Who Are Our Partners in the United States? Traveling Lesson

 

Goal: To learn more about the history, customs, beliefs and practices of Unitarian Universalists in the United States.

 

Materials:

  1. The Partnership suitcase filled with materials for the lesson.
  2. Game boards and card sets: one for every 4-6 children you expect to attend the lesson.

Game Board PDF file 513KB

Game Flaps PDF file 908KB

Beliefs and Practices and Customs Graphic PDF file 2.1MB

Beliefs and Practices Cards MS Word file 54KB PDF file 95KB

Customs Cards MS Word file 46KB PDF file 89KB

 

  1. Playing pieces from commercial game boards: one for each player. (Monopoly is good since there so many different pieces.)
  2. Dice: 1 die for each game board.
  3. Map of the world. Pushpins and string or yarn.
  4. Homemade passports for each participant (made in Lesson #1)
  5. Page of stickers to put in passport: UUA logo. (MS Word file 229KB PDF file 680KB) Date stamp (optional)
  6. Copies of the founder story (MS Word file 31KB PDF file 71KB) and the guided imagery to read aloud (MS Word file 39KB PDF file 73KB).
  7. Snack from the United States: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, juice or milk.

10. Copies of “Under One Sky” (MS Word file 30KB PDF file 60KB)

 

As an alternative to downloading all these materials individually, you can save time by downloading a compressed file containing all materials. To do this, your computer must be capable of handling files compressed using WinZip or Stuffit. You have the choice of:

Introduction: (15 minutes)

"This morning we are going to take a trip to visit Unitarian Universalists in the United States.

 

“Now that we know where we are going, we will all need passports.”  [Take the passports out of the Partnership Suitcase, and show them the US “sticker” that they will receive when the return from their trip.  Ask: “What should be done with the passports?” Ans: Keep in a safe pocket or give to you --their trip leader—to hold until they're ready to return.]

 

“This morning we are visiting a religious education class and the children are hearing a story about William Ellery Channing, one of the founders of Unitarianism in North America.”

 

After we hear the story, we’ll play a board game that tells us more and helps us think about how Unitarian Universalists in the US are the same and how they are different from other UUs around the world.”

 

We’ll eat our snack (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and juice or milk) while we hear the story.”

 

Story (take out of suitcase) Read aloud. (5 minutes)

Game: (take out of suitcase) Partners! in the United States (20-30 minutes)

Set up:

  1. Place the game boards on tables or the floor. Divide the kids into groups of 4-6 players. If you have a wide age range of participants, be sure to play the game with mixed ages so the older ones can help the younger.
  2. Note: the Customs cards and Beliefs and Practices cards are numbered and should be stacked in order in their own pile, face-down with the #1 card on top.

Object of the Game: To move along the path from Start to Finish.

Rules:

  1. Establish who will start by a roll of the die—high number goes first. Moving in clockwise direction, each player rolls the die and moves ahead the number of spaces shown on the die.
  2. Players lift the flap of the square they land on and read the words under it. Follow directions, ie: pick a Customs Card, or pick a Beliefs and Practices Card. Read or answer the question on the card.
  3. The next player goes after all cards are read and questions answered.

Stop the game 20 minutes before the end of the session.

 

Guided Imagery (10 minutes)  

Before we leave the US we’re going to use our imaginations as we listen to a story about the founder of Universalism in North America, John Murray. Make yourself comfortable on the floor. Spread out so you can lie down. Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Feel your body relax into the floor. Take another deep breath. I want you to imagine yourself living in America in the 1700s when Unitarianism and Universalism were just being born here. This story is based on the true story about the very first Universalist church service in North America. As I read the story imagine that you are the girl in the story, Abigail, or her younger brother Gideon, living in rural New Jersey in 1770.

 [Read the US Guided Imagery Story.]

 

Conclusion (10 minutes)

Hand out passports and pass out stickers. “This is the symbol of the Unitarian Universalist Association.”

[Pass around a small role of scotch tape or a glue stick so participants can paste the sticker on to the United States page.]

 

Sing “Under One Sky.”  Then excuse the students one by one by stamping (or writing and initialing) today's date into their passports on the US page.  Tell them next Sunday there will be a trip to __________ and show them that page in their passports.  Welcome them back to __________[their home country] and put all their passports back in the suitcase.