A Question of Faith? Exploring Reactions to the Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Organized Prayer at School-Sponsored Events

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000623friday.html

Description: Explore community responses to the 2000 Supreme Court ruling in Santa Fe Independent School District v Doe prohibiting organized prayer before high school sporting events. Read an article from the New York Times with interviews of the town and school leaders about the issue. Study the case to understand the nuances of the ruling. Then analyze a similar hypothetical situation to formulate and support your own opinions on this First Amendment issue. Standards 11.3.5, 12.5.1, and 12.10

Author: Rachel McClain Klein, New York Times Learning Network

Lesson ID: 1578

Acrimony in Bruton Parish Church

http://www.history.org/history/teaching/acrimony.cfm

Description: In 1773 Williamsburg was not without excitement. One of the more interesting events was Bruton Parish's search for a new rector. The church had filled its vacant minister's position numerous times before with little difficulty. But this time the search involved a clash of personalities and religious doctrines. This role play activity will demonstrate to students the importance of religion in the eighteenth century and the involvement of citizens in the selection of the rector of Bruton Parish Church. Standards 8.1.1 and 11.3.1

Author: Colonial Williamsburg Foundaton

Lesson ID: 21

An Approach to Teaching Religious Tolerance

http://www.col-ed.org/cur/sst/sst40.txt

Description: The First Amendment of the Constitution states that "Congress shall pass no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The purpose of this lesson is to encourage critical analysis of what the Founding Fathers meant by religious freedom and why it is so important to continue this idea. This lesson will be useful for teachers who do not have an Internet link in the classroom but will be enhanced by making the resources at http://www.freedomforum.org/religion/index.html available to students. Standard 11.3.5, 12.1.3, 12.1.6, 12.5.1 and 12.10 civics

Author: Mary Ann Reichert, Annunciation School

Lesson ID: 64

Controversial Issues in Practice: Religious Liberty

http://static.ncss.org/files/lessons/CFJan96.pdf

Description: Examine controversial cases involving the establishment and the free exercise clauses of the First Amendment. Argue the cases in class in a moot court and write up your opinion. Standards 11.3.5, 12.2.1, and 12.10.0

Author: Maria Gallo, Social Education

Lesson ID: 260

Exporing Constitutional Conflicts: Introduction to the Establishment Clause

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/estabinto.htm

Description: What was the framer's original understanding of the Establishment Clause? Do we want "a wall of separation between church and state"? Is such a wall even possible? How should the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause be reconciled? Review the cases and discuss these and related questions. Standards 8.2.5, 11.3.5, 12.5.1 and 12.10

Author: Doug Linder, University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School.

Lesson ID: 1558

Faith-Based Initiatives: Separation of Church and State

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/teachers/lp_faith.html

Description: The principle of separation of church and state, the guarantee religious freedom and the prevention any one religious group from imposing its beliefs on others, are founding principles in U.S. government. Yet the line between the religious and the secular is often blurred, and conflict often arises between those who want to see more evidence of religious faith in public life and those who want to maintain strict separation. This tension was seen recently in the plan to fund faith-based social and charitable services with federal monies. Explore the complex territory where church and state intersect. Frame your own questions about practices regarding faith-based initiatives and charitable choice, and examine the recent issue of the Ten Commandments monument placed in front of an Alabama courthouse. Standards 11.3.1, 11.11.7, 12.10

Author: Religion and Ethics Newsweekly

Lesson ID: 1560

Interracial "Harmony" and the Great Awakening

http://www.learnnc.org/lessons/lathan952004613

Description: The students will be introduced to two episodes in 19th century American history, around the time of the Great Awakening, that show glipses of some positive and negative consequences of interracial interaction within a religious context. The students will examine primary sources from the Documenting the American South collection to then be able to write a "sermon" from the perspective of a southern itinerant preacher during the Great Awakening arguing for or against religion as a cure for the social ill of racism and slavery. Standard 11.3.1

Author: Jamie Latham, University of North Carolina

Lesson ID: 1347

Jonathan Edwards

http://www.glc.k12.ga.us/BuilderV03/LPTools/LPShared/lpdisplay.asp?LPID=8815

Description: Read and discuss the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Identify the author's purpose in the sermon. Ask the students to think about the impact the sermon would have on an audience. Ask them to imagine that they were there the first day that Edwards gave this sermon. How do they think that people reacted? Students create a newspaper front page for the year 1741. On this front page, they are to include an article on Edwards, the sermon, the Great Awakening, an editorial cartoon or column, three articles about occurrences during this year, and a timeline. Standards 8.1.1 and 11.3.2

Author: Melanie Hundley, Georgia Learning Connections

Lesson ID: 608

Lee v. Weisman (1992)

http://www.billofrightsinstitute.org/instructional/resources/Lessons/Lessons_List.asp?action=showDetails&id=117&ref=showCatD&catId=8

Description: First Amendment in History spotlights Deborah Weisman and the Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman (1992). In this case, Deborah objected to her public school district's practice of inviting clergy to deliver invocations and benedictions at graduation ceremonies. The Supreme Court agreed that the Rabbi-led non-sectarian prayer violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Standards 11.3.5, 12.5.4, and 12.10

Author: Bill of Rights Institute

Lesson ID: 1421

Religious Convictions: Exploring Current Debates Involving the Separation of Church and State

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20020204monday.html

Description: Students closely examine a variety of current issues related to freedom of religion and the separation of church and state. They then participate on talk show panels, voicing various opinions about these topics. Standards 11.3.5 and 12.10.0

Author: Alison Zimbalist, The New York Times Learning Network, Javaid Khan, The Bank Street College of Education in New York City

Lesson ID: 887