Sample Unit – Religion Stage 6

Sample Unit – Religion Stage 6 – Year 11

Christianity principle beliefs, scriptural foundations and the lived expression of Christianity

Unit title: Christianity principle beliefs, scriptural foundations and the lived expression of Christianity		Duration: 22 hours
Unit description/ Outline:	This unit outlines, explains and examines the principle beliefs and scriptural foundations of Christianity and how these practices are evidenced in their lived expression of Christianity. Principle beliefs and scriptural foundations which will be closely examined include, the divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the nature of God and the Trinity, Revelation, Salvation And the understanding of these concepts through the scriptural foundation of the Bible. These central beliefs and scriptural foundations of Christianity are crucial in fully comprehending the lived expression and way of life of Christianity, to really understand what and how the Christian way of life has been constructed through the central beliefs and scriptural foundations in a practicing Christian. A wide range of texts in relation to the content will be implemented in the unit to further the vicarious experience students have had on Christianity, as there will be an in-depth study on the beliefs and scriptural foundations. As students evaluate Teachers may need to differentiate activities and include extra lessons explicitly teaching principle beliefs and scriptural foundations according to the learning needs of students. Note: There is more material in this unit than a teacher could typically deliver in 22 indicative hours. It is expected that teachers will choose texts and learning activities that are appropriate to the student’s needs and the school context. Approaching this unit: The approach of this unit of work will vary depending on content, it may be both teacher and student centred, as well as reflective, collaborative and feature an integrated approach with the understanding of the unit focus being of prime importance. Incorporating a Catholic emphasis: In educating students of this unit, the context of a Catholic Religious Education program must be implemented through: 1) Beginning and ending each lesson with a meaningful prayer which could be concerned with worldly matters or based on the unit focus of principle beliefs and scriptural foundations and how these elements cater to the lived expression of Christianity. Such as the Prayer to the Most Holy Trinity which links to the syllabus principle belief of, the nature of God and the Trinity. 2) Sharing Catholic teachings on the unit focus Catechism of the Catholic Church: 232 Before receiving the sacrament, they respond to a three-part question when asked to confess the Father, the Son and the Spirit: “I do.” “The faith of all Christians rests on the Trinity.” 51 “It pleased God, in his goodness and wisdom, to reveal himself and to make known the mystery of his will. His will was that men should have access to the Father, through Christ, the Word made flesh, in the Holy Spirit, and thus become sharers in the divine nature.” 1988 Through the power of the Holy Spirit we take part in Christ’s Passion by dying to sin, and in his Resurrection by being born to a new life; we are members of his Body which is the Church, branches grafted onto the vine which is himself
Outcomes P4: Examines significant aspects of religious traditions. P5: Describes the influence of religious traditions in the life of adherents. P6: Selects and uses relevant information about religion, from a variety of sources. P7: Undertakes effective research about religion, making appropriate use of term and resources. P8: Uses appropriate terminology related to religion and belief systems. P9: Effectively communicates information, ideas and issues using appropriate written, oral and graphic forms.
		Assessment overview Formal assessment task: Assessment for learning · Construct an interactive unit introduction presentation based on Christianity’s principle beliefs and scriptural foundations. · Discuss concepts, definitions and characteristics based on the unit focus. · Analyses and synthesising Biblical verses and concepts within the scriptural foundation and how this co-relates with biblical concepts and how this is the lived expression of Christianity Assessment as learning · Student reflection activities on Christianity’s principle beliefs, scriptural foundations and the lived expression of Christianity · Group activity on creating an interactive program on the content · Student examination on unit topics, while constructing examples on figures which are living the true expression of Christianity. Assessment of learning · Critical Response: outlines, explains and examines the principle beliefs and scriptural foundations of Christianity and how these practices are evidenced in their lived expression of Christianity · Group Presentation: Give examples of individuals/communities which display the lived expression of Christianity.

Content	Teaching, learning and assessment	Resources
P4: Examines significant aspects of religious traditions · Outline the principal beliefs regarding the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ · Explain the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christians · Outline the beliefs about the nature of God and of the Trinity · Examine the Christian understanding of revelation · Describe the Christian understanding of salvation	1: What are the principle beliefs of Christianity? (a): Introduction of unit topic of Principle beliefs · Teacher hands out blank pieces of paper, inviting students to sketch what they envision when being asked what some of the principle beliefs of Christianity is. Teacher then writes down the titles of the principle beliefs on the board and discusses whether these titles have altered their original impressions. Students are to complete worksheet filling in the blank boxed with brief bullet points on the meanings of each principle belief. · Teacher and student collaboratively discuss and define the terms within Christianity’s principle beliefs and then move on to watching a YouTube clip titled, ‘Why I love Religion, And love Jesus’ by Fr Pontifex, teacher assists the students in finding the intertextual references Fr pontifex uses to identify the principle beliefs within the text and how this furthers our understanding of the unit. (b): Divinity & Humanity of Jesus Christ as well as the Death and Ressurection of Jesus Christ · Class discussion on what the students may believe the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ means, while the teacher creates a brainstorm. Teacher moves on to discussing a prime biblical verse of John 1:14 and how this verse suggests both the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ and have a brief debate on how Jesus can be both God and human. · To assist students in comprehending this concept of Christianity, teacher will begin a collaborative activity where the students are given several passages from the Gospel of Saint Luke that discuss Jesus’s humanity and divinity. Teacher will gather 12 passages that reflect humanity (example: 2:7) and another 12 passages on divinity (example: 3:22), written on separate papers.. Students will be split into groups and asked to draw a paper from the hat and begin playing a competitive game on whether they believe the passage within the Gospel of Saint Luke is either based on Jesus’ humanity or divinity. · Death & Ressurection of Jesus Christ: teacher draws a cross on the board and asks students to explain what they see, typically students have a beautified approach to the cross which can lead to another discussion of whether the students have thought the cross to be something barbaric due to the form of execution, and why it’s seen as a saving grace for humanity – Teacher explains the overall death of Jesus Christ and asks students to write down the core points such as what led up to the death of Jesus and what happened during. – Class discussion on how the verse 1 Peter 1:18-19 paints the picture of the death of Christ Ressurection: Teacher discusses the ressurection and asks students to work in pairs to find more information on the ressurection, quotations and the impact the ressurection has on Christians and creates a poster which will be shared with the class. Teacher can also implement the game ‘Ressurection Jeopardy.’ In groups students will be allocated a hymn based on the death of Jesus (“Where you there when they crucified my Lord” hymn with clips from the film, Passion of Christ) or the Ressurection (“Jesus, Remember Me” hymn) and will need to answer various questions on the clip, as well as explaining to the class through literary and visual techniques the intentions of the song and clip, and how the students collectively understand how this may affect Christianity. (C): The nature of God and of the Trinity · Teacher introduces topic with a group activity, students are split into groups and are asked to research the nature of God, God’s attributes, including examples, biblical verses and are to write them on inflated balloons. The group will toss their balloons and once the first one to hit the ground will need to be explained by the group to the class. Once a few of the attributes from each group are explained and discuss teacher can move on to watching a Crash Course clip on “What is God like?” on YouTube, while taking notes. · The Trinity: Begin topic with small activity, each student is given a “hello my name is” sticker and is asked to write their name. Teacher using him/herself as an example, “my name is…, I’m a daughter, sister, teacher etc and then goes around the room asking how many names the student goes by. The teacher will then ask students if she’s more than one person, and proceeds to explain how in the same way God is but one God but is identified as three persons. · Teacher will then ask students reflective questions to the students, giving them time to gather their thoughts on what the trinity is. (D): Revelation & Salvation: · Teacher creates presentation based on revelation of how God is showing Christian adherents saving knowledge of God, and making Himself known to the adherents. This can be done with definitions, examples, discussion. · Teacher may also look into prophets revelation, asking students to create a poster comparing Revelation of God and the Prophets revelations. · Salvation: Teacher writes salvation on the board and begins a brainstorm with students, later goes on to defining it, and listening to a talk by Fr. Mike Schmitz on “Do all Good people go to Heaven” discussing Salvation in-depth. · Compare the last video with a video of Pope Francis and the little boy who asked whether his dad is in Heaven. Students collectively answer questions such as what idea of salvation does Pope Francis display in his response, and find Biblical verses which highlight salvation. 2:	“Why I love Religion, And love Jesus’ by Fr Pontifex (YouTube Clip) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru_tC4fv6FE Divinity & Humanity, Gospel of Luke group activity http://dce.oca.org/assets/files/resources/Jesus-Humanity-Divinity-Preteens.pdf Ressurection Jeopardy Game https://ourpastimes.com/games-resurrection-children-7960942.html “Where you there when they crucified my Lord” hymn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY2sTkcw0W4 “Jesus, Remember me” hymn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGB2E0NzO2A “What is God like?” Crash Course Philosophy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs_gY1K1AMU “Do All Good People go to Heaven?” Fr Mike Schmitz by Ascension Presents https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT4JAxfhgcQ&t=165s “Little boy asks Pope Francis: ‘Is my dad in Heaven?’” by Arlington Catholic herald https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL01jmT0MN4

Content

Teaching, learning and assessment

Resources

P4: Examines significant aspects of religious traditions

· Outline the principal beliefs regarding the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ

· Explain the importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christians

· Outline the beliefs about the nature of God and of the Trinity

· Examine the Christian understanding of revelation

· Describe the Christian understanding of salvation

1: What are the principle beliefs of Christianity?

(a): Introduction of unit topic of Principle beliefs

· Teacher hands out blank pieces of paper, inviting students to sketch what they envision when being asked what some of the principle beliefs of Christianity is. Teacher then writes down the titles of the principle beliefs on the board and discusses whether these titles have altered their original impressions. Students are to complete worksheet filling in the blank boxed with brief bullet points on the meanings of each principle belief.

· Teacher and student collaboratively discuss and define the terms within Christianity’s principle beliefs and then move on to watching a YouTube clip titled, ‘Why I love Religion, And love Jesus’ by Fr Pontifex, teacher assists the students in finding the intertextual references Fr pontifex uses to identify the principle beliefs within the text and how this furthers our understanding of the unit.

(b): Divinity & Humanity of Jesus Christ as well as the Death and Ressurection of Jesus Christ

· Class discussion on what the students may believe the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ means, while the teacher creates a brainstorm. Teacher moves on to discussing a prime biblical verse of John 1:14 and how this verse suggests both the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ and have a brief debate on how Jesus can be both God and human.

· To assist students in comprehending this concept of Christianity, teacher will begin a collaborative activity where the students are given several passages from the Gospel of Saint Luke that discuss Jesus’s humanity and divinity. Teacher will gather 12 passages that reflect humanity (example: 2:7) and another 12 passages on divinity (example: 3:22), written on separate papers.. Students will be split into groups and asked to draw a paper from the hat and begin playing a competitive game on whether they believe the passage within the Gospel of Saint Luke is either based on Jesus’ humanity or divinity.

· Death & Ressurection of Jesus Christ: teacher draws a cross on the board and asks students to explain what they see, typically students have a beautified approach to the cross which can lead to another discussion of whether the students have thought the cross to be something barbaric due to the form of execution, and why it’s seen as a saving grace for humanity

– Teacher explains the overall death of Jesus Christ and asks students to write down the core points such as what led up to the death of Jesus and what happened during.

– Class discussion on how the verse 1 Peter 1:18-19 paints the picture of the death of Christ

Ressurection: Teacher discusses the ressurection and asks students to work in pairs to find more information on the ressurection, quotations and the impact the ressurection has on Christians and creates a poster which will be shared with the class. Teacher can also implement the game ‘Ressurection Jeopardy.’

In groups students will be allocated a hymn based on the death of Jesus (“Where you there when they crucified my Lord” hymn with clips from the film, Passion of Christ) or the Ressurection (“Jesus, Remember Me” hymn) and will need to answer various questions on the clip, as well as explaining to the class through literary and visual techniques the intentions of the song and clip, and how the students collectively understand how this may affect Christianity.

(C): The nature of God and of the Trinity

· Teacher introduces topic with a group activity, students are split into groups and are asked to research the nature of God, God’s attributes, including examples, biblical verses and are to write them on inflated balloons. The group will toss their balloons and once the first one to hit the ground will need to be explained by the group to the class. Once a few of the attributes from each group are explained and discuss teacher can move on to watching a Crash Course clip on “What is God like?” on YouTube, while taking notes.

· The Trinity: Begin topic with small activity, each student is given a “hello my name is” sticker and is asked to write their name. Teacher using him/herself as an example, “my name is…, I’m a daughter, sister, teacher etc and then goes around the room asking how many names the student goes by. The teacher will then ask students if she’s more than one person, and proceeds to explain how in the same way God is but one God but is identified as three persons.

· Teacher will then ask students reflective questions to the students, giving them time to gather their thoughts on what the trinity is.

(D): Revelation & Salvation:

· Teacher creates presentation based on revelation of how God is showing Christian adherents saving knowledge of God, and making Himself known to the adherents. This can be done with definitions, examples, discussion.

· Teacher may also look into prophets revelation, asking students to create a poster comparing Revelation of God and the Prophets revelations.

· Salvation: Teacher writes salvation on the board and begins a brainstorm with students, later goes on to defining it, and listening to a talk by Fr. Mike Schmitz on “Do all Good people go to Heaven” discussing Salvation in-depth.

· Compare the last video with a video of Pope Francis and the little boy who asked whether his dad is in Heaven. Students collectively answer questions such as what idea of salvation does Pope Francis display in his response, and find Biblical verses which highlight salvation.

“Why I love Religion, And love Jesus’ by Fr Pontifex (YouTube Clip)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru_tC4fv6FE