The Kingdom of God is a cooperative group project that can be used as a companion activity for the Culture unit found in the Social Studies 8 curriculum or it can be used on its own and will cover several of the unit's foundational objectives (a list of objectives that the resource does not meet is listed in the downloadable unit).

• The foundational goals of the Kingdom of God unit are:
  1. Explain and give examples of the seven patterns of culture: economic, political, kinship, artistic, religious, educational and recreational by creating an entire culture from the tone of mind of a Christian.
  2. Identify relationships among the patterns of culture.
  3. Classify pertinent information and ideas.
  4. Compare and contrast information and ideas in a variety of formats:
     • written - by comparing Canadian culture to their created culture
     • oral and graphic representations - by presenting their created culture
  5. Engage in the research process to locate, collect, organize and present relevant data by citing New Testament teachings and developing cultural patterns.
  6. Participate effectively and appropriately in groups by working in a cooperative learning setting.
  7. Demonstrate sensitivity toward, and appreciation for, all cultural groups.

• Permeation objectives include:
  1. Develop a concept of the Kingdom of God in light of New Testament teachings and express this understanding by inferring how it would shape a culture in its entirety.
  2. Learn about the natural environment of the Middle East at the time of Jesus.
  3. Students learn about others’ perspectives on a Kingdom of God by listening to and critiquing presentations.
  4. Appreciate the contributions of Jesus to our society by identifying aspects of the Kingdom of God in Canadian society.

Resources Provided
1. Unit Lessons
2. Student Information Booklet (Can be collected at the end of the activity and used again to save on photocopy costs)
3. Student Handout Package (Consumable)
4. Teacher Information Appendix (Includes rubrics, region maps, and Bible passages to aid student development of cultural patterns)
All of these are contained in the downloadable Kingdom of God Unit.

Materials You Will Need Collect on Your Own
Portfolio storage (one for each group) to store the group “textbook”, handouts, and group work – I have always preferred large or medium pizza boxes (as long as they fit 8.5 x 11 papers). The pizza store that my school deals with regularly is kind enough to donate a number of them to the school for this purpose.

Background Information
a. Israel is referred to as the “Holy Land” in this unit.
b. The unit was designed for students to work in groups of three (form groups of four and adjust activities accordingly when necessary).
c. Each group must have a minimum of one copy of the Student Information Booklet (one copy per student is recommended).
d. It is recommended that each student has a copy of the Student Handout Package.
e. As the topics are covered, a web to organize the terms of the unit is provided in the lessons and can be used to help students understand the concepts.
f. A list of curriculum objectives not met by this project are listed in the Teacher Appendix, these should be covered in conjunction with teaching this unit.

Continue to Lesson 1