Day 15 (Sept 24)

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! Today's topic was the Hindu Caste System. Please see the 'extras binder' for the handout if you were not present. We had an interesting discussion about the 'untouchables' (also known as 'Dalit'). Do you think we have a caste system in Canadian society? In our school? An interesting link: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0306/feature1/

Day 14 (Sept 21)

We started class with a discussion about the significance of the Holy Cow in India. I provided a handout, and we looked at the different reasons why the cow is considered holy (think! what things does a cow provide for survival?) Next, I did a brief introduction to a dear old friend: Mohatma Gandhi. Why do most students know this man? Why is he immortalized in our psyche? We started watching the Oscar-winning film ('Gandhi') to learn about the life and legacy of this great man. We will be connecting much of the film to Hindu beliefs (ie: ahimsa, the caste system).

Day 12 (Sept 19)

Hindu God/dess presentations ... and samosas!

Day 11 (Sept 18)

Click here to access today's powerpoint lecture on Hindu beliefs. Tomorrow we will have our Hindu god seminar!

Day 10 (Sept 17)

Workday for your Hindu God project. Please have your project ready to present in our seminar on Wednesday!

Day 9 (Sept 14)

Here is a handy 'Pocket Guide to the Hindu Guides' ... click here to access. Extra copies of the Hindu God Project are available in the classroom course binder (bright orange in colour!).

Day 8 (Sept 13)

To help you choose a Hindu god/deity for the Hindu God Card Project, watch the following 'Pocket Guide to the Hindu Gods': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ2q66Eqn7I Here is an example of a student project from 2 years ago. Instead of creating a card, she made a YouTube clip about her deity, Dhumavati: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmnLu30hMSc

Day 7 (Sept 12)

We started the day with a weeeee little quiz on the terms from Chapter 1: The Religious Impulse. The vast majority of you did very well I started our first big unit: Hinduism. I promised to post a link to the powerpoint that we'll be using for the start of the unit, so here it is: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nlpmn5tN-0wucl2ttkG8Zs_Nk-rcdTzK-r8Gi_Biz58/edit Also, I found a piece of the Departures clip shown in class on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuHJozkEqvo&feature=relmfu

Day 6 (Sept 11)

Today we worked on Chapter One questions from the textbook. The questions are from the handout entitled 'The Religious Impulse'. Extra copies can be found in the course classroom binder :) We will have a quiz at the start of tomorrow's class on the glossary terms.

Day 5 (Sept 10)

Today we started by looking at the world's greatest religions (by 'greatest' I mean by number of adherents/followers). These are 1. Christianity, 2. Islam, and 3. Hinduism. We discussed the meaning of 'Religious Pluralism' - having a positive attitude toward the existence of many faiths in one society. This led to a class discussion about religious pluralism in our school and local community. Some of you were of the opinion that we have some work to do as cultural actors. We looked at how the 2004 French government banned all religious symbols from public schools, and the implications of such a law. And finally, we finished with a short 4 corners discussion to answer the following question: "Should public schools be required to teach both evolution and creationism side by side in science classes?" Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful comments and consideration of other students' opinions :)

Day 4 (Sept 7)

Thank you for being so welcoming to our first guest speaker: Darth Vader! We considered 'Jediism' as an emerging/growing religion. Click here to find the Darth Vader VW commercial. Click here to find the news story about Jediism in England. May the force be with you ... have a great weekend!

Day 3 (Sept 6)

Today we considered our 'worldviews'. To get you thinking about this idea (as well as our 'purpose' in this life), we watched a Ted Talk by pastor Rick Warren. Click here to access the talk. The important information from the slides includes: Your Worldview (things to consider): Why do things happen the way they do? What is right, and what is wrong? What is your purpose in life? What brings meaning to your life? How do you view, or see, the world? What is Rick Warren’s Worldview? Do you agree with his Worldview? Can 2 people share the same worldview? What can happen when 2 people have very different worldviews? How does religion shape a person’s worldview? ‘Religion’ is a word we use quite often...But do we really know what it means? A working definition of religion: 1. A way of thinking, feeling, and acting. 2. Usually provides a devotion to something or someone. 3. Moves beyond what is known, to the supernatural and unknown. 4. Provides teachings that shape and guide behaviour. 5. Is shared by others and practiced and honoured within a religious community.

Day 2 (Sept 5)

Click here to find the link to the short film clip - Baraka: Rise of Religion. Thanks to everyone who participated in today's activity: Are you a believer or a non-believer? Many different ideas, beliefs, and values surfaced as a result of our discussion. You were given a Personal Creedo assignment, due: this Thursday, start of class.

Day 1 (Sept 4)

Welcome to the grade 11 World Religions class! This is one of my favourite courses to teach. I find that grade 11's have a grasp of some of the big questions in life ... and we will be talking about many of these today. Today was just a quick 25 minute class. I handed out your course outlines ... and we learned a bit about everyone in the room! Please follow this link to find a copy of the course outline: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zsrEq1QIKy0eFr4n0ovO0UiBahh-S952gx62PVptDE8/edit?pli=1