GRADE 12 THEOLOGY – CHRIST AND CHURCH
UNIT # 1 SUB-SECTION: 1ATIME: 150 minutes
UNIT TITLE: Christian Person
TOPIC: Communication: Definition; Avenues and Roadblocks; “I” versus “You” messages.
EXPECTATIONS:
SC2.04 support efforts to build Christian community within the class
FLR2.01 define the skills needed to build healthy relationships
DESCRIPTION: What is communication? How does effective communication take place? What skills are essential for effective communication to take place? These are questions that will be explored in this section.
REFERENCE:
Text Creating a Christian Lifestyle; Chapter 9; pages 163-185
Supplementary resource:
New Catholic Encyclopedia: The Catholic University of America; 1967; page 33.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
OPEN:
- Define communication and the three types of communication. (Activity Sheet 1-a “What is Communication?”) Text page 164
- Discuss with the class various avenues of communication (avenues “ease the passage of information, feelings, and opinions”) and roadblocks of communication (roadblocks “can throw up all kinds of barriers that make communication nearly impossible”). There are three types discussed in the Text (pages 166 – 168). (Activity Sheet 1-b “Avenues and Roadblocks of Communication”)
- Relate and define “I” messages and “You” messages as necessary tools in effective communication. Text pages 177-179. (Activity Sheet 1-b “Avenues and Roadblocks of Communication”)
- The teacher may decide to do a role play for “I” and “You” messages. For example, students can break up into groups of three/four. Each group will think of a 30 second scenario where two people in the group will do the “You” message and then the second pair will re-enact the same scenario using the “I” message. A class discussion may ensue focusing on the importance of choosing one’s words.
- Administer quiz on Avenues and Roadblocks at the end of the lesson. (Activity Sheet 1-c) The students may do the quiz in pairs/or as a take home quiz. The answers are found on Activity Sheet 1-d.
UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE
- Follow steps 1-4 for the open class. The teacher may convert the Handouts to Overheads (Activity Sheets 1-a,1-b)
- Administer quiz on Avenues and Roadblocks at the end of the lesson. The quiz is to be administered individually.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Formative Assessment – evaluate the students working on their role plays.
Summative Assessment – Avenue and Roadblock quiz. (Knowledge and Application)
Activity Sheet 1-a: What is Communication?
what is communication?Communication is an exchange of ideas, feelings or meaning between two or more persons.
three aspects of communication:- Body Language
- Listening
- Verbal Language
Communication is said to be 55% facial, 38% vocal and 7% verbal.
Given our desire to be loved and our need to express ourselves, communication is crucial for relationships. It is an important aspect of being an involved and active Christian.
St. Thomas Aquinas noted that communication is essential for all social relations, which unites us to one common end – the universal love of God. In other words, love of God is the very basis of all communication.
Activity Sheet 1-b: Avenues and Roadblocks to Communication
To nurture a relationship through communication requires that we have an open mind. The attitude and preconceived ideas that we bring into our interaction with others determines whether they become avenues or roadblocks to verbal communication.
AVENUESvs.ROADBLOCKS
trust we act on the assumption that the other person will not hurt us or disappoint us-we do not demand evidence that the other person is trustworthy and will not let us down / self-protection we insist on seeing evidence that communication will involve no risk before we attempt to relate to another person
-we are afraid of how we will be seen
-often leads to self-fulfilling prophecy: people stop trying to communicate with us
Hope we enter into a conversation with someone because we hope it will have a desirable outcome
-we don’t however know what the outcome will be / Win-lose Attitude being right becomes more important than understanding or relating
-communication is seen as competitive
-we use conversation to establish that we are superior
Acceptance we need to accept people as they are, in all their uniqueness and specialness / Stereotyping and Judging any statement which puts someone into a role or category denies their dignity as a person
-stereotyping disregards the person’s individuality and judges him/her on the basis of preconceived ideas
“I” Message state observation, feelings, thoughts and wishes
-they express the speaker’s concern, but they leave the other person free to respond
Ex. When you stop me while I’m speaking, I don’t feel listened to.
“I” messages imply a willingness to take responsibility for one’s own responses / “You” Message tend to imply negative judgments of the other person
-they seem to want to annoy and/or anger the other
Ex. You should listen more carefully
- “you” messages force people to defend themselves
Activity Sheet 1-c
Avenues and Roadblocks Quiz
Read the following four scenarios. For each of them:
a)Identify it as showing either a ROADBLOCK or an AVENUE to communication.(4 marks)
b)Identify WHICH avenue or roadblock is being illustrated.(4 marks)
c)Justify your answer in one or two sentences.(4 marks)
- Brian was feeling very strange. How could the Jamesons move away? What’s worse, how could they sell their house to one of those families? He’d never met someone from their culture before, but he’d heard all about them: they smelled like garlic, they were mostly into construction, not like most people in the neighbourhood, and they looked like they were greasy. How gross! As he stood there, a young man in jeans, a T-shirt and a gold chain around his neck walked out of the house, looked at him and smiled. “Hi”, he said. Brian just turned around and walked away.
- Rob was furious. How could Anna disagree with him? He had said at the start of the relationship that if she ever disagreed, she should tell him, but he had never really expected that she would. If she had a difference of opinion with him now, what would happen if they ever got married? “My mom always does what Dad tells her to do”, he thought to himself. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be. That’s it. It’s my way or no way.”
- Kevin stared in disbelief. “How could the boss hire one of them? Is he nuts?” The new man sat down at this desk and began to unload his belongings into the drawers. Suddenly, something struck Kevin deep down inside. He remembered his grandfather telling him what it had been like fifty years earlier when he had been the first Englishman in the accounting firm – the looks…the comments behind his back. Ted got up and walked over to the new man. He extended his hand and said: “Hi, I’m Kevin.”
Activity Sheet 1-c (continued)
- Maria had had a number of lousy relationships in the past five years. She just kept getting involved with people who would eventually hurt her. How could they all do this to me? She sat in her apartment alone, sipping on a bottle of Jack Daniels. “That’s it”, she thought. “Forget relationships, forget friends, and forget everybody. I’m never going to let anyone hurt me again!” She put on her coat, slammed the door behind her as she left and headed for the library. In the hallway she saw a guy from the office. “How are you doing?” he asked. “You look kind of down. You want to go for a coffee and talk about it?” Leave me alone”, she shouted. “Why the hell should you care? There’s no point in trusting anyone.”
Total: 12 marks
Activity Sheet 1-d
Answer Sheet for “Avenues and Roadblocks Quiz”
- Roadblock; Stereotyping and Judging
- Roadblock: Win-lose
- Avenue: Acceptance
- Roadblock: Self-protection
GRADE 12 THEOLOGY – CHURCH and CULTURE
UNIT # 1SUB-SECTION: 1BTIME: 75 minutes
UNIT TITLE: Christian Person
TOPIC: Communication Part II– Body Language and Listening
EXPECTATIONS:
FLR2.01 define the skills needed to build healthy relationships
DESCRIPTION: The students will explore how body language affects communication as well as the importance of developing good listening skills.
LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
OPEN:
Reference:
Text Creating a Christian Lifestyle; Chapter 9 pages 162 - 185
- Provide students with overhead/handout on body language. (Activity Sheet 1-e) OR have students read text pages 168 – 169.
- Make reference to Activity Sheet 1 -f “Body Language”. Select 5 volunteers from the class and distribute one scenario per student. Give volunteer students 5 minutes to prepare 30 second role-play to depict the body language. The class is to write down what they think the body language is indicating.
- Using the text, have students read “Guidelines for Listening” pages 173 to 174. For teachers who do not have access to the text, refer to Activity Sheet 1-g.
- Distribute Activity Sheet “Listening Traps” (page 188 of Teacher’s Manual Creating a Christian Lifestyle) to the class. Have students complete the exercise on listening. A discussion may follow.
UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE:
Same as Open.
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Formative assessment: circulate while students are completing Activity Sheet 1d.
Activity Sheet 1-e
BODY LANGUAGE
Communication involves more than just words. How we dress, how we move our hands, what posture we take, all give a message to anyone listening.
These non-verbal actions consist of things such as facial expressions, posture, tone and pitch of voice, rate of speech, clothing and the use of physical space. Example: a wink, a hug, a scowl, crossing arms…
People have a tendency to believe these more readily than they do our verbal messages perhaps because they are less conscious and less subject to control.
Body language can also be easily misinterpreted. Is looking away a sign of disinterest or shyness? Touching can also be misinterpreted since it is relative to cultures, circumstances, etc.
Source: Adapted from Creating a Christian Lifestyle, pages 163-185
Activity Sheet 1-f
BODY LANGUAGE SCENARIOS
Your head is lowered, your shoulders are slumped and you drag yourself through the room as you just found out that you failed an important test that is significant to your mid-term grade.Answer: Disappointed, Saddened
You roll your eyes. Place your hand firmly on your hip, tap your foot and then fold your arms and wait because someone is not listening to you.
Answer: Upset, Annoyed
You quickly glare in someone’s direction, wrinkle your forehead and frown to indicate that someone has made an inappropriate comment.
Answer: Angry, Irritated
While pretending to speak with a classmate, you look around, shift your position constantly and tap your fingers.
Answer: Frustrated, Irritated, Pressed for Time
While pretending that someone is talking to you, you slouch in your seat, yawn, and look around at your watch.
Answer: Bored, Uninterested
Activity Sheet 1-g
GUIDELINES FOR LISTENING
- Hold your tongue (keep quiet) and be attentive.
- Convey an open spirit with your body language.
- Stay in eye contact.
- Avoid assuming anything about what the other person will say.
- Give signals that you are listening.
- Help by summarizing occasionally.
- Ask clarifying questions.
- Check your perception of the speaker’s body language.
- Let the person know if you cannot listen at the time.
Source: Adapted from Creating a Christian Lifestyle, pages 173-174
GRADE 12 THEOLOGY – CHURCH AND CULTURE
UNIT # 1SUB-SECTION: 1CTIME: 75 minutes
UNIT TITLE: Christian Person
TOPIC: Communication: Verbal Language and Handling Conflicts
EXPECTATIONS:
FLR2.01 define the skills needed to build healthy relationships
DESCRIPTION: The students will discuss the importance of verbal language using the “Murder Mystery Game”. They will also discuss a variety of ways to handle conflicts.
Reference:
Text Creating a Christian Lifestyle; Chapter 9; Pages 162 - 185
Material from Faculty of Education, York University
LEARNING ACTIVITIES:
OPEN:
1.Teacher Preparation: familiarize yourself with this game prior to the class.
2.Murder Mystery Game:
Preparation: Teachers must photocopy the clues provided for each group and distribute them in envelopes with the instruction sheet to be given to the group leader. Students are to be placed in groups of 4 (preferably) and designate a group leader who will evenly distribute the clues to members of his/her group. Each student should receive a maximum of 5 clues of the 20 provided. The students are to communicate these clues verbally with the other members in order to solve the mystery. They are not permitted to write down any clues that they have received. The first group to solve the mystery WINS
For teacher’s eyes only: Answer to the murder mystery: Victim is Mr. Thompson; Murderer is the elevator man; Weapon is a knife; Time of murder is 12:30 a.m.; Place of murder is the park. Motive jealousy.
Activity Sheets 1 h “Murder Mystery Exercise” and Activity Sheet 1-i “Murder Mystery Clues”.
Teacher can debrief the importance of verbal communication in solving this dilemma.
3.Link verbal language to handling conflicts. Present overhead/handout on handling conflicts to students. (Activity Sheet 1-j) Text page 181-185
UNIVERSITY/COLLEGE:
- Same as Steps 1-3 as open class.
- Have students write a reflection using the following guide:
“Recall a recent conflict that you had with someone. Answer these questions in writing:
i)Did you use any of the principles for handling conflict, and if so, which ones?
ii)Which principle is hardest for you to follow?”
ASSESSMENT/EVALUATION
Formative Assessment: Circulate while the students are playing the Murder Mystery Game.
Summative Assessment: University/College: Collect reflection and assess using Writing Assignment Rubric (see Appendix).
Activity Sheet 1-h
MURDER MYSTERY EXERCISE
The task of the group is to solve a murder mystery by finding the murderer, the weapon, the time of the murder, the place of the murder, and the motive. Each member has some clues that will help solve the mystery. These clues must be communicated verbally, but the cards may not be shown to other group members. In addition you may not write down the clues on a separate sheet of paper. Remember to play by the rules!Activity Sheet 1-i
clues:Mr. Thompson had been dead for about an hour when his body was found, according to the medical examiner.
Mrs. Scott did not see Mr. Thompson leave through the lobby while she was waiting.
Bloodstains corresponding to Mr. Thompson’s blood type were found in the basement parking garage.
Police were unable to locate Mr. Barton after the murder.
Mr. Thompson’s blood type was found on the carpet outside Mr. Barton’s apartment.
There were bloodstains in the elevator.
When he was discovered dead, Mr. Thompson had a bullet wound in his calf and a knife wound in his back.
Mr. Barton shot at an intruder in his apartment building at midnight.
Mr. Thompson had virtually wiped out Mr. Barton’s business by stealing his customers.
The elevator operator reported to police that he saw Mr. Thompson at 12:15 a.m.
The bullet taken from Mr. Thompson’s calf matched the gun owned by Mr. Barton.
Activity Sheet 1-I (continued)
clues:Only one bullet had been fired from Mr. Barton’s gun.
The elevator man said Mr. Thompson did not seem too badly hurt.
A knife that was found in the parking garage had been wiped clean of fingerprints.
Mrs. Scott had been waiting in the lobby for her husband to get off work.
The elevator man went off duty at 12:30 a.m.
Mr. Thompson’s body was found in the park.
Mr. Thompson’s body was found at 1:20 a.m.
Mrs. Scott had been a good friend of Mr. Thompson and had often visited his apartment.
Mrs. Scott’s husband had been jealous of the friendship.
Mrs. Scott’s husband did not appear in the lobby at 12:30 a.m., the end of his normal working hours. She had to return home alone and he arrived later.
At 12:45 a.m., Mrs. Scott could not find her husband of the family car in the basement parking lot of the apartment building where he worked.
Activity Sheet 1-j
Handling Conflicts
- Conflict is inevitable in all relationships.
- They can help us to clarify our thinking, sharpen our principles, and test our skills of communication.
- How they are resolved is the key to whether we handle conflicts well or poorly.
The following principles help one deal constructively with anger and resolving conflicts:
- DO UNTO OTHERS
Do you like it when people are condescending? Why they try to compromise?
They probably feel the same way as you do.
- GO TO THE SOURCE
Speak to the person with whom you are in conflict. Involving a third party leads to more confusion and makes the problem worse.
- GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT
Don’t act on rumor. Take the time to find out the truth.
- TAKE A PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH
State the problem clearly. Brainstorm for possible solution. Evaluate each solution and choose one.