Alex

HHC – Class IV – 2005 / 2006 Academic Year –
Unit Title =
Christianity / Hinduism & The Civil Rights Movement
Approximate Dates:
Tues Oct. 25th – Monday Dec. 5th

Skill Goals:
Writing –
• Document analysis – major focus will be on readings from the Bhagavadgita and the New Testament. We will also examine the written work of MLK and Ghandi at length. Analytical skills will also be developed through work with Visual Evidence from Hinduism, Christianity and the Civil Rights Movement
• Page Writing – Heavy focus on thesis statements, paragraph editing, transition sentences – culminating in 4 / 1 page essays that will act as the final assessment for this unit
Research –
• Web Skills / Evaluating Web Sites – This will be accomplished with the help of Tom Daccord. We will focus on advanced searches on topics such as Monotheism / Polytheism / MLK / Ghandi – etc. This will done in and out of the classroom.
• The final assessment will also ask them to use their web skills to obtain the necessary research needed to answer their questions.
Tech –
• Using Inspiration – During week one and two of this unit we (faculty) will use Inspiration as a teaching / brainstorming tool. We will get students to mind map a little bit on topics such as – The role of spirituality in American life – the inherent differences between Monotheism and Polytheism – the gods of Hinduism – etc.
• During Week three and four we will introduce Inspiration as a tool to represent knowledge gained (I will explain this) and an outlining tool. Ultimately students will have to turn in an Inspiration outline / map for each of their 1 page essays to be done during the final assessment.
History –
• Connecting Details – Students will be forced to connect details when they struggle with the following questions throughout the unit –
o Why is spirituality used so prominently in political movements?
o What is it about Polytheism that makes Hinduism “feel” different?
o Where did Ghandi have conflicts with the core principles of Hinduism?
o As you study the New Testament what do you see as the pros and the cons of Christian Monotheism vs. Hinduism’s Polytheism?
o How did MLK’s faith influence his attack on racism? How did Ghandi influence his approach?
o Etc.
Essential Questions:
1. What does it mean to be Spiritual? What role does Spirituality play in your life? In a nation that separates church and state how have our leaders walked the fine line between religious activism and secularism?
2. What are the differences between the core principles of Monotheism and Polytheism?
3. What are the core principles – and basic fundamentals – of Hinduism? Is it a major world religion?
4. How did Ghandi’s devout following of Hinduism shape his leadership style? What struggles did Ghandi have with his faith? What is this man’s legacy?
5. Scholars argue that no faith has done more good, and more harm, throughout History than Christianity. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this faith? If Christianity as gone awry at times is it the fault of the faith or those following the faith?
6. How did MLK’s religious education, and strong faith, shape his leadership style? How did Ghandi influence this great American leader? What is his legacy?
7. Was the Civil Rights movement more of a spiritual movement or a political movement?

Unit Syllabus – Week #1 – 3 day week because of comment writing day
Class #1 – ME Conflict final project is due in class
In Class:
30 mins. – Discussion of Spirituality / Faith / Hope – using Inspiration
15 mins. – Journal Writing – How spirtual is their family / their group of friends / the Nobles community? What forms their opinion on each?
5 mins. Hanout and give some background on Assignment #1
Assignment #1:
Restoring Hope – Cornel West – Discussions with Reverend James Forbes and Reverend James Washington – pg. 87 – 100 – active reading

Class #2 –
In Class:
15 mins. – Journaling – essential questions from assignment #1
30 mins. – Discussion of essential questions
Assignment #2:
Restoring Hope – Cornel West – Discussions with Reverend James Forbes and Reverend James Washington – pg. 100 – 113 – active reading

Class #3 –
In Class:
15 mins. – Journaling – essential questions from assignment #2
20 mins. – Discussion of essential questions
15 mins. – Introduce Thesis Statements and weekend assignment (use Professor Rael’s explanation)
Assignment #3:
Using the reading from Restoring Hope choose 5 paragraphs from Reverend Forbes and 5 paragraphs from Reverend Washington and state what the thesis is of that paragraph. After you state the thesis of each paragraph state whether or not you feel the respective Reverend proves his thesis statement in the paragraph. If yes – how? If no, why not?

Week #2 – Regular 4 Day Week – Class #4 –
In Class:
15 mins. – Review of assignment #3 using Inspiration – did they feel the speakers proved their thesis statements – if yes – how? Discussion of constructing a strong thesis statement
5 mins. – Mind Mapping – Their knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement
30 mins. – Viewing of 1st half – “This Far by Faith” – student taking notes – inform them of assignment #5 so they know what to be looking for
Assignment #4:
The Role of Religion in the Civil Rights Movement – Lecture by Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. Director of the Center for Non-Violence and Peace Studies – University of Rhode Island – active reading

Class #5 –
In Class:
20 mins. – Quiz on assignment #4 – possibly allow use of the reading – focus questions on the thesis statements of varied sections throughout the reading
30 mins. – Finish watching film – students taking notes
Assignment #5:
1. Craft 5 thesis statements based on topics touched on in the film – don’t worry about proving the thesis at this point – focus on crafting a gripping and analytical statement – bring 2 copies to class
2. 1 Paragraph – what did the film teach you about the civil rights movement that you did not know before viewing the film

Class #6 –
In Class:
20 mins. – On Writing, Stephen King – Discussion of peer editing
15 mins. – Peer editing of Thesis Statements from assignment #5
5 mins. – Turn in one copy for homework grade / turn in edited copy for peer editing grade
10 mins. – Go back to mind map of Civil Rights movement – make additions
Assignment #6:
1 page response paper to the following question –
Did God create man or did Man create God?

Class #7 –
In Class:
20 mins. – Discussion of Response Papers
5 mins. – Introduce Mono vs. Poly and connect to Response Paper question
25 mins. – Web Skills / Web Searching exercise – Daccord (Hopefully)
Assignment #7:
Web Based search looking for the core similarities and differences between Monotheistic & Polytheistic faiths –
• begin with an advanced search
• look only at .edu sites
• evaluate 12 – 15 web sites with 2 sentence annotation
• create a bulleted list of similarities and differences

Week #3 – 3 Day Week – Veterans Day – Class #8 –
In Class:
20 mins. – Review of assignment #7 using Inspiration to examine differences between Mono and Poly
10 mins. – Inspiration Brainstorm / Brief Intro to Hinduism
20 mins. – Document analysis – excerpts from the Vedas – Introduce Prof. Rael’s approach to document analysis
Assignment #8:
Smith – pg. 17 – 25 / excerpt from the Bhagavadgita / 1 paragraph of analysis

Further assignments –
(9) pg. 25 - 33 - readings from the Bhagavadgita
(10) pg. 33 - 42 - readings from the Bhagavadgita
(11) pg. 42 - 51 - visual evidence - writing
(12) pg. 51 - 57 - visual evidence - writing
http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCINDIA/GITA.HTM - site for Bhagavadgita
http://teachers.eusd.k12.ca.us/mguerena/castewebquest/index.htm -Visual Evidence

Gandhi -
(13) Who was he? Ghandi Bio & Excerpts from Speeches
(14) Writing about excerpts from the film
(15) What were his struggles with Hinduism? Was he able to reconcile those issues?

(16) Hinduism / Ghandhi Assessment – Focusing on Document Analysis

Christianity -
(17) pg. 205 - 213- new testament analysis
(18) pg. 213 - 221 - new testament analysis
(19) pg. 221 - 229 - new testament analysis
(18) Images of Christ - visual evidence analysis
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/

(20) MLK – Speech analysis focusing on the influence of his faith on his words and leadership style
(21) MLK – Examination of his letter from the Birmingham prison
(22) MLK / Ghandi's influence on MLK

(23) Christianity / MLK Assessment – Focusing on Document Analysis

(24) - (28) - Final - 4 / 1 page essays

Alex

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