6 hours of worldviews for 5th-12th graders
"Before you dive, get the big picture."
Fellow Buzzards,
Here are some suggestions for six hours of Worldview Orientation for 5th-12th graders at a worldviews weekend retreat held at a relatively small church, Southwest Harbor Community Church (Maine), for Chaz Reed, director of youth ministry (dated 1/29/2008).
Chaz,
Six hours for worldviews! Great! I'm glad you're going for it!
No PowerPoint, no problem. There are other ways to get the job done.
Doing something for 5th-12 grade is quite a stretch! And yet I'm glad you're starting early. Too often what the Church gives its young people in the area of worldviews is too little too late.
I’d like to suggest a dual approach in which some of the sessions are for everybody, but where you also have break-out/follow-up sessions that are age-graded between the 5th-8th graders and the 9th-12th graders.
To me, since this is such powerful information, but because it is so content-oriented, it is important to give students the information in bite-sized chunks and give them ample opportunity to use the material and talk about the material themselves.
I'm sending you some attachments. Please do not share these digital files with anyone without first talking with and getting permission. These are not quite ready for prime time and I do want to make them even better. Please go with me on this.
Session 1—Worldview Zoo (large group)
The Big Ideas:
• You’ll want to give a very simple definition of worldview: a way of looking at/interpreting the world; a shared way of understanding what’s real and what’s good; answers the biggest questions in life (who am I? where did I come from? why am I here? what’s good and bad? is there a God in heaven?)
• Everybody has a worldview, whether they realize it or not. (Now is not the time to develop all the ideas in chapter three on what all worldviews have in common.)
• You’ll want to ask: How many worldviews are there? There are a TON. But they all boil down into six basic types. If you understand these basic types, you’re good to go! You don’t have to be intimidated by this stuff!
• Describe the basic six worldviews, with their diagrams.
• Ask students for examples from their own experience that illustrate each of the various worldviews. They can use cartoons, movies, plays, books, or anything they’ve learned in school.
• At the end emphasize just two or three of the nine or ten things we talk about in the chapter entitled Still Haven't Found. This helps move the discussion from information to application. I like to emphasize: (a) Only in the biblical worldview does it make sense to say that you are created in God's image and therefore have innate dignity and worth; and (b) Only in the biblical worldview does it make sense to say that God loves you [and has proven it by sending his Son to die for you]. I like to walk people through why it doesn't make sense in the other worldviews, asking the question for each worldview (other than the biblical) and coaching the audience to come up with the answers on their own.
Between sessions: Give students time to write down questions they may have about what has been presented. These questions can be used in later sessions to burn in what’s important or what’s been unclear to people in what you’ve presented.
Session 2—Part 1. Game: Who Wants to be a Worldview Genius?
The point of this game is to quickly get people adept at using the information from the last session, and to have fun doing it.
A. First, teach “the motions” and “sounds” for each of the worldviews (see Worldview Zoo script—attached).
B. Divide into teams, across age levels. The leader has a list of sayings or slogans, each of which is best represented by one (and sometimes two) of the worldviews. The leaders dictates the saying/slogan, and on the count of three the groups give the motion that best describes that worldview. They cannot say out loud what the worldview is, and they have to all do the motion together. If they do these things right, they get a point. If not, not.
C. The winning team gets little candy bars or another prize.
Session 2—Part 2.
Divide the group into 5th-8th graders and 9th-12th graders and put them in separate rooms if possible. You’ll need to get a partner to help you lead whichever group you didn't lead in the follow-up session. The idea here is to release the power of being able to name things; this is a huge help in tackling tough subjects like worldviews.
5th-8th Graders
Tell them that the names of the worldviews we gave in the first session are not the formal names, but nicknames. Now, you’re going to come up with your own nicknames for each of the worldviews. Here are the things to keep in mind:
• They can’t be names already used
• Try to make the nicknames relate to the worldview somehow
• Try to make the nicknames fun and memorable
• Also, come up with movies, books, stories, or examples from history or geography of each of the worldviews.
9th-12th Graders
Tell them that the names of the worldviews we gave in the first session are not the formal names, but nicknames. Ask: can any of you think of the formal names for these particular worldviews? (If you think they can handle it, walk them through polytheism, monotheism, atheism, pantheism, dualism and syncretism.) Now, you’re going to come up with your own nicknames for each of the worldviews. Here are the things to keep in mind:
• They can’t be names already used
• Try to make the nicknames relate to the worldview somehow
• Try to make the nicknames fun and memorable
• Also, come up with movies, books, stories, or examples from history or geography of each of the worldviews.
Session 2—Part 3. Bring groups back together and share nicknames. The group could vote on whichever names it likes best and the leader can use the new names for the rest of the worldview orientation.
Session 3—Genesis vs. the Haunted Worldview
The most important thing about chapter ten in Blah, Blah, Blah is to highlight something that almost never gets highlighted in Christian teaching, yet it is the most important idea in Genesis 1. That most important idea is that Genesis 1 is the beginning of a Bible-long critique of polytheism and putting your trust in any spirits or gods other than the one true God.
In other words, we need to take serious the historical, cultural, religions (and, yes, worldview) context “into which” the Bible was written. To the people of the time, Genesis 1 had nothing to do with proving for or against that the Bible is scientifically accurate because science had not been invented yet. Rather, the Bible has its eyes on bigger game; to radically re-orient people’s lives toward believing the biblical worldview and loving their Creator.
Here’s a really fun option to get this point across: Get the older kids to stage the simple three-act "Ancient Near East Creation Myth Skit" which I am attaching. It’s very simple because it’s narrator-driven and the players just basically have to pay attention to what the narrator is saying and do that.
Then, as a way of burning in the message, you could review the points at the end of chapter ten and put them forward as questions, allowing the students to discuss them. Try to keep people focused on how the actual phrases of the Bible all serve to emphasize the main point (and try not to get off track) – that the entire passage is intended as a demotion of the gods and goddesses the people were familiar with and to call them to worship God.
I would also add, as a preparation for the Dinosaur Museum, that asking the Bible to speak like a scientific text may not be what the actual text is teaching. I don’t know what this particular dinosaur museum is about, but many others across the country teach the idea that dinosaurs and humans once walked the earth at the same time. This is an opinion, is very speculative and should not be confused with the main theme that Genesis 1 is trying to get across. I realize I may be touching a nerve here. Sorry, but the only reason I’m saying it is that I believe we need to have utmost respect for what the Bible text is saying, and this means to try not to make it say things it has no intention of teaching. It’s all about keeping the main things the main things.
Session 4—How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody
This is a session I’ve put together that combines Common Ground, The Power of Saying I Don’t Know, and Asking Creative Questions.
I think each of these three sessions are pretty advanced for the younger kids, but How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody is something that will be motivational for everybody.
I’ll attach a PowerPoint and a script.
An alternative would be to split the age groups according to following PowerPoints:
5th-8th Graders
How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody—adaptation of the PowerPoint. The adaptation will be up to you.
9th-12th Graders
Common Ground—adaptation of the PowerPoint. The adaptation will be up to you.
Session 5—The Core vs. the Heresies
This PowerPoint and script help clarify what’s Christian and what’s not. Using a worldview approach makes it really easy to critique other cults and religions, to know what’s wrong with them, rather than to feel like you have to know everything about them.
Session 6—Trinity, Schminity
This PowerPoint, attached, I think you’ll also like. I think the Trinity is something everybody should have a greater appreciation of.
Buying and/or Renting
Now, as far as buying or renting, I’d like to really encourage you to get a copy of Blah to everybody who comes. This would be the most cost-effective way of transmitting the most information. Your students can either read it now, or use it as a resource book as they move into higher levels of school. Making sure each person has a copy of the book will also make it so you can reinforce whatever you teach with page numbers or chapters. People won’t have to worry about taking notes because it’s all pretty much written down already in the book. What notetaking does happen will be mostly visuals.
How many books would you need? Make sure to give it at least five or six days for me to scratch up the copies and send them to you.
In addition, if you’d like to write an honorarium check for the PowerPoints, scripts and handouts, I would appreciate that a lot. It’s taken a lot of time to put these things together and to keep improving them. Even if you don’t use the PowerPoints, I think they’ll give you some good visuals and other ideas that you can put on the greaseboard or on other handouts.
Sincerely,
--Bayard Taylor
Fellow Buzzards,
Here are some suggestions for six hours of Worldview Orientation for 5th-12th graders at a worldviews weekend retreat held at a relatively small church, Southwest Harbor Community Church (Maine), for Chaz Reed, director of youth ministry (dated 1/29/2008).
Chaz,
Six hours for worldviews! Great! I'm glad you're going for it!
No PowerPoint, no problem. There are other ways to get the job done.
Doing something for 5th-12 grade is quite a stretch! And yet I'm glad you're starting early. Too often what the Church gives its young people in the area of worldviews is too little too late.
I’d like to suggest a dual approach in which some of the sessions are for everybody, but where you also have break-out/follow-up sessions that are age-graded between the 5th-8th graders and the 9th-12th graders.
To me, since this is such powerful information, but because it is so content-oriented, it is important to give students the information in bite-sized chunks and give them ample opportunity to use the material and talk about the material themselves.
I'm sending you some attachments. Please do not share these digital files with anyone without first talking with and getting permission. These are not quite ready for prime time and I do want to make them even better. Please go with me on this.
Session 1—Worldview Zoo (large group)
The Big Ideas:
• You’ll want to give a very simple definition of worldview: a way of looking at/interpreting the world; a shared way of understanding what’s real and what’s good; answers the biggest questions in life (who am I? where did I come from? why am I here? what’s good and bad? is there a God in heaven?)
• Everybody has a worldview, whether they realize it or not. (Now is not the time to develop all the ideas in chapter three on what all worldviews have in common.)
• You’ll want to ask: How many worldviews are there? There are a TON. But they all boil down into six basic types. If you understand these basic types, you’re good to go! You don’t have to be intimidated by this stuff!
• Describe the basic six worldviews, with their diagrams.
• Ask students for examples from their own experience that illustrate each of the various worldviews. They can use cartoons, movies, plays, books, or anything they’ve learned in school.
• At the end emphasize just two or three of the nine or ten things we talk about in the chapter entitled Still Haven't Found. This helps move the discussion from information to application. I like to emphasize: (a) Only in the biblical worldview does it make sense to say that you are created in God's image and therefore have innate dignity and worth; and (b) Only in the biblical worldview does it make sense to say that God loves you [and has proven it by sending his Son to die for you]. I like to walk people through why it doesn't make sense in the other worldviews, asking the question for each worldview (other than the biblical) and coaching the audience to come up with the answers on their own.
Between sessions: Give students time to write down questions they may have about what has been presented. These questions can be used in later sessions to burn in what’s important or what’s been unclear to people in what you’ve presented.
Session 2—Part 1. Game: Who Wants to be a Worldview Genius?
The point of this game is to quickly get people adept at using the information from the last session, and to have fun doing it.
A. First, teach “the motions” and “sounds” for each of the worldviews (see Worldview Zoo script—attached).
B. Divide into teams, across age levels. The leader has a list of sayings or slogans, each of which is best represented by one (and sometimes two) of the worldviews. The leaders dictates the saying/slogan, and on the count of three the groups give the motion that best describes that worldview. They cannot say out loud what the worldview is, and they have to all do the motion together. If they do these things right, they get a point. If not, not.
C. The winning team gets little candy bars or another prize.
Session 2—Part 2.
Divide the group into 5th-8th graders and 9th-12th graders and put them in separate rooms if possible. You’ll need to get a partner to help you lead whichever group you didn't lead in the follow-up session. The idea here is to release the power of being able to name things; this is a huge help in tackling tough subjects like worldviews.
5th-8th Graders
Tell them that the names of the worldviews we gave in the first session are not the formal names, but nicknames. Now, you’re going to come up with your own nicknames for each of the worldviews. Here are the things to keep in mind:
• They can’t be names already used
• Try to make the nicknames relate to the worldview somehow
• Try to make the nicknames fun and memorable
• Also, come up with movies, books, stories, or examples from history or geography of each of the worldviews.
9th-12th Graders
Tell them that the names of the worldviews we gave in the first session are not the formal names, but nicknames. Ask: can any of you think of the formal names for these particular worldviews? (If you think they can handle it, walk them through polytheism, monotheism, atheism, pantheism, dualism and syncretism.) Now, you’re going to come up with your own nicknames for each of the worldviews. Here are the things to keep in mind:
• They can’t be names already used
• Try to make the nicknames relate to the worldview somehow
• Try to make the nicknames fun and memorable
• Also, come up with movies, books, stories, or examples from history or geography of each of the worldviews.
Session 2—Part 3. Bring groups back together and share nicknames. The group could vote on whichever names it likes best and the leader can use the new names for the rest of the worldview orientation.
Session 3—Genesis vs. the Haunted Worldview
The most important thing about chapter ten in Blah, Blah, Blah is to highlight something that almost never gets highlighted in Christian teaching, yet it is the most important idea in Genesis 1. That most important idea is that Genesis 1 is the beginning of a Bible-long critique of polytheism and putting your trust in any spirits or gods other than the one true God.
In other words, we need to take serious the historical, cultural, religions (and, yes, worldview) context “into which” the Bible was written. To the people of the time, Genesis 1 had nothing to do with proving for or against that the Bible is scientifically accurate because science had not been invented yet. Rather, the Bible has its eyes on bigger game; to radically re-orient people’s lives toward believing the biblical worldview and loving their Creator.
Here’s a really fun option to get this point across: Get the older kids to stage the simple three-act "Ancient Near East Creation Myth Skit" which I am attaching. It’s very simple because it’s narrator-driven and the players just basically have to pay attention to what the narrator is saying and do that.
Then, as a way of burning in the message, you could review the points at the end of chapter ten and put them forward as questions, allowing the students to discuss them. Try to keep people focused on how the actual phrases of the Bible all serve to emphasize the main point (and try not to get off track) – that the entire passage is intended as a demotion of the gods and goddesses the people were familiar with and to call them to worship God.
I would also add, as a preparation for the Dinosaur Museum, that asking the Bible to speak like a scientific text may not be what the actual text is teaching. I don’t know what this particular dinosaur museum is about, but many others across the country teach the idea that dinosaurs and humans once walked the earth at the same time. This is an opinion, is very speculative and should not be confused with the main theme that Genesis 1 is trying to get across. I realize I may be touching a nerve here. Sorry, but the only reason I’m saying it is that I believe we need to have utmost respect for what the Bible text is saying, and this means to try not to make it say things it has no intention of teaching. It’s all about keeping the main things the main things.
Session 4—How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody
This is a session I’ve put together that combines Common Ground, The Power of Saying I Don’t Know, and Asking Creative Questions.
I think each of these three sessions are pretty advanced for the younger kids, but How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody is something that will be motivational for everybody.
I’ll attach a PowerPoint and a script.
An alternative would be to split the age groups according to following PowerPoints:
5th-8th Graders
How To Talk To Absolutely Anybody—adaptation of the PowerPoint. The adaptation will be up to you.
9th-12th Graders
Common Ground—adaptation of the PowerPoint. The adaptation will be up to you.
Session 5—The Core vs. the Heresies
This PowerPoint and script help clarify what’s Christian and what’s not. Using a worldview approach makes it really easy to critique other cults and religions, to know what’s wrong with them, rather than to feel like you have to know everything about them.
Session 6—Trinity, Schminity
This PowerPoint, attached, I think you’ll also like. I think the Trinity is something everybody should have a greater appreciation of.
Buying and/or Renting
Now, as far as buying or renting, I’d like to really encourage you to get a copy of Blah to everybody who comes. This would be the most cost-effective way of transmitting the most information. Your students can either read it now, or use it as a resource book as they move into higher levels of school. Making sure each person has a copy of the book will also make it so you can reinforce whatever you teach with page numbers or chapters. People won’t have to worry about taking notes because it’s all pretty much written down already in the book. What notetaking does happen will be mostly visuals.
How many books would you need? Make sure to give it at least five or six days for me to scratch up the copies and send them to you.
In addition, if you’d like to write an honorarium check for the PowerPoints, scripts and handouts, I would appreciate that a lot. It’s taken a lot of time to put these things together and to keep improving them. Even if you don’t use the PowerPoints, I think they’ll give you some good visuals and other ideas that you can put on the greaseboard or on other handouts.
Sincerely,
--Bayard Taylor
posted by fangorn at 1:10 AM
