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1. Celebrations

2. Special Events

With your class, talk about different ways families celebrateimportant events such as the birth of a child, becoming an adult, weddings, the New Year and other holidays.

Think about a special event that is celebrated in your family.Write down the answers to the following questions. (These questions are known as “The 5 Ws and How”. All newspaper stories answer these questions.)• Who celebrates this special event?• Where do you celebrate?• What are you celebrating?• Why is this celebration important?• When does the celebration take place?• How do you celebrate?

Use your answers to write a paragraph or two about the celebration. Add a picture.

Find a newspaper picture about someone who iscelebrating. Who is in the pictures, and what arethey celebrating? Is it something that is celebratedby many people, or just by this individual orgroup? How are they celebrating?

Write a sentence or two describing the picture.

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3. Birth Notices

4. Holidays

Parents sometimes place a birth notice in the newspaper to celebrate the arrival of a new baby. Read some newspaper birth notices to find out the kinds of information they include. Write a birth noticefor yourself, as it might have appeared after you were born.

Now read a story about the birth of Jesus or another religious figure. Write a birth notice for him as it mighthave appeared in a newspaper at the time.

As a class, create a list of important holidays celebrated by various religious groups (e.g.Christmas, Passover, Ramadan, etc.)

From the list, choose one celebration from a religionwith which you are unfamiliar. Find out as much asyou can about this holiday, and write a news storyabout it. Remember to include answers to the 5 Wsand How. If possible, interview someone who celebrates this holiday and include a quotation or two about what the holiday means to him or herand how the family celebrates.

Follow-up: Using newspaper

obituaries (death notices) for style, write an obituary

for Jesus or another religious figure as it might have

appeared following his death.

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5. Traditional Food

6. What’s On

Many religious holidays are celebrated with specialfoods. As a class, discuss why you think food is such an important part of many celebrations. What special foods are part of your family’s celebrations? Why?

In the newspaper, find a recipe for a holiday dish.Prepare the recipe and share it with the class.

Newspapers include listings of cultural and religiousevents happening in your community. They mightlist times for church or temple services, for instance,or a concert by a gospel choir, or a lecture by a visiting religious leader.

With a partner, create a ‘What’s On’ listing of religious activities – or cultural events influenced byreligion – that are happening in your community inthe coming weeks. Compare your list with those ofyour classmates, and create a master list to post in the classroom.

Follow-up: Discuss why you

think other religious holidays – such asRamadan – involve

abstaining from food and drink.

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7. Buildings & Momuments

8. Music

Identify various religious buildings and monuments inyour community. Choose one, and learn as muchabout it as you can. Design a travel ad encouragingtourists to visit this site. Include a brief history of thebuilding or monument, where it is located, why it isimportant, what makes it special, etc. Add a picture.

Before you begin, examine newspaper travel ads fordesign ideas.

Music is an important part of many religions, and religiousmusic has inspired many of our most famous classical andcontemporary composers. With your class, make a list of allthe kinds of music you can think of that have been inspiredby religion. Do you know of any current singers who gottheir start singing religious music? Listen to several pieces of religious music.

Now, individually, listen to a CD of music that has beeninspired by religion. What do you feel and think about as you listen? Write a newspaper-style music review of the CD.Include the name of the musician(s), the style of music, whatyou think of it, etc. Would you recommend it to a friend?Why or why not? Examine some newspaper music reviewsfor style.

Follow-up:Create a travel ad or write a travel

story about areligious buildingor monument

in another country.

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9. Art

Pretend an exhibit of religious artwork has cometo a local museum. You are the newspaper’s artcritic, and have been asked to review one of themasterpieces. Choose a painting, drawing orsculpture with a religious theme, and write anewspaper-style review of it. Who is the artist?When was it created? What does it represent?What do you think of it? Read some art reviews for style.

Those who belong to various faith groups often wear special religious clothing. Divide the class into groups, with each group researching the special clothing worn by aparticular faith (Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Natives,etc.). Show your results in the form of a newspaper fashionpage. Include a description of each article of clothing, itshistory, what purpose it serves, who wears it, etc. Examinethe newspaper’s fashion section for design ideas.

Share your newspaper page with the rest of the class. Discuss why you think different faith groups wear differentkinds of clothing. Why might the clothing change overtime? What are the advantages and disadvantages of wearing religious clothing?

Follow-up:

Follow news stories in

which religious clothing

is the source of conflict

(e.g. the wearing of a

hijab while playing

sports). Try to identify

both sides in the

conflict.

10. Clothing

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11. Native Spirituality

Before Europeans brought Christianity to Quebec, the land was inhabited by native peoples who led a richspiritual life. Native spirituality is based on the belief that all forms of life are inter-connected. The greatestimportance is placed on the land, Mother Earth.

Find newspaper articles showing that man is or is notshowing respect for the natural environment. With yourclass, discuss the attitudes towards nature that humanbeings are showing in these articles. Do you agree or disagree with the way they are behaving?

Follow-up: Use your partner’s

answers to write a newspaper-

style profile of the religious

figure. Start with the most

interesting or important thing

you learned about this person.

Include facts about his or her

life, main accomplishments,

any controversies, etc. What

affect did this individual

have on the lives of the

people of Quebec?

12. Historical Figure

Pretend you are a journalist sent to interview a religious figure from Quebec’s Catholic past. List 5-10 questions you would like to ask this person. With a partner, gather information about the historical figure from your library or the internet.Use your questions and the information gatheredto role play an interview, with your partner actingas the historical figure.

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13. Catholic Heritage

14. My Class

Until the late 1950s, the Catholic Church had a stronginfluence over all areas of Quebec life, from politics andeducation to culture and family life. Evidence ofQuebec’s Catholic heritage is still all around us.

Look around your own community. What evidence can you find of Quebec’s Catholic heritage (churches,hospitals, street names, museums, cemeteries, religioussymbols, music, etc.)? Write a news story sharing yourfindings. Add pictures and a headline.

During the past 50 years, more and more immigrants have come to Quebec from othercountries, bringing with them many different religious traditions – Islam, Hinduism, Judaism,Buddhism, etc.

How many different religious traditions are represented in your class or school?

Design a questionnaire and carry out a survey. Use the results to write a newspaper story aboutthe diversity in your class. Include a graph or other illustration.

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15. A Different Faith

16. Religious Diversity

Interview an adult from a faith that’s different fromyours. Before you begin, write down 5-10 questions you want to ask this person. (When you are talking withhim or her, you don’t have to stick to these questions,but they give you a starting point.)

Write a newspaper feature story about this person and his or her faith. (A feature story starts with the most interesting information, and contains moredescription than a regular ‘hard news’ story.)

Imagine that you are a journalist visiting a very special school.Each class consists of students from a wide variety of religiousbackgrounds, along with students who have no religious affiliation. Everyone celebrates different holidays, has differentprayer rituals, wears different clothing, etc. The goal is to learn,work and play together in harmony.

Discuss with your class: What would be the advantages of sucha school? What would be some of the problems? What ruleswould have to be established to make sure that everyone getsalong and learns as much as possible?

Write a newspaper column (opinion piece) about the benefits and challenges of this special school. Remember, a columnallows you to include not only the facts, but also your thoughtsand feelings about those facts. Read several newspaper columns before you begin.

Note:In The Gazette,columns tend

to include a photograph of the columnist.

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17. Religious Conflict

18. Dear Annie

Sometimes religious diversity can lead to conflict.Find a news story that provides an example of religious conflict and discuss it with the class. What isthe conflict about? Who is involved? What does eachside of the conflict claim? Do you think the conflictcould be resolved if each side listened to and under-stood the views of the other? Why or why not? Make a list of possible solutions to the conflict.

Imagine that someone in your class is being bulliedbecause of his or her religion. Why might the bulliesbe picking on this student? How do you think itmakes the victim feel?

Write a letter to Annie’s Mailbox asking for adviceabout how to help resolve this situation. Give yourletter to a classmate to answer.

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19. 10 Tips

20. Leaders

With newspaper items for inspiration,list 10 things we could do to becomemore tolerant and respectful of the religious beliefs and practices of others.

With a group, choose one of the great religious leaders(e.g. Jesus, Abraham, the Buddha, Muhammad, or areligious leader from Quebec’s past). Find out as muchas you can about what made this individual a greatleader, and make a presentation to your class. When all the presentations are complete, list the qualitiesthese religious leaders had in common.

Now find newspaper coverage of some of today’s leaders. List their leadership qualities. How do theycompare with the qualities of the great religious leaders of the past? Write an essay to explain your views.

Follow-up:Do you think thecurrent leaders willhave a long-lastinginfluence on theirfollowers? Why orwhy not? Write aneditorial to explainyour views.Remember to backup your opinionswith facts.

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21. Quote of the Day

22. Obstacles

The front page of the newspaper often includesan inspirational quotation of the day. As you learnabout the teachings of various spiritual leaders, lista series of 5 inspirational quotes that you thinkwould be suitable for the front page of the newspaper. The quotations should apply to everyone, not just individuals of a particular faith.

Many religious leaders overcame great obstacles in theirlives. They suffered everything from the death of lovedones to ridicule, persecution and physical attacks. As aclass, discuss some of these obstacles. How did these leaders respond to the challenges?

In the newspaper, find an article about someone who has overcome great obstacles in his or her life to achievesomething special. What were the obstacles? How did this individual overcome them?

Follow-up: Do you

know anyone who has

overcome difficult

challenges in their life?

Share the story with

your group. What can

you learn from such

stories?

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23. Community Service

24. Inspirational Movie

A common theme in religion is service to others.Discuss why you think this is so. Do you think allpeople have an obligation to help those who areless fortunate? Why or why not? Why do you thinksome people don’t help, even if they are able to?

Find a news story about a person or group who iscurrently helping people in need. Share it with yourclass. What do you think motivates this person orgroup? How is it making a difference to those in need?

Pretend you are a filmmaker turning a story from the Bibleor another sacred book into a movie. Outline the plot. (Use the 5 Ws and How.) What is the main thing you wantthe viewer to learn from this movie? Who would you castin the leading roles? Why?

Create a newspaper ad for the movie. Use movie ads fromthe entertainment section for design ideas.

Follow-up: Make a list ofthings you already do to help others (e.g. tutoring ayounger child, carrying aneighbour’s groceries). When you are finished yourpersonal list, brainstorm, as a class, a list of things onecould do to help others on adaily basis. You could alsocontact a local communityservice group and find outhow young people can help.Post the information in yourschool.

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25. Ten Commandments

26. Timeless Themes

As a class, list the Ten Commandments from the Old Testament. Break into smaller groups,and look for news stories that show someonebreaking or keeping one of the Commandments.Rewrite the lead paragraph of each story, emphasizing the commandment it deals with.

Many stories from the Bible, the Torah, the Qur’an and othersacred writings deal with themes that are still very relevanttoday – e.g. good/evil, generosity/greed, peace/war,justice/injustice, tolerance/prejudice, compassion/jealousy,honesty/dishonesty, success/challenges, etc.

Choose a story from the Bible or from other sacred teachings.List the themes dealt with in the story. Now find one or morestories from the current newspaper that deal with the sametheme. What are the similarities and differences?

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27. Good and Evil

28. Justice

Divide a large sheet of paper in two. On one half, write“Man is good.” On the other, write “Man is evil.” Fromtoday’s newspaper, paste or list items that mightdemonstrate one statement or the other. Are theresome news stories that could go on both sides? Why?

If you were to use the newspaper as your only source,would you think that man is basically good or evil, or acombination of the two? Why? Does the newspaperreflect all aspects of ‘real life’? Why or why not?

According to the Bible, the main charge against Jesus wasthat he claimed to be King of the Jews. Under Roman law,anyone who claimed to be a king was guilty of treasonagainst the emperor, and the standard punishment wascrucifixion.

Discuss how our justice system compares with justice inthe time of the early Christians. What do you think wouldhappen to Jesus today?

Write a newspaper story as it might apear if Jesus werealive today.

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29. Eye for an Eye

30. Walk a Mile

Using examples from the newspaper,write an essay contrasting the OldTestament notion of ‘an eye for an eyeand a tooth for a tooth’ with Jesus’ commandment to ‘turn the other cheek’.

A Native-American proverb advises: “Neverjudge other people until you have walked a milein their moccasins.” With a group, discuss howthis saying could apply to a story in today’snewspaper.

Follow-up: Discuss

Gandhi’s idea that

“an eye for an eye only

makes the whole world

blind.” Explain the quote

and give examples of

situations that help

illustrate it.

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31. Other Faiths

32. Creation, etc.

Research one of the lesser-known faiths, such as the Bahá’í Faith, Hare Krishna, Jainism, Rastafari,Sikhism, the Wiccan Church, Zoroastrianism, etc.

Write a news story explaining the origins, beliefs, practices, etc. of this faith. Remember to include the 5Ws and How. Share it with your class

Use newspaper words and pictures to create a collage illustrating a religious or spiritual theme such as creation, faith,grace, salvation, peace or love.

Follow-up:

Discuss the effect

that the support of

well-known people

such as movie stars

has on faiths like

Scientology or

Kabbalah.

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33. Meaning of Life

Filmmakers have long explored some of the bigquestions of life, such as: Where do we come from?Is there life after death? Is man basically good or evil?Why does man have to suffer? What is salvation?What is man’s destiny?, etc.

Examine the movie ads and reviews in today’s newspaper and identify any movies dealing withthese or related themes. What question(s) do youthink the filmmaker is trying to answer? If possible,watch one of these movies to find out what answersthe film proposes. Are they plausible?

Follow-up:

Watch any other

movie you think deals

with one of life’s big

questions. Write a

review of the movie as

it might appear in a

religious or spiritual

publication.

34. Controversy

Use the newspaper and other sources to prepare a presentation (oral or written) on one of the followingcontroversial topics (or a related topic of your own,approved by the teacher). Use information from a variety of faiths. Try to make your report as objective and balanced as possible.

• The role of women in religion• Religion and war • Religion and politics• ‘Reasonable accommodation’ of religious minorities

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35. Religious News

36. Future News

With a group, design a four-page newspaper based onreligious books or stories from the past. Include newsarticles, opinion pieces, ads, entertainment, sports, etc.

For example, of you choose the Book of Exodus fromthe Old Testament, you might include news storiesabout the escape of the Israelites from Egypt and howthey received their laws; a profile of Moses or thePharaoh; an editorial about whether or not the partingof the Red Sea was a miracle; a travel ad for MountSinai; a weather report; a horoscope for the Israelites; and a Help Wanted ad for a chariot driver.

Create the front page of a faith-based newspaper as it might appear 100 yearsfrom now. Include news stories about thereligious or spiritual issues you think willbe important then.

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37. Keeping Up

38. Crossword

Some religious institutions are trying to ‘keep up with the times’ and attract young people. A recent newspaperad, for instance, described a temple’s services as ‘free andfun’, and a news story told about a church hiring fashiondesigners to give their statue of the Virgin Mary a ‘make-over’. Do you think these initiatives will make a difference in keeping or attracting young people to religion? What else do you think religious institutions could be doing?

Create an editorial cartoon or cartoon strip showing how you think religious institutions could adapt to today’s world.

Examine crossword puzzles in the newspaper to seehow they are created.

With a partner, list 15-20 important words from your study of religious culture (Hinduism, Buddha,monotheism, ritual, crucifix, etc.). Write a definition for each word. Create a crossword puzzle using yourwords. Give it to another pair to solve.

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39. Show You Know

40. Religion Today

Over a period of several months, gather thenewspaper articles dealing with religion and spirituality that have been discussed in class. Usethe information to create a quiz show for yourclassmates. Come up with a name and a formatfor your show. Challenge your classmates tocompete.

Do you think religion has a place in today’s world?Why or why not?

Write a newspaper opinion piece about the value of religion in today’s world.

Use issues and events in the news to support your views.

Follow-up:

Write an editorial

expressing the

opposite point of

view. What did

you learn from this

exercise?