A Lesson Plan for the Concept Attainment Strategy: The Psalms

The Psalms is a book of musical poems that was used by the Israelites in temple worship, celebrations and holiday rituals. The poems highlight the history of their relationship to God, thereby making them rich in ancient Israelite culture symbolisms. Despite this fact, the meanings of these poems seem to be open to readers across cultures and across time.

The poetry of the psalms is emotive. It was specifically designed to resonate the worshiper's soul strings to prepare the worshiper for entry into God's presence.

There are seven different kinds of psalms. Each has its own structure and purpose. In this lesson you will determine one of these seven kinds of poems through the content attainment strategy.

You will be given two lists. A YES list and a NO list. The Yes list contains the psalms you are to determine. The "No" list contains psalms of a different type. Read the psalms in the two lists and formulate a hypothesis of those in the Yes list.

By noting the presence or absence of characteristics in the YES list, you can discover the type of poems in the YES list. In your search, consider language, subject speaking, voice, and other subtle references, etc. An advantage is gained by reading the psalms pairwise; a YES poem followed by a NO poem. Record the attribute(s) that are present in each reading and those that are absent from each reading, to help you to determine the nature of the YES list poems..

A LESSON PLAN FOR THE CONCEPT ATTAINMENT STRATEGY: THE PSALMS

Subject Area:LITERATURE

Specific Content: Biblical Poems

Grade Level:10th Timing:45-55 minutes

Instructional Objective:

Introduce learners to the poems of trust of the Psalms.
Learner will identify and state the critical attributes of a poem of trust.

Long-Term Objective:

Learners will gain appreciation for the emotive power of poems of trust found in the Psalms.
Learners will emulate the written and spoken expression of poems of trust.

Prerequisite Knowledge:

Skills:
Experience with Concept Attainment
Exposure to poems

Why is the Content of This Lesson Relevant?

Understanding the different motifs (motives) of poetry provides an entry to use the Bible for literary as well as faith purposes.

Materials:
A Bible
List of YES/NO examples

Entries in the lists refer to Biblical scriptures for the Psalms. For example 144:1-11 is the 144th Psalm, verses 1 through 11.

YES******************** NO

4 ************************* 2

11 ************************ 31

16 ************************24:3-6

23 ***********************122

27:1-6 ******************110

125 ************************20

131 ********************* 144:1-11

Model of Teaching:Concept Attainment

Procedures

The procedures according to the phases of Concept Attainment

1. State the objectives of the lesson

2. Examples are presented in a two-column table. The first column is labeled YES and the second is labeled NO.

a. Only the YES list contains poems of trust.

b. The poems in the NO list cannot be classified exclusively as poems of trust.

3. Direct learners to read the first YES and NO examples.

4. Ask learners to formulate a hypothesis:

Say "What type of poems would you classify in the YES list?"

State: The NO list does not have poems of this type.

5. Ask: What attributes does the YES reading suggest?

6. Do you see it in the NO reading? Why do you think this is so?

7. Give additional YES/NO examples

8. Additional comments on first hypothesis

9. Additional YES/NO examples

10. Ask: Do you see anything new in these examples?

11. Comments?

12. Additional YES/NO examples

13. How can you explain your thinking?

14. Can you provide some new examples of YES/NO readings? If so, provide two.

Counseling Aids: (Use only to redirect struggling students)

1. In the poem, who is speaking?

2. How does the poem end?

Assessment Criteria:

What evidence will demonstrate your students' learning today?

Through written comments the learners will inform me if this post was helpful.

Identify cultural concerns and describe how you will address them.

Those who are not proficient using the Bible may find the symbolism difficult. The culture of the Israelites who used these poems is foreign to the reader and some readers have not learned the substitutional value the symbols provide, thereby they will be confused or dismiss valuable interpretations. I recommend substituting a personal stress.

Technology - What technology might enhance this lesson?

Biblical sites eliminate the disadvantage of lack of familiarity with searching for BIBLE scripture. A site that is easy to use is: http://biblegateway.com/.

Bruce Joyce and Marion Weil, MODLES OF TEACHING THIRD EDITION, Allyn and Bacon 1972, Boston.

Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart, How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth, THIRD EDITION, Zondervan, 1981, Grand Rapides .

Roland Murphy, O. Carm., The Psalms, Job, Fortress Press, Philadelphia.