Wednesday 27th February 2019

Why is Easter so special to Christians?

LO - To experience the Easter Story

Today the children were part of an interactive drama where children combined with props and an enthusiastic  teacher retold the story from Palm Sunday through to the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.

Monday 28th January 2019

Why is Easter special to Christians?

LO -  Recognise that Incarnation and Salvation are part of a ‘big story’ of the Bible.

Today the children were Investigating the Big Bible Frieze and Identifying key events: Easter, Christmas and Bible stories.

Monday 5th November 2018

Who is Muslim and how do they live?

LO - What do people think about God? What do Muslims think about God?

Ask pupils to share who / what they feel is most important in their lives; ask some pupils why. Steer discussion away from objects and towards significant people. Ask: do people matter more than things?
Give pupils a picture of a heart and to draw and label who are the most important to them. Choose one drawing on the heart and explain why.

God is so important to Muslims that this forms part of the Shahadah: this is the statement that Muslims declare to show what they believe: ‘There is no god except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.’ 

Monday 18th June 2018

Who is Jewish and how do they live?

LO - What is a mezuzah and how does it guide Jews in daily life?

Look at a mezuzah, how it is used and how it has the words of the Shema on a scroll inside. Find out why many Jews have this in their home (https://www.scojec.org/resources/jwol/JWL.html - what we do, space, David’s home, what is a mezuzah? Make a mezuzah).

Children to decorate a mezuzah with Jewish symbols/ bright colours.

Children to write a short sentence on a scroll to explain how Jews use the mezuzah in their daily lives (Jews kiss their fingers and touch the mezuzah as a way of showing that they love the Torah and it’s part of their lives. The mezuzah contains the shema which reminds Jews how to live/ reminds them of God).

The children can roll their scroll and place inside their mezuzah.

Monday 4th June 2018

Who is Jewish and how do they live?

LO - Why are synagogues important as a place of worship for Jews?

Give the children time to think about their ‘special places’ – school, home, the park, the library, family and friends houses, church, etc.

Introduce a synagogue as the Jewish place of worship- share virtual tour of the synagogue 

Identify the Ark, the Torah Scrolls, the bimah, Siddur, the Eternal light and the memorial boards.

Children to complete a labelling activity.

Monday 14th May 2018

Who is Jewish and how do they live?

LO -What objects are special to Jews and what objects are special to you?

Recap ‘special objects’ from the previous session. Why were they special?

Circle time- You may like to share your own ‘special object’ to model the ideas, e.g. a shell from a holiday- it is special because it reminds you of all of the special memories, with your family and friends.

Children to show and tell their ‘special objects’ that they have brought in from home.

Ask, why are they special? Who bought it for them/where is it from? What does it remind them of? Talk about remembering what really matters, what ideas they have for making sure they do not forget things or people, and how people make a special time to remember important events.

Make links to the Jewish objects reminding Jews about God/ prayer, etc.

Monday 30th April

Who is Jewish and how do they live?

What objects are special to Jews and what objects are special to you?

Ask the children the question, ‘What does special mean?’ and create a whole-class spider diagram.

Prepare a variety of Jewish objects/ pictures of Jewish objects to share with the children to find out what special objects Jewish people might have in their home (Mezuzah, candlesticks, challah bread, challah board, challah cover, wine goblet, other kosher food, Star of David on a chain, prayer books, chanukiah, kippah, and a dreidel).

Gather children’s questions about the objects.

Discuss the meaning/relevance of each object and why they are special. Explain to the children that they will come across these objects throughout the unit.

Cut and stick activity to match the picture of the object to the name and meaning/significance of the object.

Monday 16th March

Who is Jewish and how do they live?

LO-What is the Shema and why is it important to Jews?

Introduce Jewish beliefs about God as expressed in the Shema (means hear/listen)(Deuteronomy 6:4-9) i.e God is one, that it is important to love God. This will make it clear to children that Jews believe in one God.

(Note that some Jewish people write G-d, because they want to treat the name of God with the greatest respect).

Explore the meaning of the words in the Shema, what they teach Jews about God, and how they should respond to God. Ask the children, what words would you like displayed in your home? Why?

Monday 19th March 2018

LO - Think, talk and ask questions about living in an amazing world

To make a connection between Christian ideas of God as Creator and the importance for everyone (not just Christians) of being grateful for what we have, you might like to try this experiential activity:

Have some fruit (grapes, for example) in the class. Get pupils to think about how the fruit grew. It needs light, water, to bud, to flower, bee pollination, fruit growing, harvesting, transporting — and here we have the fruit.

Ask them to hold the fruit, to stroke it, to sniff it; they should put it in their mouths and feel their teeth and tongue on it before biting — and feeling the juice spurt. Which words do pupils use to describe this experience? Compare with how we usually tend to eat without noticing. It might make us be a bit more grateful for our food.

Monday 19th February 2018

Who made the world?

LO -Give at least one example of what Christians do to say thank you to God for the Creation

Recall the idea that Christians believe God created the world, so they should be thankful. One key way for Christians to show thankfulness to God is for them to be generous to those with less. In Matthew 10:8, Jesus said to his followers, ‘Freely you have received, freely give.’ Talk about how Christians might share the resources offered at harvest. Find out what some churches do with their harvest offerings: for example, taking it into the community, or giving it to food banks. What does the school do, and why? What could we do when we grow up?

If Harvest is an annual event, how do Christians remember to be thankful to the Creator every day?

One way is by saying ‘grace’ before meals. Find out some grace prayers, and see if pupils can make up their own grace for Christians.

'Dear Mighty Lord, we thank you for making delicious food like sizzling bacon. We love you. Amen.' by Joseph JC2

'Almighty God, thank you for the fabulous food like chicken which makes me fell so happy. Amen.' Alice JC2

Monday 29th January 2018

Who made the world?

LO - Think, talk and ask questions about living in an amazing world

If God made the world, how should people live? What do pupils think? 

Talk about how Christians think that God provides everything we need to survive (land, water, air, sunlight, food to grow, living animals and people), so humans should thank God above all.

This Creator is so amazing that Christians want to praise God as well as thank him, saying how wonderful they think he is. Ask pupils to come up with some thank-you and praising sentences

Monday 15^th January 2018

Who made the world?

LO - Say what the story tells Christians about God, creation and the world

After creating dances to two different types of music, the first mechanical and repetitive which represents day to day life and work. The second fun and peaceful, representing the weekend break from weekday life. We created artwork to reflect how the music made us feel. What would life be like without a good rest at the end of the week? Even God needed a rest after creating the world!