Behaviorist Lesson Plan 2- Arleen Senas

Grades 9-12

By the end of this lesson the student will be familiar with the teachings of the Dalai Lama and will be able to identify 4 out of 7 key concepts of the teachings on a criss-cross puzzle.

The student will also apply these teachings to situations (provided by the teacher) that can take place in their own lives. Each student will write a response on how to apply the Dalai Lama’s teachings to 3 out of 5 situations and an additional situation added by the student. These responses will be graded based on the rubric attached.

 

Attachments Assignment_9.doc

 

 

The instructor will begin the lesson by showing Religion and Culture Video 3 “Buddhism and the Dalai Lama.” The instructor will then ask the students some questions on the Dalai Lama (see below). The teacher will hold a small discussion comparing the students’ religious teachings to those of the Dalai Lama.

1. What do you know about Buddhism?
2. Who is the Dalai Lama?
3. What are some key ideas of Buddha and Dalai Lama’s teachings?
4. How are they similar to and different from other religions with which you are familiar?

• -          Access to computers for teacher and students (internet access and word processing)
• -          Religion and Culture- Video 3 “Buddhism and the Dalai Lama”
• -          Projector (connected to teacher’s screen)
• -     Handouts- criss cross puzzle on vocabulary terms

• 1.      After the video, the instructor will begin with a discussion about the Dalai Lama (the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people). The instructor will explain that he escaped from Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese invasion and has lived in India ever since. He earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his efforts to negotiate peace between Tibet and China.
• 2.      Discuss the teachings of the Dalai Lama. (His message is to promote compassion, tolerance, and to reach internal peace. His teachings root from the teachings of Buddhism.)
• 3.      The students will then be asked to go to a computer and continue doing research on the Dalai Lama and his teachings. The websites on the resources can be used as starting points.  
• 4.      After the students have had sufficient time to become more familiar with the Dalai Lama’s teachings the teacher will ask if his ideas can be applied to the students’ lives.
• 5.      The instructor will provide a sample situation and solve it using the Dalai Lama’s teachings and explain that the students will be given situations to solve using the teachings.
• 6.      The instructor will place five sample situations on the projector. The students will be asked to solve three out of the five sample situations using the Dalai Lama’s teachings.

Situations

•        How could the teachings of the Dalai Lama help if a student gets a "D" on a report card?
•        How could his teachings help if students are teasing another student because of the way he or she looks, talks, or dresses?
•        How could his teachings help a student in a situation in which everyone else is drinking or smoking?
•        How could his teachings help students come to terms with the potential of terrorist attacks in their own country?
•        How could his teachings help students address the needs of someone in their community who has lost a job and is having financial trouble?
• 7.      The students will type their responses to the situations on a word processor as well as add an additional situation that they believe they could use his teachings and how they can solve the dilemma.
• 8.      The students will then be allowed to share how they used the Dalai Lama’s teachings to solve the situations.
• 9.      Finish the lesson by asking students discussion questions.
• 10. Go around room asking students for their opinion on the activity, the level of difficulty, and what they learned.

The instructor will display a sample answer to a situation that he/she will project on the board, typed, with standard grammar. He/she will describe the thinking process used to arrive at the solution to the situation.

The instructor will ask questions to start the discussion after the video:

1. What do you know about Buddhism?
2. Who is the Dalai Lama?
3. What are some key ideas of Buddha and Dalai Lama’s teachings?
4. How are they similar to and different from other religions with which you are familiar?

When the students are doing research on the Dalai Lama and his teachings the instructor will walk around the classroom assisting with the research process and will ask the following questions:

1. What are some key ideas of Buddha and Dalai Lama’s teachings?
2. Are these teachings you can apply in your everyday life.

While the students are typing up their responses to the situations the teacher will ask questions to aid the students in applying the teachings and coming up with their own situations. The teacher will ask questions such as:

1. What kind of situations in your life would you need to show compassion?
2. Why is it better to show tolerance opposed to intolerance?

The following questions will be asked after the lesson:

• 1.      What other figures in history follow similar practices to those of the Dalai Lama?
• 2.      What prominent figure today can be compared to the Dalai Lama?
• 3.      Can you use the Dalai Lama’s teachings in serious situations in your life?

 

The instructor will write a sample situation and with the help of the students will apply the Dalai Lama’s teachings to solve the situation.

After the research period, the students will be presented with five situations that they can apply the Dalai Lama’s teachings to. Each student will be responsible for solving three out of the five situations and adding an additional situation and solving it. The student will type their responses on a word processing program. Each student will also do a criss-cross puzzle to become more familiar with important terms that have to do with Buddhism and the Dalai Lama.

The teacher will then answer any questions the students may have on the Dalai Lama and will proceed by asking the students if they feel they can use these teachings in more serious situations. The students will then have the chance to comment on the teachings (if they agree, disagree, etc).

The teacher will then introduce the next day's topic by showing a short film on the fundamentals of another religion as a transition to the next lesson. The film is titled: "Religions of the World: Islam." The lesson will explore the beliefs of another religion: Islam.