Beckie Loewenstein

Although I generally avoid the topic of religion for English lessons , my advanced student A. specifically asked about the differences between the branches of Christianity.  Reading about the rise of evangelicalism in Latin America and the USA in Time Magazine sparked my curiosity.  How does evangelicalism differ from other branches of Christianity ?    The wide variety of differences started to overwhelm me.  Would n't it be great to visualize these differences in charts ?  The Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project compares the religions. Ask the student to compare the frequency of prayer, the frequency of attendance of religious services, and the frequency of receiving answers to prayers of the respondents of the different religions.  What's the general impr ession about how the E v angelical Churches differ from the others? After discovering the general distinction, wouldn't it be fun to listen to the personal story of an individual?  This American Life t

The Guardian's interactive report decodes Snowden's leak of the NSA files with video, audio, and graphics.  What do the revelations mean for us...an American teacher and a Turkish student? Who is Snowden? He is a whistleblower !  He blows the whistle on the government.  He leaks government secrets. Here are the activities: Listen to each speaker debate the priority of national security vs. digital freedom.  Who defends surveillance for national security?  Who criticizes the damage of surveillance on digital communication? Go to the "Three degrees of separation" section.  How many Facebook friends do you have?  How many people are three "hops" or degrees from you?  Describe the resulting graphic. Go to the "Legal case" section.  What laws allow the NSA to spy on an American outside the U.S.? What does FISA stand for?  Are the FISA court proceedings open to the public or secret?  Who petitions the FISA court -- the U.S. government or cit