CEP 800: lesson plan

Module 5 Lesson Plan:
Standards: Clark County School District/State of Nevada
X 2.1 - Students will compare and contrast the characteristics of World cultures by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.
H1.[9-12].10 - Compare and contrast the characteristics of dominant world cultures.
X 2.2 - Students will analyze the origin, development, basic beliefs, distribution, and ancient contributions for the five major world religions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.
H1.[9-12].11 - Analyze how and why the five major religions gained new adherents in various parts of the world.
H2.[9-12].18 - Explain the development of monarchies and their effects on centralized government, commerce and trade, and religion.
X 2.3 - Students will compare and contrast the social, political, and cultural impact of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism on the world today by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.
H1.[9-12].11 - Analyze how and why the five major religions gained new adherents in various parts of the world.
H3.[9-12].15 - Explain the impact of the five major world religions on the world’s political and social fabric.
H3.[9-12].23 - Explain how literature, music, media, and the visual arts affect social change.
X 2.4 - Students will analyze the dynamics between religions in different regions; e.g., India (Hindu and Islam), Middle East (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and western Europe (Catholic and Protestant) by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.
H3.[9-12].15 - Explain the impact of the five major world religions on the world’s political and social fabric.
X 2.5 - Students will describe the role of religion and warfare in ancient and modern governments and society by utilizing one of the big 11 social studies skills.
H1.[9-12].11 - Analyze how and why the five major religions gained new adherents in various parts of the world.
H3.[9-12].15 - Explain the impact of the five major world religions on the world’s political and social fabric.


Content: What is the content you are teaching and what are the big ideas? What are the challenging concepts that students struggle with or are difficult to teach? Consider your state standards (GLCEs or HSCEs) as you develop the essential questions you are trying to address.

Subject: World History - Unit 2: Religion
Concepts:  Basic background on Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddaism.  Discussion of religious principles, leaders and founders, sacred texts, and ancient religious practices vs current practices.

Essential Questions:
·         Why does religion impact politics around the world?
·         What role does religion play in society?
·         How do interactions between eastern religions and Western religions impact societies around the world?
·         How does religion influence religion practices?
Why have religious practices changed over time?
What influences shape our view of organized religion?

Pedagogy: What pedagogical strategies are you using and why? What theories of learning inform your strategies? What learner characteristics did you take into consideration?

Strategies: Venn diagrams, flip charts, and charts for visual representations of information.  Handouts and worksheets with summaries about each religion.

Theories and characteristics: I took into account the theories on multiple modalities. Not every student learning in the same way and graphic organizers help student focus on the important details within larger sets of information.  I use text summary handouts because the information on religion is disbursed throughout the textbook and can be difficult to utilize.  I also provide students with handouts so that they can take the essential information with them.  Most of the students that I have worked with have been low level, special education, or ELL.  I teach in ways that allows them to be successful. Once the foundation of the information is established, I can progress to more difficult tasks.

Content & Pedagogy: How do these particular strategies help you teach the content mentioned above? Why choose these strategies over other approaches? Are there any technical or physical constraints that figured significantly into your choices?

The stragies I use help me teacher because I can ask my students to pull out important information and highlight it.  I can have them develop connections between monotheistic religions and polytheistic religions.  Discover more about each by asking questions: what do they have in common? Why might people of these faiths and backgrounds not get along?  Why would they work together?   I chose these methods because they are the only ones I know. These are the methods that I understand and ones that I have seen be successful. Over time I might modify them to increase rigor.  There aren't any constraints that I figured into my choices.  Althought I'm sure I could add more technology stragies.

Technology: What technology will you be using and why? Is the use of this technology absolutely necessary to achieve your objective? That is, would be impossible to teach the lesson without it? Remember that content specific technology (e.g., probes, graphing calculators, Geometer’s Sketchpad, United Streaming videos) are used to teach a content-specific concepts, whereas content-general technologies (e.g., Flash animation, Web 2.0 technologies) may facilitate deeper understanding by allowing students to manipulate information, explore a “network of ideas,” and investigate multiple representations of material.

I typically use PowerPoint for this part of the course.  I could use NearPod to increase student involvement in the instruction. Technology isn't necessary to achieve the objectives associated with the lesson.  However the lesson can be quite boring without a technology component.  This lesson might also be more interesting if students had to explore two or three religions and created a digital "road map" for religious understanding. Do the paths of these religions cross anywhere? We'd have to wait and find out.

Technology & Pedagogy: How does the technology you have chosen fit with your pedagogical strategies and theories about learning? What types of learning strategies are employed by the technology?

The use of technology would create discovery learning,  the students would learn by doing and trying. The teacher would gain responses and interaction throughout the lesson.  Nearpod would allow for question and answers, class poll to check for understanding, website searchers being built in to the presented information.

Technology & Content: How does your choice of technology help you teach the "big ideas" and address the essential questions underlying the concept your lesson addresses?

The technology would help me present several valid sources of information that students can search through to develop responses to the big ideas and essential questions.  Many time I find myself limited to what I have access to when teaching.  Adding technology could change the depth of knowledge level that my students interact with.

Assessment: What do you want your students to know, and how will you know when they know it?  How will you assess what students have learned?  What role does technology play in these assessments?

I want to students to know what makes religions the same and what makes them each unique.  I want them to learn why each religion was foundedand why they are still around today.  Why does society and culture value religion?

I will conduct several formative assessments in the form of questions and discussion. I will also ask students to complete a summative  assessment that will be several Venn Diagrams along with a written portion for students to explain the information that they represented visually.