is no God or gods at all).

Here are the resources we looked at as a class, as students took brief notes (there will be a few questions about these on the test):

Shintoism (based in Japan, focused on ancestral spirits).

Jainism (based in India, focused on nonviolence and sanctity of life).

Taoism (mostly found in China, based on concept of yin and yang).

Sikhism (based in India, focused on one God, rejection of caste system).

Finally, we ended by watching part of this video about Atheism, which is the belief that there is no God or gods, and that faith, being unscientific and not testable, is impossible to prove:

I thought the above videos and articles did a pretty good job explaining the points of view of some important philosophies in a short amount of time. Thanks for hanging in there with me as we looked at all of these!

Vocabulary Guide: At the end of class, I passed out a vocabulary sheet to study for the quiz. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked about today in class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:

Google Drive: Major Religions Vocabulary Study Guide

Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the beliefs we went over today! Next class, we will play PowerPoint Jeopardy to review, then take the religion test the class after that.

Religion, Day 5 - Class Recap

Arabic calligraphy that surrounds the entrance to the Taj Mahal, in India. We learned about Islam today in class - this is a famous example of Islamic architecture in the world! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015. 

Hi everyone,

I hope you are feeling excited for the prospect of the end of the school year coming up! I certainly believe you have earned it! It is a very stressful time of the year for everyone, and I am grateful for some time to grade and then relax a bit, as well. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of our ongoing religion unit. The lyrics also mention Jesus, who we talked about today and last class in regards to Christianity.

AGENDA 5/2/18:

News Brief – Kylie
A Christian Nation?
The Pluralism Project
Islam

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Country Profile Project if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Bob.

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News Brief: Kylie had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: NBCNews.com - Israel seems to be preparing for war with Iran, U.S. officials say. We found Israel in the world map and talked about this story, as well as some of the political implications for both the United States and Iran (thanks, Ree)!

The next news brief was assigned to Bob.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

A Christian Nation?: This was not meant as a debate question in class, but rather a look at how religion impacts and shapes our own society (relating, as always, to the learning target for the unit).

To start, we looked at some information about what Americans currently believe, starting with this link:

PewForum.org - Religious Landscape Survey

Here's another study with more detail:

PRII.org - America’s Changing Religious Identity

Then, we watched this opinion/analysis video from The Atlantic, arguing that White Christians are a shrinking number of the people in the United States, and what the impacts of that are and could be:

The Pluralism Project: We did not have time for this today in class, due to the shortened schedule. Maybe later in the unit!

Islam: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the last religion in the PowerPoint - Islam. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. It was also great to have students be able to share and explain more about their own faiths!

Religion, Day 4 - Class Recap

We took notes about Christianity today in class. This is a photo from the top of a mountain overlook Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of Baja California in Mexico. Taken over Winter Break, 2014.

Dear class,

It was nice to be able to continue looking at how religion impacts society, and with taking notes on a new religion. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor" from The Pianist (Wladek Szpilman). Selected for today because the film The Pianist is about the Holocaust, and we are learning about Judaism in society. No lyrics, but listen here.

AGENDA 4/30/18:

Wildcat News Brief – Ella
Israel and Religion
Christianity
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing the Country Profile Project if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Kylie.

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News Brief: Ella had the news brief today and talked about this breaking news story from this morning: CNN.com -  BBC reporter and famed photographer among 31 killed in Afghanistan. We found Afghanistan in the world map and talked about this horrific story, as well as the importance of journalism in covering conflict.

 We watched this video on the historic meeting between the leaders of North and South Korea yesterday: Twitter.com - @CNNi: Korean Leaders Meet. We found North Korea in the world map packet and talked about this story, along with a bit about what is happening there with this peace conference.

The next news brief was assigned to Kylie.

As usual, we has a spirited conversation about the weekend and what people were up to. I always enjoy hearing about life outside the classroom!

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Finally, we also watched Westview Wildcat News for the week. Here it is if you missed class or wanted to see it again:

Israel and Religion: To focus on how the Jewish religion impacts and shapes society, it is easy to point to the only country in the world where Judaism is the main religion: Israel. To start this section, I played this video, which is about the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, and stopping everything for a minute to reflect:

The next document I showed the class was this recent survey of Americans about their attitudes towards Israel: Gallup.com - Americans Remain Staunchly in Israel's Corner. I showed this to demonstrate that there is still huge support for Israel here in the United States, and I talked about the reasons why this might be - again, how religion impacts society.

Finally, I showed this video from the New York Times: NYTimes.com - Israelis Split Over Service. This was to show the conflict within Israel between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the military, who mandates that people of the country serve when they turn 18.

After the video, I asked the question of whether or not students thought the Jewish people in the video should be forced to serve in the military, and we had an interesting discussion about it. Thank you for your participation here!

Christianity: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the fourth religion in the PowerPoint - Christianity. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. :-)

Grade Check: So, because I was feeling nice, instead of having the rest of class be devoted to grade checks, we played the country naming game on Sporcle! It was a really fun end to the day - thanks everyone! All of that said, it is still very important to stay on top of your grades, especially now that the Country Profile Project grades have been handed back! See you next class!

Religion, Day 3 - Class Recap

Today, I wanted students to envision themselves at a beach. This is one of my favorite beaches in the world: Maho Beach, St. Martin, in the Caribbean. Home to one of the greatest places to photograph planes on Earth! Photo taken in 2009. 

Hi everyone,

It was a fun class today! Thanks for participating in our class activities! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Beach Chair" by Jay Z and Chris Martin. Selected for today because of the breathing exercises we did, envisioning ourselves at the beach! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/26/18:

News Brief - Haddie

Buddhism in Myanmar
Breathing
Judaism
Failing Religion

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Finish Country Profile Project if you have not and submit ASAP.

If you would like to attend Ryenn's Period 8 class on Peace during your Study Hall (apologies, this only is for students with Period 8 as a Study Hall), please fill out her survey, here:

Google Surveys - Ryenn's Peace Studies Course

Next news brief: Ella.

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News Brief: Haddie had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Swaziland has a new name - eSwatini - but will anything else change?. We found Swaziland/eSwatini in our world maps and talked about this very interesting story!

The next news brief was assigned to Ella.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Buddhism in Myanmar: As part of this section, I showed this clip of a Daily Show episode about the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar being pushed out by Buddhists (including the president, who is a Nobel Peace Prize winner):

This is another relationship of religion to society, which is our learning target for this unit. I showed this article explaining the Rohingya crisis: AlJazeera.com - Rohingya crisis explained in maps. We have been seeing this crisis play out all year on BBC World News, so I thought it would be important to highlight in class.

Here is another video that goes into some more specifics about exactly what is happening:

YouTube.com - VOX: The “ethnic cleansing” of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslims, explained

Breathing: I was really excited to try this today! Thank you for being willing to participate in doing some breathing and meditation type exercises! The whole point of this was to just relax. Hopefully, it did the trick! We did the guided breathing exercise on the third page of this document (which I altered slightly for context):

Google Drive: Guided Meditation Class Activity

Judaism: With the shortened Community schedule, we continued with the religion notes before the end of class, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Failing Religion: This section was looking at an article on American's knowledge of religion. We numbered off the paragraphs together, then students were in small groups to read through the article together and answer the questions at the end:

Google Drive - USAToday: Americans Get an 'F' in Religion Assignment

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!

Religion, Day 2 - Class Recap

At the end of class today, we took notes on the aspects of Buddhism. This is a statue of Buddha at the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. Photo taken on Spring Break 2015.

Dear class,

I am enjoying our new religion unit, especially because this I get to use a lot of the photos I have taken and experiences I have had around the world! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake. Selected for today because we continued looking into Hinduism, in which the concept of karma is very important. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/24/18:

News Brief - Olivia

Mad About Cows
Modi and Hindu Nationalism
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it, if possible. Finish and turn in the Country Profile Project if you have not. Next news brief: Haddie.

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News Brief: Olivia had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Toronto van attack: Alek Minassian charged with 10 counts of murder. We found Canada in our world maps again and talked about this news story from yesterday.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

The next news brief was assigned to Haddie.

Mad About Cows: This was a group activity designed to try and understand how Hinduism is playing a role in Indian society. To begin, we watched this video from the New York Times:

NYTimes.com - Mob Killings in India Over Cows

This was the article we looked at after, which relates to the unit learning target of how religion helps shape society: NYTimes.com - Indian State Is Expanding Penalty for Killing a Cow to Life in Prison.

The directions were: Get into groups of FOUR (there may be 1-2 groups of three). Read the article together and try to summarize the article as a group. Then, answer the questions below, before we watch the video:

1) What impact is Hinduism having in shaping India’s society in this article?
2) Why was this law passed? What are the benefits to the Hindu nationalist B.J.P.?
3) Are there any religious practices that similarly shape our own culture? If so, what are they?
4)  “Protection of cows is the single-most important principle towards saving the whole world from both moral and spiritual degradation” – why would this be, in the eyes of Hindus and the B.J.P.?
5) How is religion being used as a force for nationalism in India?

We had a fair amount of time in class to go through this together, then we moved on to the next section.

Modi and Hindu Nationalism: After reading the article, I played this video (warning: some graphic descriptions of violence) about the history of India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Again, we were looking at how society is impacted by religion, and it is clear that Modi's Hindu nationalist party (the Bharatiya Janata Party) is shaping society through religion in one way or another.

Another example (we did not go over this in class) is this recent New York Times editorial about Modi and how India is promoting mass conversions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism: NYTimes.com - Modi's Dangerous Silence.

With over a billion people, India is the world's largest democracy. Having visited during Spring Break in 2015, I was especially interested in focusing on it!

Religions PowerPoint: At the end of class, we continued the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the second religion in the PowerPoint - Buddhism. Next class, we will look at how Buddhism shapes society and then move on to taking notes on Judaism. See the pattern here? :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! I have updated your grades online to reflect whether or not you have turned in your Country Profile Project as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!

Religion, Day 1 - Class Recap

We started going over some of the world's major religions today in class. The first one in the PowerPoint was Hinduism. This is a Hindu temple in New Delhi, India! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015.

Hi everyone,

Today, we started our religion unit. I really enjoy talking about religion and learning more about different religions, which always happens when I teach it! Hopefully this is an interesting unit for students, too. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "Congratulations (Clean)" by Post Malone. Selected for today because the Country Profile Project was due, and if you are done, you deserve a hearty congratulations!

AGENDA 4/20/18:

News Brief - Max

Respect
What is Religion?
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Please turn in the Country Profile Project if you have not. Next news brief: Olivia.

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News Brief: Max had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: Bloomberg.com - Romanian President Condemns Cabinet Plan to Move Israel Embassy. We found Israel in our world maps and talked about this development. We will talk much more about this at the end of the semester!

The next news brief was assigned to Olivia.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Respect: To start the religion unit, I went back to our class Ground Rules that we made at the start of the year and noted that respecting each other was a big part. When we are talking about religion, it is important to know that we are not going to be debating religion as a topic or in specific religions and which is the best, or correct one, or anything like that. The goal with this unit is to simply learn as best as we can about religions around the world, so we can understand how they impact society, and students can make up their own mind about them.

What is Religion?: We started the religion unit by completing a pre-assessment in class, which students turned in after completing. Remember that there are no right or wrong answers when it comes to what you personally believe. Our study of religion is based on simply understanding what people think about spirituality around the world, which has a huge impact on life. Here's the pre-assessment:

Google Drive - World Religions Pre-Assessment

It seemed like most students were interested in talking about religion, which was good to see! If you would rather remain private about your own religion, I totally understand that, too. It is a very personal decision! Here's the video we watched for the end of the pre-assessment, which does a great job of going over five of the major world religions:

The point here was to learn some new information about major religions! I think it is a really good overview video.

Religions PowerPoint: Next, we started (it will take us a long time to finish) the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. These are particularly famous in Ms. DeFrance Gilman's classes. I spiced them up a bit with photos from my travels as a part of the slides! Here is the PowerPoint:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

We made it through Hinduism (the first religion covered) today, and will keep going with learning about it next class. If you want to get ahead of the game at home, go ahead and check out the rest of the slides!

There is definitely a lot to learn about! We are going to keep moving forward with new material. If you are needing to improve your grade, please work hard on that, too! I am here to help! :-)

Religion, Day 8 - Class Recap

Today, we finished the religion unit in class - the last bit of fire has been extinguished on the unit! This is a photo of a pagoda in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, taken in 2011.

Dear class,

I did not anticipate the religion test taking quite so long today, but that's okay! I'm glad everyone worked hard and I am looking forward to grading them and getting them back to you soon. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 10: I can explain demographic changes in the world and their effects.
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Oye Como Va" by Carlos Santana. Selected for today because of last weekend being Cinco de Mayo (remembering a famous Mexican victory over the French) and because Carlos Santana is an amazing Mexican-American guitarist. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 5/9/17:

News Brief – Yuval
Religion Test
Demographics
Indicators

Homework: Read the blog! If you have not turned in your Historical Investigation, please do so immediately. Know your grade and how to improve it -  Russian Revolution work (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Sophia.

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News Brief: Yuval had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Emmanuel Macron defeats Le Pen to become French president. We found France in our world maps and noted that we did a news brief about it. I showed some pictures from my French wife and brother in law voting in Portland over the weekend, and talked for a bit about Mr. Macron and his ideas. We also checked in about last weekend.

The next news brief was assigned to Sophia.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Religion Test: After the news brief, we started the test (I hope you did your homework and studied)! As I wrote above, I was a bit surprised by how long this took (close to the entire rest of the class), but that is okay. I'm glad students were taking their time and being thorough with their work. At the end of class, we graded the multiple choice section together.

Next class, we will start learning about demographics and go to the computer lab to do some research on different demographic indicators. Thanks for your hard work and focus today in class! Moving on to the last new learning target of the year!

Religion, Day 7 - Class Recap

Buddhist prayer flags at Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu. Photo taken in 2015.

Hi everyone,

I had a lot of fun today, playing Jeopardy to review religion concepts and vocabulary! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Duel of the Fates" from Star Wars. Selected for today because it was May The Fourth yesterday - international Star Wars Day! :-)

AGENDA 5/5/17:

News Brief – Oliver
Crash Course
Jeopardy Review
Study Time

Homework: Read the blog! Study the religion vocabulary for test next class! Know your grade and how to improve it: Russian Revolution work (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Yuval.

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News Brief: Oliver had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: NBCNews.com - Prince Philip Is Retiring but Queen Elizabeth II Won’t Abdicate: Experts. This was out of the United Kingdom, which we found in the world map packet, and also checked in about what students were up to outside of class.

The next news brief was assigned to Yuval.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Crash Course: Before playing Jeopardy, I wanted to show part of a Crash Course video that might help students understand 1) Islam a bit better, 2) How religion impacts society in a variety of ways. It was only the first 4 minutes or so of this video - and there are lots of other Crash Course videos on the history of religion, if you are interested!

Again, just another opportunity for studying, if you want. I like that the videos are closed captioned, because they are very fast paced!

Jeopardy Review: Here is the PowerPoint we went through, playing Jeopardy to review - this should help, along with going over your notes and asking others to help quiz you!

Google Drive - Religion Jeopardy Review PowerPoint

I told students that I would put a question from the test on the blog, in the hopes of encouraging students to look, so here it is:

The term that describes a "branch" of a religion is: a) Worship. b) Pillar. c) Secular. d) Sect

Keep studying!

Study Guide: At the end of class, it was study time for the test. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked last class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:

Google Drive: Major Religions Vocabulary Study Guide

Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the religions we went over last class! The test will be next class! See you then! :-)

Religion, Day 6 - Class Recap

The streets of Kathmandu at night are really something. The prayer flags lining the streets in Thamel are a nice touch. Photo taken in March, 2015.

Hi everyone,

I enjoyed today's class, especially because of the interesting nature of what we were discussing. Thanks for the great questions and conversations! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Mustt Mustt" by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Selected because this is a representation of Sufism (some consider this to be a branch of Islam), Explanation of the song can be found here.

AGENDA 5/3/17:

News Brief – Patrick
ISIS and Sunni/Shia
More Religions/Atheism
Vocabulary Guide

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Oliver.

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News Brief: Patrick had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Kabul bomb attack targeting Nato convoy kills eight. We found Afghanistan on our world maps and talked about this story, especially as it relates to what we were talking about later in class with Al Qaeda and ISIS. We then continued to talk about what people were up to outside of the class, including what people are up to over this weekend.

The next news brief was assigned to Oliver.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

ISIS and Sunni/Shia: To start this section, I asked the class to brainstorm what we knew about ISIS, especially as we have been talking about the group in our news briefs for the entire year so far. I wanted to hear what we remembered and also maybe some assumptions. Next, I asked students to get out paper for notes on the rest of the class and I played this video from VOX, which does a great job of quickly explaining the rise of ISIS and what is going on in the Middle East:

YouTube.com - The rise of ISIS, explained in 6 minutes

I also talked a bit about the demographics in the Middle East. Specifically, I wanted to look in depth at the central role that the two main sects of Islam have in conflict, by watching this video:

One of my main points with this is that we cannot stereotype "all Muslims" in many of the conflicts that the world is in, just as we cannot stereotype "all Christians" or any other religion. If you are really interested in learning a lot more about ISIS, I encourage you to read through this lengthy article: TheAtlantic.com - What ISIS Really Wants.

More Religions/Atheism: Next, we did a sort of blitz through a few other religions that students wrote to me they identified with (I think these are important to cover), along with Atheism (belief that there is no God or gods at all).

Here are the resources we looked at as a class, as students took brief notes (there will be a few questions about these on the test):

Shintoism (based in Japan, focused on ancestral spirits).

Jainism (based in India, focused on nonviolence and sanctity of life).

Taoism (mostly found in China, based on concept of yin and yang).

Sikhism (based in India, focused on one God, rejection of caste system).

Finally, we ended by watching part of this video about Atheism, which is the belief that there is no God or gods, and that faith, being unscientific and not testable, is impossible to prove:

I thought the above videos and articles did a pretty good job explaining the points of view of some important philosophies in a short amount of time. Thanks for hanging in there with me as we looked at all of these!

Vocabulary Guide: At the end of class, I passed out a vocabulary sheet to study for the quiz. Please note that there will also be a question or two based on some of the religions we talked about today in class, too! This guide is intended for you to help review your Religion PowerPoint notes. Here it is:

Google Drive: Major Religions Vocabulary Study Guide

Be aware that Google Drive makes the sheet two pages, whereas the copy I passed out in class is just one page. Study the vocabulary and your notes from the beliefs we went over today! Next class, we will play PowerPoint Jeopardy to review, then take the religion test next Tuesday.

Religion, Day 5 - Class Recap

Arabic calligraphy that surrounds the entrance to the Taj Mahal, in India. We learned about Islam today in class - this is a famous example of Islamic architecture in the world! Photo taken over Spring Break, 2015. 

Hi everyone,

I hope you are feeling excited for the prospect of a three day weekend coming up! I certainly believe you have earned it! It is a very stressful time of the year for everyone, and I am grateful for some time to grade and then relax a bit, as well. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. Selected for today because of our ongoing religion unit. The lyrics also mention Jesus, who we talked about today and last class in regards to Christianity.

AGENDA 5/1/17:

News Brief – Rachel
A Christian Nation?
The Pluralism Project
Islam

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. Next news brief: Patrick.

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News Brief: Rachel had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Japan sends biggest warship to protect US supply vessel. We found Japan on the world map and talked about this story. As part of it, we discussed the ongoing tensions between North Korea and their development of missiles to potentially attack Japan.

The next news brief was assigned to Patrick.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

A Christian Nation?: This was not meant as a debate question in class, but rather a look at how religion impacts and shapes our own society (relating, as always, to the learning target for the unit).

To start, we watched a short clip of President Obama saying that the United States is no longer a Christian nation, which upset a lot of people at the time.

Next, I showed this story from nearby in Washington:

KGW.com - Clark County building will display 'In God We Trust'

This was meant as a call back to earlier in the year, when we had a Forced Choice debate on whether or not the phrase In God We Trust should be removed from our currency. It was also meant to show how fired up both sides were, and how religion impacts our society.

Then, we watched the first few minutes of this debate on the TV show Hardball in 2009, between an Atheist and a Christian, talking about the origins of the United States government and the role religion should play in our lives:

Finally, I showed some more Pro/Con quotes. Again, this was not a debate we had in class - I just wanted everyone to see that it IS a debate, and be able to identify some different perspectives about how religion impacts and shapes our own society (in keeping with the learning target of the unit).

The Pluralism Project: Next, I passed out this in-class assignment, which is a reading and some questions on the back:

Google Drive: Harvard University - The Pluralism Project

The point here was to see that there are a variety of different religions (and people who don't believe in religion) in the United States, which the article makes the case is a reason our society has been shaped (get it - the learning target again!). Students were expected to read the article and answer the three questions on the back. I called on students randomly to talk about the answers. As part of this interesting discussion, I pointed out that "Jedism" had a fair amount of adherents in the UK: BBC.com - Have Jedi created a new 'religion'?

Islam: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the last religion in the PowerPoint - Islam. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. It was also great to have students be able to share and explain more about their own faiths!

Religion, Day 4 - Class Recap

We took notes about Christianity today in class. This is a photo from the top of a mountain overlook Cabo San Lucas, at the tip of Baja California in Mexico. Taken over Winter Break, 2014.

Dear class,

It was nice to be able to continue looking at how religion impacts society, and with taking notes on a new religion. Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Nocturne in C-Sharp Minor" from The Pianist (Wladek Szpilman). Selected for today because the film The Pianist is about the Holocaust, and we are learning about Judaism in society. No lyrics, but listen here.

AGENDA 4/26/17:

News Brief – Samuel Ro.
Israel and Religion
Christianity
Grade Check

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it - Russian Revolution (found on this post), World War I work (found in this post) and finishing Historical Investigation if you have not - revisions needed, as well. All late work for this progress report is due at midnight on Thursday. Next news brief: Rachel.

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News Brief: Samuel Ro. had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - China launches aircraft carrier, boosting military presence. We found China in the world map packet and talked about this story, along with a bit about what is happening there in terms of the tensions between the United States and North Korea about a possible nuclear bomb test.

The next news brief was assigned to Rachel.

As usual, we has a spirited conversation about the weekend and what people were up to. I always enjoy hearing about life outside the classroom!

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Israel and Religion: To focus on how the Jewish religion impacts and shapes society, it is easy to point to the only country in the world where Judaism is the main religion: Israel. To start this section, I played this video, which is about the Holocaust Memorial Day in Israel, and stopping everything for a minute to reflect:

The next document I showed the class was this recent survey of Americans about their attitudes towards Israel: Gallup.com - Seven in 10 Americans Continue to View Israel Favorably. I showed this to demonstrate that there is still huge support for Israel here in the United States, and I talked about the reasons why this might be - again, how religion impacts society.

Finally, I showed this video from the New York Times: NYTimes.com - Israelis Split Over Service. This was to show the conflict within Israel between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and the military, who mandates that people of the country serve when they turn 18.

After the video, I asked the question of whether or not students thought the Jewish people in the video should be forced to serve in the military, and we had an interesting discussion about it. Thank you for your participation here!

Christianity: Next, we continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the fourth religion in the PowerPoint - Christianity. I appreciated your focus on it! I enjoyed, as always, explaining and trying to answer questions from the class. :-)

Grade Check: So, because I was feeling nice, instead of having the rest of class be devoted to grade checks, we played the country naming game on Sporcle! You were able to beat your previous score and now top the three classes - way to go! It was a really fun end to the day - thanks everyone! All of that said, it is still very important to stay on top of your grades, especially now that the historical investigation grades have been handed back! See you next class!

Religion, Day 3 - Class Recap

Today, I wanted students to envision themselves at a beach. This is one of my favorite beaches in the world: Maho Beach, St. Martin, in the Caribbean. Home to one of the greatest places to photograph planes on Earth! Photo taken in 2009. 

Hi everyone,

It was a fun class today! Thanks for participating in our class activities! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.

Soundtrack: "Beach Chair" by Jay Z and Chris Martin. Selected for today because of the breathing exercises we did, envisioning ourselves at the beach! Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/24/17:

News Brief - Caleb

Failing Religion
Breathing
Judaism

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Finish Historical Investigation if you have not and submit ASAP (if you do not want an F on the upcoming progress report). Next news brief: Samuel Ro.

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News Brief: Caleb had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - India Maoist rebels kill 24 CRPF policemen in Chhattisgarh. We found India in our world maps and talked about this story, which involved knowing about communism and democracy.

The next news brief was assigned to Samuel Ro.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

Failing Religion: This section was looking at an article on American's knowledge of religion. We numbered off the paragraphs together, then students were in small groups to read through the article together and answer the questions at the end:

Google Drive - USAToday: Americans Get an 'F' in Religion Assignment

As part of this section, I showed this clip of a bar owner in Myanmar being accused of insulting Buddhism by having an online advertisement with headphones on a Buddha, connected to a dance party with alcoholic drinks:

This is another relationship of religion to society, which is our learning target for this unit. I showed this article about the man being sentenced to two years in prison, as well: NYTimes.com - Myanmar Sentences 3 to Prison for Depicting Buddha Wearing Headphones.

Breathing: I was really excited to try this today! Thank you for being willing to participate in doing some breathing and meditation type exercises! Usually, I go outside for this, but the weather unfortunately did not cooperate today. The whole point of this was to just relax. Hopefully, it did the trick! We did the guided breathing exercise on the third page of this document (which I altered slightly for context):

Google Drive: Guided Meditation Class Activity

Judaism: At the end of class, we came back to the room and continued with the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the third religion in the PowerPoint - Judaism. This was somewhat lengthy, so I appreciate your focus to it! :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!

Religion, Day 2 - Class Recap

At the end of class today, we took notes on the aspects of Buddhism. This is a statue of Buddha at the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. Photo taken on Spring Break 2015.

Dear class,

I am enjoying our new religion unit, especially because this I get to use a lot of the photos I have taken and experiences I have had around the world! Here's what we did today in class:

Learning Targets: 
Knowledge LT 21: I can explain how religious ideas impact the shaping of societies.
Critical Thinking LT 2: I can explain connections between events, issues, problems and concepts.
Behavior LT 3: I can communicate and work effectively within a team or group.

Soundtrack: "What Goes Around... / ...Comes Around" by Justin Timberlake. Selected for today because we continued looking into Hinduism, in which the concept of karma is very important. Lyrics here.

AGENDA 4/20/17:

News Brief - Elena

Mad About Cows
Modi and Hindu Nationalism
Religions PowerPoint

Homework: Read the blog! Know your grade and how to improve it. Finish and turn in the Historical Investigation if you have not. Next news brief: Caleb.

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News Brief: Elena had the news brief today and selected an article about this story to talk about: BBC.com - Venezuela crisis: Three killed at anti-government protests. We found Venezuela in our world maps and talked about the ongoing struggles over the political situation there, including the government takeover of a General Motors plant there yesterday.

We also watched the one minute BBC World News update. Here's the link to see the latest one minute update, at any time of day (it will probably be different from what we watched in class):

BBCNews.com - One-minute World News

The next news brief was assigned to Caleb.

Mad About Cows: This was a group activity designed to try and understand how Hinduism is playing a role in Indian society. This was the article we were looking at, which relates to the unit learning target of how religion helps shape society: NYTimes.com - Indian State Is Expanding Penalty for Killing a Cow to Life in Prison.

The directions were: Get into groups of FOUR (there may be 1-2 groups of three). Read the article together and try to summarize the article as a group. Then, answer the questions below, before we watch the video:

1) What impact is Hinduism having in shaping India’s society in this article?
2) Why was this law passed? What are the benefits to the B.J.P.?
3) Are there any religious practices that similarly shape our own culture?
4)  “Protection of cows is the single-most important principle towards saving the whole world from both moral and spiritual degradation” – why would this be, in the eyes of Hindus and the B.J.P.?
5) How is religion being used as a force for nationalism in India?

We had a fair amount of time in class to go through this together, then we moved on to the next section.

Modi and Hindu Nationalism: After reading the article, I played this video (warning: some graphic descriptions of violence) about the history of India's new Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Again, we were looking at how society is impacted by religion, and it is clear that Modi's Hindu nationalist party (the Bharatiya Janata Party) is shaping society through religion in one way or another.

Another example is this recent New York Times editorial about Modi and how India is promoting mass conversions of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism: NYTimes.com - Modi's Dangerous Silence.

With over a billion people, India is the world's largest democracy. Having just visited during Spring Break in 2015, I was especially interested in focusing on it!

Religions PowerPoint: At the end of class, we continued the religion notes, using the Cornell Notes format. Here is the PowerPoint again:

Google Drive: Major Religions of the World PowerPoint

Today, we finished the second religion in the PowerPoint - Buddhism. Next class, we will look at how Buddhism shapes society and then move on to taking notes on Judaism. See the pattern here? :-)

Please make sure you are working hard to review your notes, and improve your grade if at all possible! I have updated your grades online to reflect whether or not you have turned in your Historical Investigation, as well. Let me know if there is anything that I can do to help! Thank you!