Beliefs UOI reflection

To wrap up our unit of inquiry on "Who we are belief system".

The children had to complete a reflection. They were asked to think about how they thought.....
- At the start of the unit I used to think ....
- Now I think......
- Ways my attitude, the way I think have changed (How will I act)




Before they wrote down their thoughts we completed a discussion donut where they shared their thoughts with one person then rotated and listened and shared to another person.

Some great discussion took place.



Once completed the class then recorded their thoughts and created a blog post on their reflections. Check out their blogs

Islam Mosque visit

On Thursday the grade 4 children loaded up onto buses for their last field trip.

This time we visited an Islam Mosque as part of our unit of inquiry on Beliefs.






It was a beautiful building.

The Imam (head priest) spoke to the children about the Islam faith (Muslim) and answered the children's questions.

The girls all enjoyed having to cover their heads and wear head scarfs as a sign of respect of the Islam faith.

UOI belief presentations

This week the children shared their presentation that they had been working on with their partner to the class.



Each pair was assigned a religion (belief) that they had to research then present what they had found to the class.







It was great listening to the class talk about different religions and the common similarities between the various religions.


Most groups choose to present their work in a slide (power point) or poster.

Here is just one example of the work they had been doing

Visiting Jewish Synagogue

Today the Grade 4 children loaded back onto the buses and got the opportunity to visit a Jewish Synagogue.


The Jewish community have built a new synagogue and it was great to see what they have done.


Rabbi Butman spoke to the children about the various traditions that the Jewish faith (Judaism) follow and the history of the faith.

Understanding other peoples beliefs

As part of our unit of inquiry on "Who we are belief system" the class paired up and researched with their partner one of the top 6 major faiths.



These being Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism and Judaism.




The children had to find facts about their faith under the following headings
History
Belief
Place of worship
Celebrations
Holy books and symbols
Daily practices




It was great listening to them discuss the different faiths. Some they had heard of some they hadn't.
The message that seems to be the same in all the faiths is that we all need to be tolerant of other peoples beliefs and values.

Just because someone is of a certain faith does not mean they are bad as portrayed sometimes in the media.

Catholic Church Visit

Today all the G4 children visited a Catholic Church and had Father Charlie talk to the children about "Christianity".


The drive to the church was interesting as we weaved in and out of narrow back streets. At one stage I thought we would not be able to fit through some of the ally ways in our vans.

As part of our unit "Who we are belief systems" the children got to see what the Christian Faith hold dear to them.

Father Charlie talked to them about how a mass (church service) is run and the different areas with in the church. He also stressed to the children that it is the people in the church that make the church, not the physical building.


His big message to the children was that christians believe in love, forgiveness and getting on with everyone. Something everyone should live by.

Father Charlie also explained the work the church does with families in Phnom Penh.

The church has kindergarten classes that they run for disadvantaged families at the church.
The also have a community medical centre, a house that families can stay in while their children are in hospital and hospice (support for families that have someone dying).

It was really great to hear what the church does for disadvantaged families in Phnom Penh.