Active Learning Strategies for Teaching about Religion

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The Five Precepts
A collage Activity

Religion: Buddhism

Purpose: to reinforce and test understanding regarding the "five precepts" of Buddhism

Cognitive Skills: comprehension, application, analysis

Learning Styles: visual, sensing

Intelligences: visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic

Use: in classroom, as homework

For: individuals, pairs, small groups

Estimated time: 15 - 30 minutes (though reflective and global thinkers might want to take more time as they think about and stumble across images as they go about their daily life)

Materials needed: paper or poster board, glue, scissors, old magazines, junk mail ads, clip art and other sources for images, marker(s) to label images.

Note: can be done in front of the TV, or listening to music

The Activity:

• Begin with a piece of paper (9X12 construction or craft paper should suffice).

• Divide the paper in half so it looks like this:

• Locate images of people people pursuing the five precepts in accord with Buddhist moral values (several examples of each). (refer to your reading or lecture notes, if needed) (= "right") (note: the five precepts relate to right speech and right action)

• Also locate images of people breaking these precepts (= "wrong")

• Paste the images on the appropriate sides of the paper

• Label each image as well as each side of the paper accordingly (example: "intoxication" on the "wrong" side for breaking the "no intoxication" precept with a contrasting image of "sobriety" on the "right" side)

Alternative possibilities: any topic which lends itself to contrasting opposites

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Page updated: May 26, 2004