Teaching Religion (senior cycle)

scut

Hi,
I'm teaching religion to ty, 5th and 6th years as a non exam subject. They don't have a religion book. Does anyone have any tips on topics to cover?

thesimpsons

can always remember the best ever religion teacher we had many many years ago who asked us what we wanted to study in religion. As mature 5th yrs who though we knew it all :rolleyes: and wanting to "prove our maturity", we tried our hardest to find something we didn't think she'd approve of. We suggested other religions and jewish in particular. She took our suggestions totally on board, researched and found out loads of info for us, organised trip to a synagogue, talks, etc. We really appreciated it. Maybe try something similiar ???

niall3r

Its not a bad idea to gauge the interests of the classes and to see if there is anything that they are passionate about, or even vaugely interested that could be exploited. (though unlike years ago world religions is a major part of the curriculum so they might not be as interested)

The ones below are ones I have taught in senior cycle/ non examination that went down especially well.

Eco-ethics (green issues/the environment)
Capital Punishment.
Abortion/IVF type issues.
The search for meaning through music.
Cults is a great one.

Getting them to get involved in local charities is a great one for TY, i.e. out shaking boxes around christmas etc

rainbowtrout

This is the LC Religion curriculum:


http://www.curriculumonline.ie/en/Post-Primary_Curriculum/Senior_Cycle_Curriculum/Leaving_Certificate_Established/Religious_Education_Non_Examination_/

scut

I already know the curriculum but its not an exam subject and I want to do interesting and enjoyable topics with them. Thanks for the suggestions, think I might start off with cults

Terri26

The aformentioned link is for religion as a non-exam subject, perhaps go through it and taje what you deem interesting. I found stuff from the morality section interesting to teach. The kids love doing cults but make sure this has not been covered already!
I do debates etc in class on popular issues but to be honest it's a hard slog

Annieapplepear

Scut,

I have taught religion as a non-exam subject.. there is religion books available if you dont have them you should order them from the respective companies.
I know they aint studying it for the leaving but you must have a plan cos if you have an inspection you are in BIG Trouble.

The area of cults/sects is very interesting... dont forget you can get a dvd to go with this on life in the cult.. include Tom Cruise and Sciencetology students love that there is a very good you tube clip with Cruise discussing it and dont forget Madonna. The J Witness is another good one as many students have experienced them coming round house to house. That area at two classes a week should bring you up to mid term break.

ALcoholicism and Drug ABuse is another popular area... if you can get a guest speaker they are very good to drill the point home from family view the pain and suffering they go through.. WHen a man loves a woman is the dvd attached to this area.

Blood Diamond dvd - Trocaire have resources to back this in relation to the 1999 Sienna Leone. there Lent campaign was associated with the explosive civil war

Philadephia with Tom Hanks dvd - Aids and the injustice, prejudice for a person...


some ideas you can develop.
hope it helps

Lord TSC

In my fifth year Religion class, we had a priest who spent 4 months going over the religious imagry present in Lord of the Rings. We watched the movies, did quizes....was awesome

monosharp

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion ?

That or cover some far east religions in detail such as Buddhism or Japanese Shinto.

tvnutz

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

In my fifth year Religion class, we had a priest who spent 4 months going over the religious imagry present in Lord of the Rings. We watched the movies, did quizes....was awesome

The Matrix is great for that too. Tons of religious undertones in it. I use a lot of the Simpsons as well, for Junior and Senior Cycle. It's not just about showing an episode or a movie for a laugh,it is a good way of introducing a topic or a theme in a way they can relate to and then having really good discussions about it.

Cults is also very interesting,again I used the Simpsons episode where they join the cult with "the leader" to outline the characteristics of cults. Then moved on to Scientology, Jim Jones etc. Although be careful with Scientology.A religion teacher I know was telling me how he did it in a class years ago and his students ended up mentioning it to one of those lads offering the personality tests and the school ended up getting a letter from the Church of Scientology. I showed the Panorama doc that was on about a year or two ago.

Anything on morality is always good as well and gets good discussion going.
Movies are a good way to introduce this topic. Shooting Dogs is great,its about the genocide in Rwanda,other movies on the holocaust like Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Schindler's List are good.

The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington is a more recent one that could be used.

Mean Creek is also a great movie about kids having to make moral choices when something bad happens.

That's just a few ideas, as someone else mentioned if you can organise trips to a Synagogue or a Mosque that could interest them as most probably have never been in either.

Also, here is a link to a list of the Simpsons episodes that can be useful,although I wouldn't overuse the show,it is good for an introduction and initial discussion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_The_Simpsons

gaeilgebeo

Annieapplepear wrote: »

Scut,

I have taught religion as a non-exam subject.. there is religion books available if you dont have them you should order them from the respective companies.
I know they aint studying it for the leaving but you must have a plan cos if you have an inspection you are in BIG Trouble.

The area of cults/sects is very interesting... dont forget you can get a dvd to go with this on life in the cult.. include Tom Cruise and Sciencetology students love that there is a very good you tube clip with Cruise discussing it and dont forget Madonna. The J Witness is another good one as many students have experienced them coming round house to house. That area at two classes a week should bring you up to mid term break.

ALcoholicism and Drug ABuse is another popular area... if you can get a guest speaker they are very good to drill the point home from family view the pain and suffering they go through.. WHen a man loves a woman is the dvd attached to this area.

Blood Diamond dvd - Trocaire have resources to back this in relation to the 1999 Sienna Leone. there Lent campaign was associated with the explosive civil war

Philadephia with Tom Hanks dvd - Aids and the injustice, prejudice for a person...


some ideas you can develop.
hope it helps

I would be quite reluctant to refer to Jehovah's Witnesses as a "cult", which they are not, as there are Jehovah's Witnesses attending many second level schools and it would most certainly leave them as targets if their peers thought they belonged to a cult!

All of the above, great ideas, many of which I find work very well.

scut

Thanks for all the tips, ordered a few books so I can do out my plan for the year:rolleyes: