Georgia SS7G8.a
The Standard
Explain the differences between an ethnic group and a religious group.
Georgia Standards of Excellence for Social Studies · Analyze the diverse cultural characteristics of the people who live in Southwest Asia (Middle East).
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students distinguish groups based on shared ancestry, language, and culture from groups based on shared religious beliefs. They explain that a person can belong to both types of groups.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly classify Arabs, Persians, and Kurds as ethnic groups, and Muslims, Christians, and Jews as religious groups. They justify each choice using ancestry, culture, or belief.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat Arab and Muslim as interchangeable, or assume all people in one ethnic group follow the same religion. They may also confuse nationality with ethnicity or religion.
How to Assess It
- Use an exit ticket: “Is a Kurdish Muslim describing ethnicity, religion, or both? Explain each word in one sentence.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs identity cards and description cards to sort into ethnic group, religious group, or both categories.
Ask students to explain why the terms Arab and Muslim cannot be used as synonyms.
Play a clue game where teams identify whether each clue describes shared culture and ancestry or shared religious belief.
Read short biographies of two Southwest Asian people, then identify each person’s ethnic, religious, and national identities.
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Printable SS7G8.a Worksheet
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