Earth
Prayers, Poems & Invocations
Program
Area
This activity is suitable for the Grade 9 Self and Society, Arts,
or Languages program. It can also be used in comparable areas
of the Grade 10 or senior curricula.
Learning Outcomes
Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the students
ability to:
Integrate the multiplicity of multicultural experiences
of peers with relation to the Earth and the world around them;
Create spiritual statements of reverence for the Earth
which are from their own cultural milieu;
Develop tolerance through the experience of sharing positive
sentiments about the Earth;
Create statements, poems, and reflections on their personal
relationship with the Earth and share them with others;
Reflect on the spiritual nature of the activity in their
Response Journals;
Develop a spiritual attachment to the Earth.
Classroom
Development
The teacher must be sensitive to students whose beliefs preclude
participation in any activity of a spiritual nature differing
from their own religious faith. Under such circumstances, the
activity can be presented in terms of invocations and poems, and
the idea of prayers should be downplayed.
This activity is best presented in the form of a single class
introduction, followed by daily presentations and occasional research
periods and creative response opportunities. The three activities
of presentation, compilation and composition may be highlighted
as the teacher sees fit.
The teacher can outline a schedule for the reading of Earth prayers
by students to students, and perhaps turn the organization of
the schedule, and the selection of presenters over to the students
themselves. One student per day will present an Earth prayer or
poem.
Over time, the book should be supplanted in favour of student
compositions and compilations. Ideally, students should be put
in control of implementing this activity.
Background
Information
The initial source would be Earth Prayers from Around the World:
365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring the Earth. This
text would soon become unnecessary, as students compile a body
of works from their own research. Such bodies of work could be
maintained in the school for the use and addition to by subsequent
classes.
The teacher should have a practical understanding of the ethnic,
cultural, and religious backgrounds of all his/her students. This
could be done, with permission from the board and in consultation
with community representatives of the groups involved, by means
of a questionnaire or informal class discussions.
Timing
Ongoing. Five minutes per class or less for presentations. Fifteen
minutes if Response Journal activities are included. About 40
min should be put aside for the presentation of the concept and
the organization of presentations. Students should be encouraged
to compile their own scrapbook of Earth Writings as
part of their Writing Folders.
Resources
Roberts, Elizabeth, and Elias Amidon Eds. Earth Prayers From
Around the World: 365 Prayers, Poems, and Invocations for Honoring
the Earth. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
This book consists of spiritual and devotional works which represent
the cultural diversity of the student population and the population
of the country as a whole. Teachers must ensure that all students
are represented, and to include works which will broaden the multicultural
horizons of student groups which are not particularly diverse.
Works composed by students from previous years should be given
preference over published works.
Cross-disciplinary
links
This activity could easily be presented in any Program. Use of
the material could be made as a meditation aid in Physical Education,
as inspiration in artistic settings, as discussion topics in Social
Science, and as a spiritual interlude in all areas. A computer
class could incorporate student compositions into desktop publishing
projects and in Hypertext documents.
Information
Sheet For Students
Whats
this all about?
This activity has two main functions. The first is to get you
to think about your homethe Earth. The second is to give
you the opportunity and outlet to explore your own culture and
religion from an environmental and literary angle, and to share
your discoveries with your peers.
Do most of this work alone, or possibly in pairs. This is your
environmental adventure through the culture and spiritual world
from which you have your roots. However, there are times when
you may wish to discuss strategies for finding source material.
Group work sessions with your peers will give you the opportunity
to share your research and creative techniques with your peers.
How
is this going to get done?
- Use class
time and your own time to examine elements of your culture and
beliefs. You are to try to discover the attitude of your own
culture towards the environment. Try to find poems, songs, prayers,
and short stories that express positive ideas about the Earth.
Catalogue these findings in a note book or journal.
- Once
you have compiled a short collection of these spiritual statements
on the environment, start to write your own. You can write original
pieces or rewrite existing ones in your own voice.
- As a
class, you should all agree on how you will present these works
praising the Earth. One of the best ways to do this is to read
one or two pieces at the start or the close of each class. If
your class keeps response journals or writing folders, you may
wish to describe your reactions to the ideas expressed in these
daily readings.
Reminder
Remember that you and your peers all have diverse religious and
cultural backgrounds; whether you are aware of them or not. You
can learn from all sources, so try to respect different works
that are presented in class. Be especially tolerant of views that
are most different from your own, because these views hold the
greatest secrets from which you can learn new ideas and ways of
seeing the Earth.
Extended
Activities
If your class has access to computers, you should think about
compiling the most interesting samples of everyone's work into
an anthology. Such a text can be in the form of a booklet, as
an electronic journal on a Free-Net, or as a Hypertext document.
The finished work can then become part of your schools reference
collection to be used and added to by students in future years.
What
can you expect from your teacher?
Your teacher has her own cultural and spiritual traditions, and
you should encourage her to participate in your project. You can
also count on her for examples of the types of work that you are
looking to find or produce. There are many such books, but one
in particular, called Earth Prayers, contains excellent examples
from many cultures. If you have always though of yourself as having
only a Western Culture, turn to your teacher for help
in locating your personal cultural roots. Another excellent source
of cultural information is your grandparents and older members
of your family.
Creative
Extensions
You should think about using the works that you have found and
created in other courses. Other classes can make use of your material
as resource material for discussions and projects, even if you
are not yet taking these courses. In Art and Drama class you can
use your material as inspiration for creative interpretation.
Conclusion
Do not miss this opportunity to explore where you come fromyour
roots! You will see how different the world that your ancestors
inhabited is from the one you live in today. From this knowledge
comes the spiritual power to imagine a different way of living.
This will help you to understand better the differences that your
peers bring to class. Finally, if you can imagine a different
world, you are on your way to make changes in the one in which
you live; perhaps for something better.
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