Who Are Our Partners Around the World?

A UU Partner Church Council Curriculum (2003)

by Betsy Hill Williams <bwilliams120@charter.net>

  

Development of this curriculum has been funded and supported by the Unitarian Universalist Sunday School Society. Betsy Williams is the primary author. The (North American) Unitarian Universalist Partner Church Council's Religious Education Materials Group (Gretchen Thomas (Chair), Ruth Gibson, Ann Willever, Beverly Moore, and Friends) coordinated work on the curriculum from 2002 to 2004.

 

The following advisors collaborated with Betsy Williams on this project:

Gretchen Thomas (the UUPCC RE Materials Group chair and field test coordinator)

Darihun Khriam, Nangroi Suting, and Derrick Pariat (for the Khasi Hills lesson),

Jozsef Kaszoni, Istvan Kovacs, and Kinga Reka Zsigmond, and (for the Transylvania/Hungary lesson)

Ruth Gibson (for the Transylvania/Hungary and Partnership lessons),

Pat Hoertdoerfer (for the Khasi Hills and North America lessons),

Jory Agate and Rebecca Quimada Sienes (for the Philippines lesson).

Petr Samojsky (for the Czech Republic lesson)

Sarah Tinker and Jean Mason (for the Great Britain lesson)

Meg Roberts and Terry Rahbek Nielson (for the Canada lesson)

Thanks to Laura Evonne for directions on how to make a folded 8-page booklet.

 

If you need help with downloading, contact David Room daveroom@yahoo.com. If you have suggestions for improvements or additions to the curriculum, contact Gretchen Thomas gretchen.thomas@tele2.se.

 

Overview of the curriculum

There are a total of ten lessons in this curriculum.

  • All congregations should start with Lesson #1, Our Partners Around the World.
  • Seven of the remaining lessons are “traveling” lessons, in which you visit and learn about different countries where the PCC partners with Unitarian or Unitarian Universalist congregations: Khasi Hills, India; Transylvania (Romania including, Hungary); Philippines; Canada; Czech Republic; and Great Britain.
  • In addition, there are two US lessons: one for US congregations, and one for non-US congregations. If you are a non-US congregation, use the US Traveling Lesson. If you are a US congregation, use the US Host Lesson and use it as the last lesson in your program.
  • If you are a non-US congregation, turn the lesson for your own country into a “host” lesson using the US Host lesson as a model and use it as your final lesson
  • The lesson titled What is Partnership? provides a break from the game format and could be done after completing 2 or 3 traveling lessons.
  • You can do arrange the traveling lessons in any order and use as many or as few as you like. If your congregation has a partner church, we suggest you choose the lesson for your partner’s country as one of the your early lessons.
  • A typical series of lessons for a US congregation would be:
    Introduction to partnership (lesson #1)
    Transylvania/Hungary (or trade with your partner’s country)
    Khasi Hills
    Great Britain
    What is partnership?
    Philippines
    Czech Republic
    Canada
    US Host lesson

 

Lesson Links

Opening Lesson #1: Our Partners Around the World

Our Partners in the Khasi Hills

Our Partners in Transylvania

Mid-way Lesson #4: What Is Partnership?

Our Partners in the Philippines

Our Partners in the Czech Republic

Our Partners in Britain

U.S. Closing Lesson (Host) (Traveling)

Canada Closing Lesson (Traveling)

 

The Partnership Suitcase

We suggest you use an old, large, interesting suitcase as a storage place for all the materials needed for that day’s lesson. Use the suitcase for dramatic effect, pulling out props throughout the lesson as needed, and keeping the participants’ passports safe, as a trip leader would do. Be sure to collect every passport at the end of each lesson and keep them in the suitcase between meetings.

 

Storage of the Lesson Material

We suggest you use an accordion-type folder to keep the components for each lesson (folded game board, game pieces and cards in a zip lock bag, stories, lesson plans) together, and to keep the different lesson materials separated from each other.

 

Snack

Snack suggestions have been made for the traveling lessons. We suggest you involve your congregation’s Partner Church Committee with making the snack for each lesson. One (the Transylvania snack) has a special recipe that is linked to the Transylvania lesson plan. The others simply require shopping ahead. The non-traveling lessons do not have snack suggestions. If you customarily have a snack, use whatever you usually have for those two lessons. If you don’t usually have a snack, you won’t need to provide one for these lessons.

 

Curriculum Assembly

We strongly suggest that you get help from your congregation’s Partner Chruch Committee to download and assemble the games for these lessons and also to prepare the snack for each lesson.

 

Here are the documents you will download for each lesson:

 

Documents to download:

For Lesson #1--Introduction to Partnership 1 you will need to download and then make copies of:

  1. Lesson Plan (one for each teacher).
  2. Passport document (one for each participant) Note: Use Passport for US if you are a US congregation, and Passport for Canada, if you are a Canadian congregation
  3. Passport assembly instructions (one for each participant).

 

For each of the traveling lessons you will need to download:

  1. Lesson plan (one for each teacher)
  2. Founder story (one)
  3. Closing guided imagery (one) (Except Britain which does not have one.)
  4. Words to Under One Sky, adapted for this curriculum (enough to share for singing).
  5. Stickers for passports (one page is enough for a class)
  6. game(s) (see next section)

One game can be used by 4-6 participants.  If you have 12 class members you will need to make 3 games (or get by with two games). 

For each of the games you make for the traveling lessons, you will need to download:

  1. Game board (4 pages to be taped together to make one game board).
  2. Game flaps (numbered 1-20) to attach to each game board
  3. Game cards ( 2 sets for each game): Beliefs & Practices cards and Customs cards
  4. Graphics for the top of the Beliefs & Practices cards
  5. Graphics for the top of the Customs cards

 

For the Lesson #4--What is Partnership? lesson you will need to download:

  1. Lesson Plan
  2. Sample circle graphic
  3. Words to Under One Sky, adapted for this curriculum

 

These documents appear as links on the home page of each lesson (called “Lesson Plan”). Each item can be downloaded individually, or you can choose to download all the items needed for one lesson as a “bundle.”

 

The traveling lessons are the ones where you will need the most help with downloading and then making the games. Each game set (and you will need one for every 4-6 participants you expect for the lesson) requires 30-60 minutes to download and assemble by someone who has a fast modem or cable connection and a color printer and is familiar with downloading documents. A work party of your Partner Church Committee or other support people would accomplish this well and have fun in the process. It is definitely too much for one person to do. Here is a list of materials needed for the game assembly:

 

Game Printing and Assembly Materials:

  1. Color printer (preferred, but the games can be printed in black and white)
  2. Card stock paper (81/2” X 11”): light, neutral color (for the game board flaps, and words for the cards)
  3. Lots of double sided tape, or glue sticks
  4. good quality paper cutter (More than one is best so a group can make several games at once.)
  5. Scotch Tape, scissors, rubber bands, largest size zip lock bags
  6. Poster board (optional) to back each game board
  7. Game pieces from a commercial game, one for each participant (Monopoly or Parcheesee pieces work well, or you could use different small items of any sort  One elegant idea is to collect a set of six coins of the country for each game of that country.)
  8. One die per game.

 

And here are the instructions for game assembly:

 

Game Assembly Instructions:

  1. Print out game boards for upcoming lesson (in color if possible).There will be 4 sections, each 81/2” X 11.” Print as many as you think you will need. Plan 4 to 6 participants per game board.
  2. Tape the 4 sections together. Then, using double sided tape, or a glue stick, tape the game board to a poster board for stiffness. (This is optional.)
  3. Print the numbered game flaps (color if possible). Cut them out using a paper cutter. Place them on the game steps. Tape each one to the game board at the top, so they lift easily.
  4. Print game cards (black and white) on card stock. You will have two sets for each lesson: Beliefs and Practices cards and Custom Cards. Both sets are numbered so they can to be drawn in order.
  5. Print graphics for game cards (in color if possible). Cut them out using a paper cutter. With double-sided tape (or glue stick) tape the Customs graphic to the backside of all the Customs Cards, and then the Beliefs and Practices graphic to the backside of all the Beliefs and Practices cards. Be sure to keep the two sets (Beliefs/Practices and Customs) separate. The two card sets are numbered and will be set word-side down on the board in a pile with the first card on top. Keep with a rubber band around each set.
  6. Keep each game items set in a large zip lock food storage bag together with its game board.

 

HAVE FUN!