The Social Studies Department Has the Following Core Goals: to Develop in Our Students

The Social Studies Department Has the Following Core Goals: to Develop in Our Students

RELIGIOUS STUDIES CURRICULUM

Department Mission Statement

The Religious Studies Department of Immaculate Heart Academy is committed to proclaiming Gospel values by encouraging all students to open their hearts and minds to living the Good News of Jesus Christ so that they “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” (St. Francis of Assisi) Thus, they are invited to respond to God’s invitation to live the teachings of Jesus Christ as lived through the Christian Catholic Traditions. We seek to develop and to promote the following in our students

  • To understand the basic doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith so that it is seen as more than a system of thought, or an ethic, but rather a way of life rooted in Jesus Christ who is the way to the Father
  • To recognize and respond to the call of God in her life by coming to a realization of her responsibility to be a woman of peace, justice and compassion in our world and as a woman made in the image and likeness of God, she will be encouraged to discover, embrace, and nurture, her innate human desire to be one with God in her spiritual journey.
  • A reverence for the sacramentality and mystery of the Catholic tradition in all of life and to embrace the centrality of the Eucharist in Christian worship
  • A living appreciation for the Church as a community of believing people who incarnate the Body of Christ in the world through belief, witness and active service to the community and to respect the richness and limitations of various cultures and religious traditions
  • To appreciate and support a student's unique journey of faith by affirming and empowering her full participation in the life and mission of the Church.

Curriculum Standards

(NOTE: The numbers are references to the Newark Archdiocesan Catechetical Curriculum Guidelines for High School Programs.)

STANDARD 1: The student will understand the basic doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith.

(0804)

STANDARD 2: The student will be able to apply the message of the Gospel in all aspects of life (0803)

STANDARD 3: The student will be able to recognize and respond to the call of God in her life by coming to a realization of her responsibility to be a woman of peace, justice and compassion in our world. (0804)

STANDARD 4: The student will have a reverence for the sacramentality and mystery of the Catholic Tradition in all of life. (0805)

STANDARD 5: The student will understand that Catholic Christianity is more than system of thought, a philosophy, or an ethic, rather a way of life rooted in Jesus Christ, who is the way to the Father. (0806)

STANDARD 6: As a woman made in the image and likeness of God, the student will be encouraged to discover, embrace, and nurture, her innate human desire to be one with God in her spiritual journey. (0818; 0808)

STANDARD 7: The student will have a living appreciation of the Church as a community of believing people who incarnate the Body of Christ in the world through belief, witness, and active service to the community (0806).

STANDARD 8: The student will be able to embrace the centrality of the celebration of the Eucharist in Christian worship. (0820)

STANDARD 9: The student will “respect the richness and the limitations of various cultures and religious traditions.” (0821)

Course Goals and Outlines

Religious Studies I

Religious Studies II

Morality

Sacraments

Social Justice

Spirituality and Literature

Spirituality and Media

Lifestyles

Death/Resurrection

Unit Proficiencies

Religious Studies I

Religious Studies II

Morality

Sacraments

Social Justice

Spirituality and Literature

Spirituality and Media

Lifestyles

Death/Resurrection

Religious Studies I: Goals and Course Outline

DEPARTMENT: Religious StudiesDATE: 2006-2007

COURSE TITLE: Religious Studies ICOURSE NUMBER: 7120

 YEARQPA: 4.5

 SEMESTERCREDITS: 5

TEXTBOOKS: (Title, Author, Publisher, Edition)

Understanding Catholic Christianityby Thomas Zanzig and Barbara Allaire, Saint Mary’s Press, 1997.

Sex and the Teenager by Kiernan Sawyer, S.S.N.D., Ave Maria Press, ©1999.

GOALS: Students will be able to

  1. Demonstrate an understanding of the basic doctrines and sacraments of the Roman Catholic faith.
  2. Identify and trace the internal and external influences on their self-development and faith life.
  3. Understand how to read critically, to interpret and apply church teachings, to communicate an understanding of church teachings through oral, written, and technological means.

CONTENT OF COURSE:

FIRST SEMESTER

Unit 1: Self-development

  1. Adolescent Development.
  2. Self Awareness and Self Acceptance
  3. Gifts and Givens
  4. Using Gifts and Givens
  5. Friendship
  6. Critical thinking, Cultural Values, Catholic Values

Unit 2: Faith Life

  1. Images of God
  2. Process of Faith
  3. Individual and Shared Experiences of God
  4. Expressing Faith/Community Faith
  5. Structure and Meaning of the Catholic Mass

Unit 3: Life and Mission of Jesus Christ

  1. Doctrine of Incarnation
  2. Jesus of Nazareth, Early Life
  3. Jesus Christ: Teachings and Mission
  4. Kingdom Values

SECOND SEMESTER

The Life of the Church

  1. Living out Church Tradition
  2. Overview of the Seven Sacraments and the Sacramental life
  3. The Paschal Mystery as the foundation of life with Christ
  4. Prayer and spirituality: growing in life with Christ

FOURTH QUARTER

Morality and Sexuality

  1. The Decalogue, Conscience, Individual moral decision making
  2. Defining sexuality and Catholic teaching
  3. Healthy human relationships
  4. Consequences of living out one’s sexuality

Religious Studies I Unit Proficiencies

Students will be able to…

UNIT I: ADOLESCENT DEVELOPMENT AND OUTSIDE INFLUENCES

  1. Identify and understand adolescent development and its three crucial tasks.
  2. Develop an awareness of barriers to self development and self acceptance.
  3. Identify one’s gifts/givens to live one’s full potential
  4. Analyze one’s gifts/givens to determine what is within one’s control and to respond to God’s call.
  5. Evaluate qualities of good friendships isolate what characteristics of friends serve their highest self.
  6. Implement critical thinking to evaluate the role of friendships, cultural values and Catholic values on one’s personal and spiritual development and value system.

UNIT 2: FAITH LIFE

  1. Explore the use of metaphors in speaking about God and create a personal image of God.
  2. Identify trust and belief as aspects of faith in God.
  3. Distinguish God’s role from each individual’s role in building a personal relationship with God.
  4. Describe the use of human reason in gathering evidence for God’s existence and define sources of God’s Revelation.
  5. Differentiate between faith and religious practice and demonstrate the connection each has to the other.
  6. Identify the centrality of the Catholic Mass as a communal expression of shared faith and as an important means to personal religious development.
  7. Explain the four distinct sections of the Catholic Mass and identify individual prayers and rituals within each section.

UNIT 3: LIFE AND MISSION OF JESUS CHRIST

  1. Define the Doctrine of Incarnation and the possibilities the doctrine implies for each individual in relationship to God.
  2. Discuss important people, places, events, scriptural references and concepts, including the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, in relation to the early life of Jesus of Nazareth as background for understanding Jesus’ teachings and mission.
  3. Explore the teachings of Jesus through His words and actions.
  4. Identify Jesus’ Mission from His teachings.
  5. Generalize values that describe the Kingdom of God from specific actions and teachings of Jesus.
  6. Evaluate the relevance of “Kingdom values” to the present-day world and to each individual’s life.

UNIT IV. THE CHURCH: FOUNDATION, STRUCTURE AND MISSION

  1. Understand the Church as People of God, Body of Christ, and Temple of the Holy Spirit
  2. Develop an insight into the Church’s wisdom through the study of its Tradition
  3. Distinguish among the different states of life in the church and their roles
  4. Explore their place and role in the life of the Church
  5. Identify Mary as Model of the Church and Mother of the Church

UNIT V. OVERVIEW OF SACRED SCRIPTURE

  1. Understand the origin of the Sacred Scripture
  2. Increase their awareness of how to utilize scripture and apply it to everyday life

UNIT VI. THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS, LITURGICAL YEAR, SACRAMENTALS

  1. Relate the spirituality of the saints to themselves and the continuation of the Mission of JesusChrist
  2. Understand the purpose and pattern of the liturgical cycle
  3. Develop an understanding and appreciation for praying the rosary

UNIT VII. LIVING OUT CHURCH TRADITION

  1. Distinguish the difference between faith and religious practices and understand their relationship to each other
  2. Develop an appreciation for the structure and experience of the Mass

UNIT VIII. OVERVIEW OF THE SEVEN SACRAMENTS AND THE SACRAMENTAL LIFE

  1. Understand the origin of the seven sacraments
  2. Develop and increase their awareness of the sacraments and the importance of actively receiving and practicing them

UNIT IX. THE PASCHAL MYSTERY AS THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE WITH CHRIST

  1. Study the mysteries of the Resurrection, the Ascension and Pentecost
  2. Recognize the importance of these theological teachings as integral to the Christian faith life

UNIT X. PRAYER AND SPIRITUALITY: GROWING IN LIFE WITH CHRIST

  1. Identify the different forms of prayer
  2. Experience the different forms of prayer
  3. Embrace the form of prayer which enhances their prayer life and spirituality

UNIT XI. THE DECALOGUE, CONSCIENCE, INDIVIDUAL MORAL DECISION MAKING

  1. Define Christian morality and conscience and their roles in moral decision making
  2. Identify the sources of Catholic Moral Teaching
  3. Understand the three themes of Catholic Moral Teaching
  4. Understand and apply Christ’s command to love God, self and others
  5. Explain the relationship of grace, sin and the Decalogue to Christian morality
  6. Be aware that one’s morality is an expression of the response to God’s call to love
  7. Apply Christ’s commandment to love God and neighbor
  8. Recognize and explore the means to apply the method of moral decision making

UNIT XII. DEFINING SEXUALITY AND CATHOLIC TEACHING

  1. Recognize that sexuality is a gift from God (Theology of the Body)
  2. Understand the sexual development and maturation of both males and females, and recognize how this applies to their own personal development
  3. Understand that sexual intercourse is an expression reserved for the sacrament of matrimonyas a way to create new life and to express the loving bond that the sacrament represents
  4. Identify and explain the church teaching on contraception, premarital sex, homosexuality and abortion

UNIT XIII. HEALTHY HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

  1. Define and identify love, infatuation, friendship and exploitation and how they impact relationships
  2. Recognize the importance of intimate relationships and the role they play in preparing forappropriate life-giving adult relationships
  3. Identify what personal boundaries are and their importance in relationships
  4. Compose their own personal boundaries to set as personal goals to live by

UNIT XIV. CONSEQUENCES OF LIVING OUT ONE’S SEXUALITY

  1. Define and identify the physical, emotional and spiritual consequences of premarital sex, contraception and abortion
  2. Understand the reality and implication of teen pregnancy and teen parenthood

Religious Studies II: Goals and Course Outline

DEPARTMENT: Religious StudiesDATE: 2006-2007

COURSE TITLE: Religion IICOURSE NUMBER: 7220

 YEARQPA: 2.5

X SEMESTERCREDITS: 2.5

TEXTBOOKS: (Title, Author, Publisher, Edition)

Written On Our Hearts, The Old Testament story of God’s Love, Mary Reed Newland, St. Mary’s Press, 2002

GOALS: Students will

  1. Evaluate the bible as a religious and theological document, work of literary genius and a historical and cultural accumulation.
  2. Formulate through analysis, a personal concept of the spirit and message of Scriptural stories, from the Old Testament prehistory through the parables and teachings of Jesus
  3. Recognize the impact of political and social events on the Israelites throughout salvation history.
  4. Conclude that despite the continuing failure of the Israelites, God always welcomed them back with unconditional love
  5. Develop an appreciation for the Hebrew Scriptures as the inspired Word of God.
  6. Formulate through analysis, a personal concept of the spirit and message of Scripture from the Gospels, non Gospel letters, sermons and stories as well as the people involved in the course of Jesus’ journey to salvation.
  7. Recognize the impact of Jesus throughout Salvation History as well as on the political and social event of the time.
  8. Conclude and support that Jesus, though fully human, displayed His divinity by bringing Salvation to all who believe through the events of the Paschal Mystery.
  9. Develop an appreciation for the Catholic Scriptures as the inspired Word of God.

CONTENT OF COURSE:

FIRST SEMESTER: Hebrew Scriptures

Unit 1: God’s Creation and Promise

  1. God’s Love Letter
  2. The Prehistory Stories
  3. Abraham and the Covenant
  4. Abraham’s Descendants – The Twelve Tribes of Israel

Unit 2: The Giving and Living Out of the Covenant

  1. The Exodus Experience - Moses
  2. The Plight and Flight of the Israelites
  3. The Sinai Covenant
  4. Idolatry – The Disobedience of the Israelites

Unit 3: Journey to the Promised Land

  1. The Book of Leviticus
  2. Into the Wilderness - The Book of Numbers
  3. The Book of Deuteronomy
  4. Joshua – Claiming the Promised Land

Unit 4: Becoming a Nation Worthy Of Being God’s People

  1. The Call of Samuel
  2. The Origins of the Kingdom
  3. David – The Chosen One
  4. The Davidic Covenant

Unit 5: The Challenge of the Prophets

  1. Prophets - “Conscience of .Israel”
  2. The Major Prophets
  3. The Babylonian Exile
  4. Jesus – The Fulfillment of the Prophecy

Unit 6: Amazing Grace – Being Lost and Found

  1. The Remnant
  2. “Problem of Evil”
  3. The Evolution of Eternal Life
  4. History and Interpretation of the Psalms

SECOND SEMESTER: Christian Scriptures

Unit 1: The Historical Jesus

  1. Christology and the Divinity of Christ
  2. Jesus through historical sources and the New Testament
  3. Purpose and organization of the Christian Scriptures
  4. Cultural impact on the writing of scripture

Unit 2: The Life and Ministry of Christ

  1. Jesus through the study of the Gospels
  2. Infancy Narratives
  3. Jesus’ Public Ministry
  4. Messages of Jesus as expressed through the Parables and the Miracles

Unit 3: The Journey to Salvation

  1. Jesus’ Path to Jerusalem
  2. Do This In Remembrance of Me
  3. The Road to Calvary
  4. He Is Risen

Unit 4: The Catholic Tradition Begins

  1. The Ascension and Pentecost
  2. The Letters of Paul
  3. The non-Gospel instruction to the early Christians
  4. Revelation – He will come again

Religious Studies II:Unit Proficiencies

Students will be able to…

FIRST SEMESTER: Hebrew Scriptures Unit Proficiencies

UNIT 1: GOD’S CREATION AND PROMISE

  1. Analyze and evaluate the stories of God’s creation and promises in the Book of Genesis.
  2. Examine the literary form of myth in the Creation stories and understand the deeper truth presented in these stories.
  3. Conclude that God is a God who acts in history as demonstrated in the story of Salvation History.
  4. Determine and analyze the events in salvation history during biblical times

UNIT 2: THE GIVING AND LIVING OUT OF THE COVENANT

  1. Construct and examine the role of Moses in the Israelites flight from slavery in Egypt, the covenant at Sinai and the journey to the Promised Land.
  2. Determine and defend the significance of the Exodus and Covenant of Sinai
  3. Examine Mosaic Law and appraise the Israelites aptitude in the living out of the Covenant.
  4. Foster an appreciation for God’s faithfulness in the midst of the sins of the Israelites.
  5. Select and analyze the recurring themes of faithfulness, sinfulness and forgiveness in the stories of Salvation History.

UNIT 3: JOURNEY TO THE PROMISED LAND

  1. Dissect and evaluate the Sacrifices of Atonement and Holiness Codes from the Book of Leviticus while integrating the lessons into modern culture.
  2. Determine the factors that led to the plight of Moses and the jealousy of Miriam and Aaron in the Book of Numbers.
  3. Integrate the Shema and the Great Commandment as well as examine the expanding rules and laws given to the Israelites in the Book of Deuteronomy.
  4. Compare and contrast the historical and theological perspectives of the early Israelite nation and its inaugural leader Joshua.

UNIT 4: BECOMING A NATION WORTHY OF GOD’S PEOPLE

  1. Examine God’s call and its impact on the role of Samuel as a prophet.
  2. Illustrate and support the historical and theological issues created by the Israelites’ journey to nationhood including the main figures Samuel and Saul.
  3. Evaluate and justify God’s use of the strengths and weaknesses of human beings to bring about His plan of Salvation.
  4. Conclude the historical and theological meaning of the Davidic Covenant and while tracing the Royal House of David through Jesus Christ.

UNIT 5: THE CHALLENGE OF THE PROPHETS

  1. Interpret the literary genius and evaluate the theological and historical impact of the Prophets, the “Conscience of Israel.”
  2. Differentiate and compare the messages of the major prophets of the Old Testament.
  3. Determine the relevant factors of the Babylonian exile and interpret the message of the prophets.
  4. To correlate the message of the prophets to its realization through Jesus Christ

UNIT 6: AMAZING GRACE – BEING LOST AND FOUND

  1. Examine the period of Restoration after the exile as the Hebrew people rebuild the temple and establish a clear sense of identity as Jews.
  2. Generate and support a philosophical understanding of the “Problem of Evil”.
  3. Compose and summarize the philosophical journey towards the Catholic belief in Eternal Life
  4. Analyze and prioritize the literary, historical and theological genius of the Wisdom authors.
  5. Demonstrate the historical significance and theological value of the psalms.
  6. Examine and evaluate the structure of psalms through interpretation and formulation of personal psalm structure.

Christian Scriptures Unit Proficiencies:

UNIT 1: The Historical Jesus

  1. Demonstrate and appraise the mystery of Christ’s humanity and divinity through the study of Christology.
  2. Evaluate the historical significance given to Jesus in historical and theological context through study of secular history as well as sacred scripture.
  3. Recall and distinguish the historical process of compiling and editing the inspired words that are the Catholic Canon.

UNIT 2: The Life and Ministry of Christ

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