January 18th, 2013

Dear R.E. Teacher / Chaplain,

With the weather so miserable out there you might enjoy watching some of the videos in my Inspirational YouTube Playlist. Below are links to resources on Christian Unity Week & Holocaust Memorial Day and I hope you all have a very pleasant weekend.

January 18th-25th: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2013 begins today, January 18th and ends on January 25th, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The texts this year comes to us from an ecumenical group in South India. They have reflected upon their own context and offer to us a theme that calls us to respond to the obligations to act justly in the world. The text is taken from Micah 6.6-8. The materials have been adapted by the Britain and Ireland writers group and they have written additional material, including meditations for each of the 8 days, and two versions of the full worship service.

Section A, Part 4 of the J.C. R.E. syllabus has clear links with Christian Unity Week and below are some materials I have uploaded to help explore relationships between communities of faith. 

Relationships between Communities of Faith Weblinks

Communities of Faith in Ireland

Relationships between Communities of Faith: JC RE Sample Lesson Plan

January 27th: Holocaust Memorial Day

The National Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration will take place on Sunday, 27 January 2013 from 6-8pm at The Round Room, Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2. To receive an invitation, please contact the number below giving the name and address of each person requiring an invitation and also include telephone number and email if possible. Holocaust Education Trust Ireland Clifton House Lower Fitzwilliam Street Dublin 2 Ireland Tel: 01 6690593 Email: info@hetireland.org.

Every year the national Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration takes place on the Sunday nearest to 27 January every year. The event honours the memory of all of the victims of the Holocaust — six million Jews as well as over five million other victims – persecuted because of their nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religious beliefs or political affiliations. The inclusion of all of the victim groups is essential to the commemoration, highlighting the importance of education about anti-Semitism and all forms of intolerance.

There are curriculum links with SECTION A: The Search for Meaning and Values from the LEAVING CERTIFICATE syllabus. If you are following the calendar approach to senior cycle R.E. the week around January 27th is a good time to teach about the Holocaust and look out for news reports of the President attending the Memorial Day commemoration.

I have uploaded resources on the topic of the Holocaust including a handout, PowerPoint & lesson and below are various links which you may also find useful.

Teaching The Holocaust: Web Links

  •  Holocaust Education Trust Ireland: Holocaust Education Trust Ireland aims to teach about the Holocaust and its consequences. HETI designs educational and cultural programmes suitable for all ages and all walks of life.
  • Clips to view on Wing Clips: How a Holocaust Happens from the film Freedom Writers. After a finding a racist drawing, Erin tells her class how hate and propaganda paved the way for the holocaust. One More Person from the film Schindler’s List. After successfully saving over 1100 Jews, Schindler regrets that he could have saved more lives.
  • Teaching Religious Education Magazine May 2008: Page 4-6 Article written by Lloyd Bracken ‘The Search for Meaning and Values in Literature :Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning.
  • Holocaust Learning website: The questions raised by the Holocaust go to the core of the issues that students cover in RE. The resources on this site can help students question and debate the meaning of religious belief, religious identity, the nature of right and wrong, and what it means to be human. The filmed testimony of Holocaust survivors and the features written by guests in the Reflections section of this website provide different perspectives on some of these issues and fuel for students’ own debates.

  • ICT and Religious Education Assignment on the Holocaust: The task is to produce a PowerPoint presentation that looks at the various issues related to the holocaust e.g. How their faith helped the Jews, if it did.

 

Kind regards,

Gary

 

Email: garyabrahamian@gmail.com