These are lesson plans that can be used, or adapted, for classroom use. The subject matter is interfaith relations/religious studies.
High School
Modern Turkey: Students will be able to analyze Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s secularization reforms and modern Turkey’s efforts to create a new understanding of Islam’s role in public life.
The Alhambra Edict: Through the study of a primary source, students will be able to explain the reasons behind Ferdinand & Isabella’s decision to order Spain’s Jews to convert to Christianity or be exiled.
Alhambra Edict Dramatization: Through study of the leaders of Spain in 1492, students will be able to explain the reasons behind Ferdinand & Isabella’s decision to order Spain’s Jews to convert to Christianity or be exiled. Lesson plan takes the form of acting out the deliberations of the conversion/expulsion order.
Crusades Timeline: Students will be able to explain the course of the Crusades and the fall of the Crusader states. Lesson plan is the creation of a timeline.
Jesus as Depicted in Art: Using art, this lesson plan shows how Jesus is often depicted as a member of the same ethnic or racial group as the artist.
Saudi Arabia: Technology and Conservativism This lesson is about the state of science in the Islamic world. This lesson shows how the Islamic world is attempting to regain the leadership in science that it once enjoyed.
Middle School
Monotheistic Religions Worksheet This lesson plan has students learn basic facts about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Jeffrey S. Bennett
Elementary School
Kaleidoscope of Kids: Students will learn not to prejudge others because they are different. This lesson for kindergarteners entails using kaleidoscopes to teach tolerance.
Caring, Compassion: This lesson teaches the importance of accepting others by writing a class story about caring for others, regardless of race, nationality, gender, religion, or disabilities.
Friendliness, Empathy: This lesson is a demonstration that people, like eggs, come in many sizes, shapes, and colors but they are the same on the inside.
Kindness, Caring: This lesson entails students keeping journals on kindness and caring. The lesson plan suggests books that promote kindness and caring in children.
Kind Kids: This lesson also promotes kindness and caring. The metaphor of the lesson is that just as one cannot count how many apples can come from one apple seed, one cannot count how many good deeds can come from one good deed.