Activity Examples
Browse through examples shared by faculty members who have already incorporated different aspects of the Moral Moments content into their coursework.
Summer 2020 Faculty Workshop
Sample Lesson Plans
During summer 2020, participants in a Moral Moments faculty development experience worked in small teams to create lesson plans for their Moral Moments courses. Four of the lesson plans are offered here for use by anyone seeking lesson plan models and activities to engage students on a variety of topics. Many thanks to the teams, including participants Jackie, Heather, Theresa, and Nettie for sharing their great work.
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Lesson Plans |
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Personal Contemplation - AA 497
Journaling
If the classroom is for responses to words, thoughts, actions, and events; then the journal is for reactions. Responses require contemplation and information gathering, whereas reactions are usually immediate and based on our own emotions and personal experiences. Through the course of the 15-week semester, students were asked to use a physical journal to record their reactions to the content and their experiences in this course.
Example |
Project Brief |
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Course: AA 497: The Moral Moments Project Instructor: Susan Russell Number of Students: 10-15 Semester: Spring 2018 Duration of Assignment: 15 weeks Essential Element: Personal Contemplation |
Community Conversation - HDFS 287Y
Tree of Hope
The classes (two sections) were broken into 6 groups and each given a different responsibility toward planning, executing, promoting, and documenting the Tree of Hope event. Everyone was responsible for engaging the community and encouraging participation when the tree was erected in Centre Hall. The group responsibilities were: promo video, advertising games, engage other HDFS classes, construction of the peace pole, planning and executing the big reveal event, and the compassion games wrap-up video. To learn more about this project, check out the A First-Year Journey toward Compassion blog post!
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Project Brief |
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Course: HDFS 287Y Instructor: Kate Morgan and Teri Kistler Number of Students: 25/section (2 sections) Semester: Fall 2018 Duration of Assignment: 3 weeks Essential Element: Community Conversation |
Community Conversation - PSU 008
When we say, “We ARE!”…
In this lesson, students considered the deeper meaning of the Penn State cheer, “We Are…” using the Moral Moments Pillars and Penn State Value of Integrity as guideposts. Using the 5 Essential Elements in a compressed 1-hour lesson, students were introduced to the PSU Value of integrity and then worked through a case study of plagiarism by two first-year students. Afterwards, students completed self-reflections, a classroom discussion, and created a poster to present to the class connecting MM pillars and the PSU value of integrity as it relates to plagiarism. The goal of the activity was to have students consider what the cheer “We are…” means in the broader context of becoming part of the Penn State community.
Example |
Project Brief |
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Course: PSU 008 Instructor: Suzanne Schaffer Number of Students: 25 Semester: Fall 2019 Duration of Assignment: 1 hour Essential Element: Community Conversation |
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