Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rich Culminating
Performance Tasks
Secondary Religious Education
Courses
Our Purpose
The Catholic Curriculum Corporation is a consortium of seventeen Catholic school boards and
Catholic partners from across central and western Ontario. As an important partner in Catholic
education, we recognize that Catholic education exists to provide a holistic formation of people
as living witnesses of faith. We demonstrate our mission when we engage with, and support,
our member boards in sustained, substantive school improvement and student growth that is
reflective of a Catholic professional learning community.
Our Mission
To build and sustain the Catholic capacity of educators through the development and provision
of high quality Catholic curriculum, resources, support and professional development.
Our Vision
Faith through Learning: A Distinctive Catholic Curriculum
The lessons are based on the expectations as outlined in the Ontario Catholic Secondary
Curriculum Policy Document for Religious Education, OCCB prepared by the Institute of Catholic
Education, 2006 as well as links to other key resources for teaching secondary Religious
Education courses. It is the intent of the writers to ensure that the overview, lessons, and
activities compliment current assessment strategies and provide classroom teachers with
everything they need to complete these Rich Culminating Performance Tasks for Grades 9-12
Religious Education courses.
Wishing you continued success in sharing our Catholic faith with your students.
Michael Bator,
Executive Director
Acknowledgements
Project Leads:
Derek McEachen, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Marian O’Connor, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Writers:
Christina Costa, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Doug Ivak, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Derek McEachen, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Laurence McKenna, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Marian O’Connor, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Sean Roche, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Joyce Young, Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic DSB
Reviewers:
Marsha Fiacconi, Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB
Shelagh Peterson, Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB
Katherine Weseloh, Dufferin Peel Catholic DSB
Introduction
Rationale
“The challenge faced by the religious educator in the typical Catholic secondary school is
enormous. Catholic schools exist to foster in their students not only an understanding of the
connection between faith and life, but a commitment to establishing, nourishing and
strengthening that connection.”
Ontario Catholic Secondary Curriculum Policy Document for Religious Education, 2006, p. 1
Assessment and evaluation practices continue to evolve in light of ongoing research related to
how students learn. These rich culminating performance tasks were designed using the most
current assessment and evaluation practices recommended by the Ministry of Education. The
lessons include assessment for, as, and of learning.
These tasks emphasize higher order thinking skills and making connections. These skills need to
be taught throughout the course so that students can practice using these skills with a variety
of concepts and connections before being evaluated by the teacher. The Teacher Package
Overview and accompanying Teaching and Learning Lessons outline steps designed to scaffold
students to achieve success.
Each task contains an Evaluation Rubric that can be used by the students and teachers to
evaluate Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking, Communication, and Application as
demonstrated through the Culminating Performance Task.
“It is through the application of new learning to real life situations that students move forward
in the acquisition of knowledge and proficiency and the skill necessary for living life to its fullest
as light and salt for the world.”
Ontario Catholic Secondary Curriculum Policy Document for Religious Education, p. 6.
Rationale of the Task In light of the reality that the work begun by Jesus
continues in modern culture through the Church,
students will use course concepts, prior knowledge,
and higher order thinking skills to demonstrate
their learning; students share their
understandings/observations of what it means to
be Catholic Church members.
Detailed Description of the Task
Using their prepared creative symbolic artifact(s) and Course Connections Charts, students make
connections between the enduring understandings of the course and their acquired understandings of
what it means to be Church members. Students create an informative presentation for the appropriate
audience – peers and invited guests from a local parish.
Requirements:
1. Students design a creative artifact (e.g. an imitation stained glass window, sculpture, mosaic,
painting, video, etc.) that expresses course connections related to being a member of the
Church. The artifact will be a visual unity representing major themes of the course which focus
on being a member of the Catholic Church. The images/symbols used in the artifact will help
students explain to their audience important parts of the Catholic Faith that they have learned.
2. The class creates invitations to be sent to the local parish(es) prior to the presentation.
3. Students reflect throughout the course on what it means for Catholics to live as members of the
Catholic Church using the Course Connections Charts.
Students will:
1. design their own creative artifact(s), as a catechetical tool, to visually communicate important
parts of the Catholic faith that they have learned, in the context of what it means to be a Church
member.
2. throughout the course, as the enduring understandings are addressed, complete several Course
Connections Charts (BLM 10.1) to make connections between course concepts and their
understanding of “being a Church member” with a symbolic artifact sketch or representation.
3. use their Connections Charts to prepare a symbolic artifact and an oral presentation for
members of a local parish.
4. use their symbolic artifact (see Lesson 1) to create a sacred space appropriate for the purpose of
the task.
Presentation …
Students:
1. use their symbolic artifacts to orally present their understanding/observations to local
parish members of what it means to be a Catholic Church member.
2. will have their presentations evaluated by the teacher.
Prior Knowledge and Skills
Terminology
- think/pair/share
- enduring understandings (big ideas/enduring learning)
- Gospels/faithful/Church/sacraments/respect
- Connections Chart
- peer assessment
- self assessment
- Inside Outside Circle strategy
- artifact
Collaborative Skills
- taking turns
- active listening (eye contact, body language, etc.)
- effective feedback
- agreeably disagree
- oral presentation skills
- address audience (eye contact)
- project voice
- practise presentation (know content)
- use of props
Oral Presentation Skills
- address audience (eye contact)
- project voice
- know audience
- practise presentation (know content)
Higher Order Thinking Skills
- Bloom’s Taxonomy or Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy
- Achievement Chart
Peer Assessment
- strengths, weaknesses, recommendations for improvement
Accommodations
Refer to students’ IEPs
The teacher explains that this task involves arranging the varying sizes
of pieces in the tangram to create a unity (a perfect square). Although
individual sections are more significant than others (i.e. the bigger the piece,
the more significant), all pieces are needed to make the whole.
In different triads, students think about and record the important elements that
form the Church (based on key course connections and the enduring
understandings of the course).
Imagery/Symbols Learning
The teacher sets up a slideshow or a small “classroom art gallery” (using the
classroom walls), posting modern day images and symbols (e.g. holiday turkey,
McDonald's logo, Nike swoosh, Valentine’s heart, etc.). Students, as they view the
slideshow or walk through the gallery and browse, individually jot down “what
comes to mind” when they see the various images that are posted in the gallery –
ideas, emotions, other symbols, etc.
The teacher randomly selects students to share their jot notes and ideas, leading to
a class discussion about why images and symbols are used by modern companies.
AfL
The teacher adds to the gallery/slideshow various Church images and symbols (e.g.
cross, lamb, chalice, water, the colour purple, the colour green, etc.). Students
again view the slideshow or walk and browse, individually jotting down “what
comes to mind” when they see the various new images in the slideshow or gallery
– ideas, emotions, other symbols, etc.
The teacher randomly selects students to share their jot notes and ideas, leading to
a class discussion about how Church symbols might cause a different reaction in
people than the symbols used by modern companies.
AfL
The students then create “Modern Church Symbols” they think would help young
people in the today's world to understand “important elements that form the
Church” (students may use Church Elements Tangrams and Youth Culture
Tangrams saved and assessed by the teacher with feedback, from an earlier part of
Lesson 1 above).
Students add their created Modern Church Symbols to the gallery or slideshow.
Students again walk about and browse, individually jotting down “what comes to
mind” when they see the various new images in the gallery – ideas, emotions,
other symbols, etc.
The teacher randomly selects students to share their jot notes and ideas, leading to
a class discussion about how some student symbols were interpreted by other
students, and whether or not the intended effects of the symbols were achieved.
The teacher leads a discussion about the purpose of using religious symbols -- to AfL
make deep personal connections to God not just for the person who makes the
symbol, but for others (the symbols used in the Church are not meant to be only
for the person who made the Church symbols, but to give deep personal
connections to others).
Faith Through Learning
A Distinctive Catholic Curriculum
13
Catholic Curriculum Corporation – Central and Western Region
Rationale: This process will help students appreciate the importance of universal
symbols and how they are chosen to represent members of a group.
Possible websites:
http://www.fisheaters.com/symbols.html Fish Eaters is a site which discusses different
Christian symbols and what they mean. As well, it has some discussion on the meaning of
certain numbers.
http://www.catholic-resources.org/Art/Evangelists_Symbols.htm Symbols of the Four
Evangelists is a source which discusses the traditional symbols used for the four gospel
writers. It gives some background to their references in early Christian authors as well as
some artistic representations of the symbols.
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols.htm This site gives another list of
symbols and numbers and the meaning for each.
Using think/pair/share, students interpret the symbols found in the stained glass
AfL
windows. The teacher randomly asks students to share their thinking.
The teacher, with the explanations of the meaning of the symbols in the windows
(gained from internet and other sources), shows how the Church has used this
form of communication as catechesis in the history of the Church (e.g. stained
glass windows used to help illiterate populations understand the Catholic Faith,
etc.).
The teacher models how Church elements, according to their significance, can be
transferred to a creative artifact (a sculpture can have parts, perhaps of varying
sizes, that represent significant (tangram) connections - e.g. the relatively small
"snake" in a Genesis sculpture may represent a minor but potentially deadly
temptation; the "fruit" in a Creation Story painting may represent free will).
Students are reminded that their artifacts will be the focus of their oral
presentations for local parish members about “What it Means to be a Catholic
Church Member”.
Consolidation Approx. Time (60 min)
Connecting Church Elements Tangrams and personal Modern Church Symbols to
an Artifact
Students take out their completed Church Elements Tangrams and their
completed Course Connections Charts BLM10.1 (done throughout the course,
accompanied by teacher feedback). With these tools, students begin to design
(sketch or thought map) their symbolic artifact - a visual representation of what it
means to be a Catholic Church Member (e.g. a sculpture of a person, as an artifact,
may involve the arms, head, and torso representing different elements of the
Church Elements Tangram). Students may use the sketches from their Course
Connections Charts to guide the design of their unique symbolic artifact.
Students need to gather feedback from their peers and eventually the teacher on
their sketch. For those who do not consider themselves "artistic", a variety of
AfL
possibilities exist concerning materials, including recycled items and found objects.
Note: The teacher will assure students that their thinking and connections will be
evaluated, not their artistic qualities.
Next Steps
Students are then asked to look for and jot down specific examples of these qualities while
observing a few video/movie clips of effective speeches and presentations (available on
the internet or in other formats - e.g. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Homer
Simpson, Barack Obama, William Wallace in Braveheart, Maximus in Gladiator, Elizabeth I,
Ann Boleyn, etc.)
After viewing the clips, triads add effective qualities to their lists and then compare their
lists with other triads, having a conversation about why the speech was effective. After
discussion with other groups, the triads compile a final list of effective qualities. The
teacher randomly selects groups to share their ideas and facilitates a discussion around
what makes a speech and/or presentation effective.
The teacher leads students to create a criteria checklist for peer and self assessment for
oral presentations. The teacher prepares this Oral Presentation Checklist for students to
use for peer and self assessment.
Students prepare the oral component of their presentations using their Oral
Presentation Checklist, remembering to demonstrate what it means to be Church
members.
Using the Inside Outside Circle strategy, students present their symbolic artifact to
their peers, explaining their connections, symbolism, and thinking. Peers give Assessment
descriptive feedback both on the content and the presentation skills (using the Oral for Learning
Presentation Checklist). (AfL)
Next Steps
Students rehearse their oral presentations on their own.
The teacher and students select appropriate songs and one or more Biblical passages with
which they will welcome their guests and set the tone before presentations begin
(e.g. songs: “Be with me Lord”, “Come to the House”; Biblical passage: 1 Corinthians 12 -
regarding the Church as “Christ’s body”).
When the members of the local parish arrive and are welcomed, the gathered
community members sing or listen to the opening song(s) and read the Biblical
passage(s) to further create a liturgical ‘atmosphere of Church’ and to welcome the
presence of God in the community.
Action Approx. Time (300 min)
Using jot notes if necessary, students reverently give their oral presentations with
a focus on their creative artifacts in order to share with the community their Assessment of
understanding of “What it Means to be a Catholic Church Member,” and to be Learning
formally evaluated by the teacher.
The community members (students, teachers, guests, etc.) close the presentation
with another song; students thank the invited guests from the parish for coming. If
time permits, a brief social may be appropriate.
Consolidation Approx. Time (30 min)
To complete the process of evaluation, students complete the following two
questions:
How has my thinking changed because of the unique connections and artifact I
created in this course? (metacognition)
Next Steps
Promotion to grade 11.
Step #3:
Step #1 Name a selected course
Review what it means concept related to what
to be Church? it means to be Church.
(e.g. Justice)
Knowledge and
Understanding
Thinking
Uses processing skills Demonstrates limited Demonstrates some Demonstrates considerable Demonstrates a high degree
(selecting, analyzing, processing skills in linking processing skills in linking processing skills in linking of processing skills in linking
synthesizing) to Gospels, sacraments, Gospels, sacraments, Gospels, sacraments, Gospels, sacraments,
link Gospels, sacraments, symbols, etc. to being a symbols, etc. to being a symbols, etc. to being a symbols, etc. to being a
symbols, etc. to being a Catholic Church member Catholic Church member Catholic Church member Catholic Church member
Catholic Church member
Expresses and organizes Expresses and organizes Expresses and organizes Expresses and organizes Expresses and organizes
connections about being connections related to being connections related to being connections related to being connections related to being
Church members Church members with limited Church members with some Church members with Church members with a high
(e.g. clarity of connections) in effectiveness effectiveness considerable effectiveness degree of effectiveness
an organized way
Uses conventions (e.g. Uses conventions in oral Uses conventions in oral Uses conventions in oral Uses conventions in oral
Gospels, Church, and justice) presentation with limited presentation with some presentation with presentation with a high
in oral presentation effectiveness effectiveness considerable effectiveness degree of effectiveness
Application
Transfers understanding of Transfers understanding of Transfers understanding of Transfers understanding of Transfers understanding of
being a Catholic Church being a Catholic Church being a Catholic Church being a Catholic Church being a Catholic Church
member into an artifact and member into an artifact and member into an artifact and member into an artifact and member into an artifact and
presentation presentation presentation with some presentation presentation
with limited effectiveness effectiveness with considerable with a high degree of
effectiveness effectiveness
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