We have designed four customizable unit plans, lasting from one to four weeks.
- Unit Plan 1 (20-day unit)
- Unit Plan 2 (15-day unit)
- Unit Plan 3 (10-day unit)
- Unit Plan 4 (5-day unit)
We have designed four unit plans, lasting from one to four weeks. They are designed to be a springboard, and we encourage you to be creative, trade activities for others you prefer, design new ones, etc.
The units were designed so that the meditations could start early in the unit. To us, this is a cornerstone of the work and is important. You might feel differently and choose not to do it with your group.
Furthermore, we felt that the scavenger hunts provided great introductions to individual religions. Therefore, we included those in all of the plans. However, they take longer than you might think, so be creative as to how to organize them. See the scavenger hunt section for ideas.
Reading "The Story of Religion" also seems to take longer than it looks. Consider buying a set for your group, and assigning it as homework, or take a whole period and read it through. Again, you may decide that the other activities are sufficient and eliminate the book altogether.
We liked the idea of including a lot of different kinds of activities, because it keeps kids interested. However, if you only have a day, or two days, you may decide to only do a scavenger hunt, or some word games, or the visual scrapbook project. Obviously, the less time you have, the more creative you have to be about what you decide to do with the time. Also, we mixed up the activities a lot. For example, there might be a scripture comparison on day four and day sixteen. You may prefer to do them right next to each other.
There are more activities on this website then there are in the units. Feel free to substitute!
About the Authors:
These lessons were developed by Debbie Gibbs and Dana Isaacs for the United Religions Initiative. Debbie is currently the head of Upper School (grades 6-8) at Marin Country Day School.
Debbie has over twenty years experience developing curriculum, for all grade levels, k-8 for school and church settings. Debbie, a lifetime Episcopalian, has a deep interest in developing ways for children to learn more about their own religions and that of others. Debbie recently earned a Master's Degree in Educational Technology at the University of San Francisco. She is passionate about the use of technology to enhance learning.
Dana Isaacs is the Secondary School counselor, teacher, advisor and activity director at Marin Country Day School. Dana is currently obtaining her Masters in Counseling Psychology at Sonoma State University. Dana's interest in this unit stems from a strong Jewish background and a love of helping students discover more about who they are and who they want to be.