Year 7 RE at STM

I hope you are all enjoying your half term holiday!

As Black History Month draws to a close, it may be a good time to consider: Do we need a Black History Month? Here are a few of the TrueTube videos that you might want to watch and comment on.

DARCUS HOWE

Do you agree with Darcus Howe?

SYDRC V RAGEH

Do you think that Black History Month is directed at some communities and not others?

REAL STORY NATHALIE EMMANUEL

How important is your heritage to you?

AKALA

Do you agree with Akala? Do you think he makes a good comparison to Chinese history?

Please feel free to leave comments here on these, or any other videos that you watch on TrueTube. At the end of Black History Month, you may want to consider if / how your attitudes have changed.

Homework due on Tuesday 1 April (and no, that’s not an April Fool’s Day joke!)

Revision for your assessment next week. Your assessment will involve writing about the Sacrament of Reconciliation. You will be writing this in class, and already have most of the main notes that you will need. I suggest for revision you ask someone at home to ask you questions from your exercise books. You could also write out the main key words – contrition, confession, penance and absolution – and learn the definitions, for example by writing the word on one side of the card and the definition on the other.

Below I am including some websites that might help you with your revision.

What Christians believe about forgiveness
Notes aimed at GCSE students
St Brigit’s Church: A Guide to Confession
Youth Update at American Catholic: An article about reconciliation and forgiveness
A video explaining why Catholics go to confession
A video showing the Pope leading a Service of Reconciliation last week

Homework due on Monday 28 February.

Use the internet or library books to find out about the “western” or “wailing” wall and its importance for Jews. Write a paragraph on why it is so sacred to Jewish people.
• You must include at least three facts about the Wall.
• You should explain why it is so important and sacred for the Jewish people.
• You could include a picture of Jewish people praying at the Western Wall.

Click on the link to see a live webcam on the Western Wall.
There are interesting facts and images on this website, along with plenty of other links to websites about the Western Wall.

Moscati Tiles

Click on the picture or link above to see the tiles painted by Year 7 Moscati House students while they were on Retreat at the beginning of December. Is yours there? In time I will add the other house tiles as well. If you want your tile back, please come and see me. Otherwise, we hope to use them in a display in the Chapel. Well done everyone!

Unfortunately I was absent yesterday, so no homework was set for 7F. However, I would like you to visit the following sites and leave a comment about what you like or would improve about each of them. Happy Advent!

Jesse Tree
Culham Institute Advent Calendar

In today’s lesson we are going to be learning more about blogging and how we can use this blog to help us learn and share ideas. So far you are used to this website being a place where I write down your homework. Now I want you to start using this blog!

There are four tasks for you to complete today. These are:

Task 1 – Internet Safety.
Task 2 – How much do you know about Blogs and Social Networking already?
Task 3 – Looking at a student example of a blog.
Task 4 – Using Flickr to find interesting images.

At the end of the lesson, you could add a comment here to say something new you have learnt, and a question you still have about using blogs.

(And if you have lots of time … you can find out more about baptism by clicking here.

In class we are going to be learning about Baptism. I would like you to visit Flickr to find a photo that you think is a good illustration of baptism. Go to the bottom of the page that this link takes you to, and click on “Only search within Creative Commons – licensed photos”. Then put baptism in the search box.

Remember, don’t just choose the first photo you see! You might want to look through two or three pages until you find an image you are happy with.

Once you have chosen your image, click on it, then copy the URL in the address box at the top of the page into the comments box below. This will mean that other people can look at your image and see what they think of your choice. Add a couple of sentences to explain why you chose that particular image.

I have added a comment as an example below.

I would like you to browse through an American student’s blog. Lucy is, I think, studying the American equivalent of her GCSEs, and she is using her blog as a place to record what she is learning. You will see that she has some of her entries marked with a password, so only certain people (her teachers? her friends?) can view them. She has also attached some documents, which she can share with friends or download from different places.

Your task?
A blog is a place where you can write your daily thoughts, and look back at them later; you can also use a blog to share what you are learning with others. How might you use a blog? What is good about Lucy’s blog? How could she make it better? Write your comments below. (You can copy and paste the sentence starters below in to the comment box.)

Sentence starters
I think a blog is …

One way I might use a blog is …

One good thing about Lucy’s blog is …

An other good thing about Lucy’s blog is …

One way that Lucy could make her blog even better is …

I would like to know more about your experience of blogs. Copy and paste the questionnaire below into the comments box, then complete the answers. You can simply delete the answers that do not apply to you. This activity should be completed anonymously, so do not add your name or your email address. Thank you.

(With thanks to North Dakota State University, whose questionnaire has inspired me.)

1. How familiar are you with blogs?
a) I had never heard of them before today.
b) I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never read one or kept one.
c) I’ve read some, but I’ve not kept one.
d) I have read and kept a blog for less than a year.
e) I have read and kept a blog for more than a year.

2. Have you ever kept a personal journal or diary?
a) Yes
b) No

3. Do you have a myspace space?
a) Yes
b) No
c) I have a similar space at … [eg Bebo, Facebook ...]

4. Do you have access to the internet out of school?
a) Yes, at home, often
b) Yes, at home, limited amount
c) Yes, at the house of a friend or family member
d) Yes, at a local library
e) No

5. What do you think of the idea of using blogs to communicate with teachers, or the class, or the outside world?

I think that …

6. Please write any comments or questions you have about blogging.

[Write here]

Thank you!

Before you start blogging, it is important that you know a bit about internet safety. Click on the link below, and complete the activity. Choose the answers you think are appropriate. It would be good to complete this activity again at home with a parent/guardian.

Think U Know

The next task will involve you adding a comment to this post. Remember – only input your first name, and do not include any website address in the box that asks for your website. Your email will not be published.

Copy the sentences below into the comments box and complete them:

I already knew …

I learned …

I was surprised …

All comments should be submitted by the end of the lesson.

(With thanks to St Mary’s Bannockburn Blog)