Welcome to Religion 7 Mrs. Spataro

What are we going to learn about this term? Demonstrates familiarity with the structure of the Bible Names God’s faithfulness in the story of the Exodus – that God is faithful even in very difficult situations, even when we are unfaithful Explains the meaning of being loved and the variety of ways in which love is demonstrated Demonstrates an understanding of the Ten Commandments as the sign of God’s love and care for the Israelites

Introductions I would like each of you to write me a short letter of introduction Tell me about yourself, your family, what you enjoy doing, what you’re good at, and what qualities you have If there is anything that makes you uncomfortable, something you feel I should know about you or something that you’re worried about, please feel free to let me know. These letters stay with me PLEASE be sure to include your full name, grade and class in your letter

Unit 1 Theme 1

Coat of Arms Activity Fill in the entire space with drawings about yourself (hobbies, likes, etc.) and color Once you are done, write 2 -3 paragraphs about your coat of arms on a separate piece of paper Share with one or two other people what you drew and wrote about

Reading Read “Jessie’s Story” on page 6

Journal #1 In your journal or notebook, please answer the Reflection Questions following Jessie’s Story found on page 6

Reading “A Way to Begin” on pages 6-7 Introduction to “What Kind of Boat Will You Take?”

What Kind of Boat Will You Take? I will read statements out loud and you will rank from 1 to 6 your answer Once we have completed a section we will add up responses and divide by 7 or 9 to get an average We will then talk about personalities and see if the descriptions match you

What Kind of Boat Will You Take? Look at pages 8 & 9 and read the information about your boat type Does this describe you correctly? Why or why not? Is there another description that fits you better?

Reading Read “What About You?” on page 10 Do you think our personalities affect the way we relate to others? Read “Relating to Others” on page 10-11

Blind Circle The members of your group will be blindfolded You must form a circle with a piece of rope Everyone must be holding onto the rope when you are finished The second group will observe, and when it is their turn, they must form a square

Journal #2 Who do you argue, disagree with, or get angry with the most frequently? How is that person’s personality different from yours? Try to name 3-5 positive things about that person’s personality Name 3 things you can do to improve your relationship with that person

Unit 1 Theme 2 – Am I Normal?

Brainstorm On your own, please brainstorm and make a thought web of the parts and characteristics that make up a normal grade 7 student Please try to use a variety of different words in your description

What do normal grade 7 students think about? How do they feel most of the time? How do they interact with friends? What do they fear? What do they love? What is most important to them? What pressures are they facing? How do they feel about God?

Reading “A Very Strange Visit” on page 13-14 How do you think Sid defines the word ‘normal’?

Class Discussion What characteristics do all normal people have? ‘To be normal is to…’ What happens if we focus on only some aspects of ourselves and ignore others?

Reading “Being Whole” on pages 14-17

Growing to be a Complete Person - Journal #3 What situations encourage you to develop your mind? What situations encourage you to make good decisions? What helps you express your feelings in a healthy way? What situations help you develop good relationships with others? What can you do to strengthen your spiritual sense?

Unit 1 Theme 3 – Do I Belong?

Web of Communities Write your name inside a circle in the centre Write all of the groups and communities that you belong to in other circles around your sheet and connect them to your central circle in web fashion

Brainstorm Identify 5 community types that have an impact on your life

Jigsaw Activity Groups of 5 Make a note of who is in your original group Then count off within your groups (1-5), and make new groups based on your number Get with your new group I will assign each new group a different community type

Jigsaw Activity With your new group, you must answer the following questions: How does one become a member of this type of community? What types of stories are told about this kind of community? What has to happen in order for people to feel like they really belong to, and are accepted by, the community? What are the rights and responsibilities connected to membership in this type of community?

Jigsaw Activity Return to your original group and share the results and answers you came up with Was there anything in common in your answers?

Class Discussion What makes the Christian community a community? What is the community’s story? What is the community’s action? What does the community expect of its members? What does the community do to those who fail to meet its expectations? What does the community offer to its members?

Reading “The Bible: Our Story” on pages 18-19

The Bible Bible - A compilation of selected Israelite and early Christian traditions ranging over the whole life of the people. Accepted as inspired by God and normative for faith Although the Bible contains much history, and is considered historically sound, it should not be thought of as a history book The Bible was created to help people understand God and their relationship with God

The Bible talks about the ways that God has related to people throughout history The God who speaks in the Bible stories is the same God who relates to us today God is forever faithful The biblical story is also our story

The Bible is divided into two main parts: Old Testament (or Hebrew Scriptures) New Testament (or Christian Scriptures) Take a look at page 19 in your textbook to see the further divisions of the books within the testaments, as well as the names of each book

Old Testament Contains 3 sections: The Law – 5 Books in this section The Prophets – 21 Books in this section Writings – 20 Books in this section 46 Books in total

New Testament Contains 4 sections: The Gospels – 4 Books in this section The Acts of the Apostles – 1 Book in this section Epistles – 21 Books in this section Revelation – 1 Book in this section 27 Books in total

***HINT*** Get familiar with the names of the books contained in each section of the Bible Write them down

Locating Passages in the Bible 2 Timothy 3: 16 Isaiah 55: 10-11

Inspiration from God The books of the Old and New Testaments were written under the inspiration of God and the Holy Spirit The writers were human authors, they wrote in their own particular style and went through the same research and composition as any author would do The Holy Spirit acted in and through the authors’ own natural powers and abilities

God did not dictate what to write by putting words in their head, but rather the Holy Spirit only ensured that their choice of words and forms of expression were conveying the message God wanted To say that a book is inspired is to say that it is the result of a true encounter with God

Living Timeline Get into groups of 4 You will be assigned one period of the timeline shown on pages 20-23 Read the Scripture passage accompanying your point in the timeline Create a skit of your event and write down your skit in a script At the end of your script, answer the following sentences: This story is relevant in our lives when…… We can learn ________ from this story We MAY be presenting these in class!

Books of the Bible Game Complete the Books of the Bible game