OFFICE OF RESIDENCE LIFE
211 Warfield Hall
Oxford, Ohio 45056
(513) 529-4000
MIAMI
UNIVERSITY
Lesson Plan
Title of Strategy: First Amendment Protection Cases: Religious Freedom
Date/Time/Location: _____________________________________
ORL Staff: _________________________ Hall/Corridor/LLC:__________________________
Please answer the following questions regarding your proposed strategy. Please be as
specific as possible.
1. Why are you doing this strategy?
The idea behind this activity is to get participants to think about Christian privilege and
how certain practices of different religions often meet resistance from society and the rules
and laws governing our “American, western” society. They will discuss the difficulties that
people may face in trying to practice their religious rituals and how the First Amendment
to the Constitution protects or does not protect some practices.
2. What competency does this achieve?
Effective Community Engagement
- Work with your community to solve a problem, create a project, address a
question, or resolve interpersonal conflicts that arise
- Participate in local and global communities
Academic Success
- Acknowledge that multiple perspectives exist on any given topic
- Examine multiple perspectives on any given topic
Intrapersonal Development
- Identify how one's own beliefs and values influence one's perspective
- Incorporate multiple perspectives into one's worldview
Cultural Proficiency
- Reflect on the meaning of diversity and how it influences communities
- Acquire an awareness of local, regional, national,
and global cultural issues
3. Please provide an outline/description your strategy below.
First, the First Amendment and the “freedom of religion” clauses will be explained.
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof.
In small groups, participants will be given a First Amendment Case to analyze.
 Based on your understanding of the “freedom of religion” clauses
o No established religion
o No prohibitions to the free exercise of religion
how would you resolve the following cases?
They will answer the following questions with their group:
1) What do you see as the specific prohibition – a religious establishment or an
abridgement of free exercise – in this case?
2) What is your decision, drawing upon one of both of the First Amendment “religion”
clauses?
3) What are your reasons for your decision?
4) What do you think will be the long-term consequences of your decision (including
unintended consequences), if your decision were to be established as legal precedent
for future cases.
After answering and discussing their answers with each other, the actual legal decisions
will be passed out for each cases the groups had. The groups will read the case decisions
and discuss how their answers differed from the actual verdicts. If they differed why?
What are the consequences of the actual verdicts?
4. How will you know if the participants have achieved the competency? (Select all
that apply)
 Survey (please list questions below)
 Pre-Test Post-test (please list questions below)
 Observed, obvious changed behavior
 Follow-up discussions (please list questions below)
 Other (describe below)