This presentation aims to help students understand why there are different forms of God in Hinduism.
This presentation aims to help students understand why there are different forms of God in Hinduism.
This presentation aims to help students understand the concept of dharma (in the sense of ‘duty’) in Hinduism.
This presentation aims to help students investigate the idea of death in Judaism.
A discussion with students about what people believe about life after death.
For 8-12 years. Originally written by Mary Myatt, updated in April 2019.
Emerging
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Heaven: Christian beliefs about the afterlife vary between denominations and individual Christians, but the vast majority of Christians believe in some kind of heaven, in which believers enjoy the presence of God and other believers and freedom from suffering and sin.
Hell: There are different understandings about the nature of hell, but many Christians regard hell as the absence of God
Jesus: Christians believe that God became human through the person of Jesus
Incarnation: Christians believe that God became human through the person of Jesus
Death and Afterlife: Christians believe that after death there is an afterlife in which an individual’s soul lives on and experiences new life with God.
Resurrection: Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead
Salvation: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16. ‘For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Set the learning activities in the context of a key question, such as,
‘Can we imagine life after death?’ or ‘What happens when we die?’
In this example we want to introduce pupils to ideas about heaven and hell, and what some people believe about whether it matters what sort of life we have lived.
Ask pupils to think about what they already know or think about the idea of life after death. Give each table small pieces of paper to write on. Write the sentence starter ‘life after death…..’ on the board. Ask pupils to write everything they think about it on small pieces of paper. Then then look at all their words and generate three statements per group. Differing views can be presented from one group on different pieces of paper. Groups might like to colour-code their statements.
Collate all statements on a large sheet of paper, such as from an old roll of wallpaper. Fix to the wall or a table top so all pupils can see.
Using different coloured sticky notes ask pupils to make a note of the things they agree with, disagree with or find interesting in the statements. Add these to the large sheet.
Using fresh sticky notes, ask pupils to work in pairs to complete the sentence, ‘We were wondering….’
Ask, ‘I’m wondering if you know what some religious people would say about reincarnation….’
Ask, ‘I wonder if everyone believes in life after death?’
Prompt further discussion with questions such as:
Explain that Christians believe that God became a human being in the person of Jesus in order to give hope that there is a better life with God after death. Pupils could look at the African pictures of Jesus’ birth and death. Pupils can ask their own questions about why Jesus was born and died. What do they think Christians might learn from the idea that God took human form? Encourage them to compare their questions with one other and to talk about which questions are the most important and why.
Provide pupils with quotes about Jesus’ resurrection, e.g.,
John 11:25: ‘Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die”. What do pupils think Christians might feel and believe when they hear this?
Explain that many people wonder what happens when we die. Show pupil’s examples of sculpture, e.g., Antony Gormley’s Angels of the North and Henry Moore images. Using modelling clay such as Play-Doh, ask the pupils to create a shape which represents something they don’t know the answer to. Ask them to think about what they are creating, talk to a partner about them and then share with the wider group.
Show pupils the clip ‘Becoming Me’, by Martin Boroson (search You Tube) and ask pupils to describe what someone who believed in God might learn from this story. Explain that the story has been recommended by many people of different faiths – why do they think this is? What difference might it make to anyone’s life if they believed what is in this film?
Encourage pupils to ask their own questions about ‘Becoming Me’ and to suggest some answers (a) of their own and (b) that might be given by a follower of a different religion / set of beliefs from their own.
GCSE support materials designed to give a thorough introduction to Islam for GCSE students and teachers.
Setting the Scene
What is Islam
An investigation into some stories from the Bible that feature women – and to see what may be learnt from their beliefs, actions and character.
For 8-12 years. Originally written by Kate Penfold-Attride, updated in April 2019.
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Exceeding
Women in the Bible: Approximately 188 women are referred to by name in the Christian Bible. Several others are implied. They are considered minor figures in the majority of stories they appear in. This banquet uses familiar stories and explores them in light of the female character.
Hebrew Bible: The canonical collection of Jewish texts known as the Tenakh. This corresponds closely to Anglican and Protestant versions of the Christian Old Testament.
Qualities: Here we are referring to aspects of human character that we admire; e.g., caring, loving, forgiving, honest, humility, willingness to help, courage, self-discipline, compassion, modesty, sense of humour, determination, perseverance, loyalty, etc.
Serpent in the Garden of Eden: a symbol of evil power. ‘Nakhash’ in Hebrew.
Divine: coming from (a) God.
Sin: an immoral act, against God’s laws.
Stranger: someone that is not known to anyone, alone.
Ishmael: ‘God hears’; so called because God heard Hagar’s prayers. NB ‘God’ is often written by many Jews as ‘G-d’ or ‘L-rd’ as a way of avoiding any misuse of the name.
Moral dilemma: an ethical question where choosing one answer is detrimental to the other. A choice between equally undesirable alternatives.
Leader: someone who leads or commands a group of people.
Freedom: the right to act, think, speak as you wish.
Slavery: a system where people are bought and sold and forced to work. They are often held against their will. Common practice in the times of the Hebrew Bible.
Isolation: lack of contact between individuals or groups of people.
Exclusion: to expel or keep out.
Friendship: mutual affection.
Loyalty: being faithful, committed.
Justice: fair behaviour or treatment.
This teaching resource could be used as a transition unit, with pupils learning about some of the women in Year 6 and the rest in Year 7.
You will need several passages from the Bible. Choose a translation that children can engage with, such as the New International Version, the Message or Good News, all available on biblegateway.com. Passages used:
Genesis 3
Genesis 21:1-21
Genesis 27
Exodus 15
Ruth 1-3
Esther 2:19-23
Esther 3:8-14
Esther 8:15-17
Explain that there are different views about the role of women in society, communities and families. Inventions and development in the modern world have had an impact on the role of women, but that many people believe that there is much wisdom to be gained from studying how women are portrayed in religious texts. Explain that, for many people, such texts carry important messages for the world today. According to many believers in the Bible, for example, such messages have a divine origin.
Eve
Read the story of ‘The Fall’ in Genesis 3 and ask the pupils such questions as:
Arrange pupils into groups and debate: ‘The story of Adam and Eve contains no truth whatsoever.’ Give own opinions and suggest possible Christian / Jewish views in response.
Keep a summary sheet / make a poster at the end of each session about what pupils feel they have learnt from the story of this woman and what it teaches about Christian / Jewish belief about human beings. Encourage pupils to answer: What qualities does this woman portray? What impact does she have on other characters in the story? What might be her influence on Christian / Jewish believers today?
Hagar
Read the story of the Expulsion of Hagar in Genesis 21:1-21 and conduct a circle time discussion: Remind pupils that Hagar became a stranger in a new land and ask such questions as:
Focus pupils’ attention on what happens to Ishmael in the story. Explain that Ishmael means ‘God hears’ and ask pupils for their views on whether they think there is a God that hears people’s cries for help in any way today?
Outline the concepts of: Freedom, slavery, isolation, exclusion (see ‘Subject Knowledge’ section above) and ask pupils if they can give modern examples of each.
Having checked in advance for suitable material, show pupils on the whiteboard what the BBC and Channel 4 News websites are featuring currently in relation to the four key terms of Freedom, Slavery, Isolation and Exclusion. Ask pupils to identify any behaviour or human qualities in the stories that shows (a) bad behaviour and (b) admirable behaviour. Point out whether and in what way there are any women featured in the stories.
Divide pupils into groups and encourage them to make a presentation based on some online research on how freedom, slavery, isolation and exclusion feature in the media. Encourage them to feature women as well as men in their presentations.
Ask pupils to present their findings to the class.
Rebekah
Read the story of Ruth in Genesis 27 and bring out points about how Rebekah duped Isaac, her blind, ageing husband to get justice for the son he favoured least. Ask pupils such questions as:
Divide pupils into groups and make a ‘conscience alley’. Choose a pupil to be Rebekah and walk the alley. Pupils on one side should try to persuade her to dupe Isaac whilst pupils on the other side provide reasons to deter her. When Rebekah reaches the end of the alley, she should decide what she will do and try to provide reasons to support her argument.
Link to literacy by suggesting pupils write a persuasive or balanced argument.
Miriam
Read the story of the escape of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt in Exodus 15 (particularly verses 19-21) and explain that Miriam led her people in search of a new land, a land of freedom. It is likely that she wanted them all to have a better life in a country far from the home they had always known. Ask pupils such questions as:
Take pupils on the journey. Freeze at different points of the story and interview different people, with questions such as: Who are they? Why did they come? What did they hope to find? What was their first experience in the new land like? Why? What difficulties did they encounter? Why? Did they receive any good welcomes? What were they like? How did they make them feel? Why did they leave their land? What did they hope to achieve in your/their life?
Record the journey with a video camera, photographs or using sound postcards. Photographs could be taken which emotion vocabulary could be added to. Pupils could make an emotions graph to accompany the story.
Point out that Miriam is remembered in the story for leading the dancing. Ask pupils what would they would want to be remembered for and to give some reasons for their answer.
Ask pupils to rewrite the event in the form of a newspaper report or to film a news bulletin. They could include comments they think the followers would have made or interview them and explain what made them follow Miriam.
Pupils could include responses from believers and non-believers and explain how they think following / not following Miriam to the new land has effected them.
Esther
Read the story of Esther in Esther 2:19-23, Esther 3:8-14, Esther 8:15-17 and point out that she was a queen, a leader of her time. She saved Mordecai from Haman. It was risky but she did it to get justice for her people. Ask pupils such questions as:
Provide small groups of pupils with information sheets about women who changed the world, e.g., from Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and encourage them to identify and write down their qualities and the impact they had on the world.
Show pupils some job adverts and person specifications and encourage them to write a person specification for a female queen / leader today. Can they identify the qualities needed for the role?
Ruth and Naomi
Read the story: Ruth 1-3, and bring out points about Ruth and Naomi being loyal friends. Explain that friendship can have significant effects on people. Ask the pupils such questions as:
Show pupils these two paintings (available online):
Ask pupils to offer suggestions about what these paintings may be saying about friendship.
Tell pupils that you want to run a competition to find the best friend and that you would like them to nominate someone. Encourage them to write their nomination form explaining why theirs is the best friend you can get.
Ask them to follow this up by composing an interview for a Christian and one for a female relative or family friend to answer about their life. They should write questions about the person’s role as a woman in their family and what influences their beliefs and actions.
Summary activities:
Put copies of the paintings of the women pupils have been learning about up on the wall – spread apart as far as possible.
Arrange pupils in small groups and provide them with some sticky notes. Ask them to write single ‘quality’ words on each note that they think apply to the women in the Bible stories and to then stick the notes to the appropriate pictures around the room.
Encourage then to stand by the picture of the woman they most admire and ask a few pupils for their reasons. Can they suggest what Christian or Jewish believers may learn from these stories? Can they say what they have learnt from these women?
Do pupils have any questions they would ask the characters if they could? Can they think of any questions that Christian or Jewish believers might want to ask?
Back in their small groups, ask pupils to design an internet meme (an idea, style or action that spreads from person to person via the internet; this may take the form of an image accompanied by a slogan, video, hyperlink or hashtag) to share in a simple way something new they have learnt from the old stories.
Memes that can explain what they have learnt about (a) Christian / Jewish beliefs and (b) the qualities of women in the Bible will provide possibility for further assessment.
Further application of this resource: Read about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and other women in the Christian New Testament. Pupils could explore what qualities these women portray and how they might influence believers today. Are there some new things that could be learnt about the portrayal of women in the Bible from these stories?
This presentation aims to introduce Key Stage 1 children to the concept of creation in Islam.
This presentation aims to introduce children at Key Stage 1 to the concept of Creation in Christianity and Judaism.
This presentation aims to help Key Stage 3 students investigate the ideas of atheism and agnosticism in Humanism.
This presentation aims to introduce Key Stage 3 students to the concept of Anicca (impermanence) in Buddhism.