Year 1 [Unit 1/e] 10 hours

This unit is about: precious books

• Which books are special to the children?
• How can we tell that religious books are precious?
• What stories or passages in religious books influence the reader and how?

Talk together about which books are special to the children and why. Explain that the Bible is a very special book for Christians; many read it every day because they believe God can communicate through the words. It is still the world’s best selling book and has been translated into more than 2000 languages.

The word ‘Bible’ comes from the Greek word biblia meaning ‘books’ and it is in fact a collection of 66 books, written by many people over a long time. Each of the 66 books is divided into chapters and each chapter is divided again into verses.

The Bible is divided into two parts - the Old Testament is shared with the Jewish faith and the New Testament tells about the life of Jesus and the first churches.

Visit the website www.request.org.uk (click ‘Infants’ then ‘Bible’) for clear text and illustrations.

What would the children save up and wait a long time for?

Read the story of Mary Jones and her Bible. A copy may be found here courtesy of the Bible Society in Northern Ireland.

What does the Bible mean to a Christian? Find out here.

Things to do:

Find a modern translation of the Bible and look at the ‘Contents’ page near the front of the book.

Find out how many ‘books’ make up the Old Testament and how many ‘books’ make up the New Testament.

Find the first book in the Bible. What is it called?

Watch the BBC video ‘Pathways of Belief - The Bible’ episode.

Copies of ‘The Lion Storyteller Bible’ and ‘Stories Jesus Told’ are available from us. Also the book ‘Guess How Much I Love You’, illustrating the message of the Bible.

Contact us for extension work on the parables of ‘The Good Samaritan’, ‘The Prodigal Son’ and ‘The Lost Sheep’. ‘The Lost Sheep’ big book by Penny Frank has been given to all local JM and Primary schools. We have further copies available for loan.

The new BBC ‘Watch - Christianity’ video and accompanying big books also cover the stories of the Good Samaritan and the Lost Sheep.

E-mail the Trust at the address on our home page for details of free books for use in RE.

Year 1 [Unit 1/a] 6 hours

This unit is about: the wonder of nature and how religious
people express their thankfulness

• · Which aspects of the natural world do the children find wonderful?
• · What do Christians and Jews say about how the world was made?
• · How do Christians show they are thankful for the natural world? Harvest
• · How do Jews show they are thankful for the natural world? Sukkoth

Thankfulness for Nature

1. Awe and wonder. Go outside to smell the earth. Look at the sky. Feel the trees. Record how the children feel? Look at natural objects using magnifying glasses.
The Science Photo Library contains a vast range of images from the natural world, many magnified to show great detail.

2. Read ‘In the Beginning’ big book by Steve Turner - (available on loan from Watford Schools Trust) and look at the illustrations. Create a colourful collage portraying the Biblical account of creation.

Watch BBC’s Pathways to Belief ‘Creation’ video.

Read from the beginning of the Storyteller Bible. Divide class up to invent a class dance to go with the story (e.g. swimming things, flying things, a sun, moon and stars).

3. Look at some corn/wheat ears (or corn for popping will do)- flour - variety of breads from around the world. How/where does wheat grow? Make bread.

4. What is our favourite food? Where do the ingredients come from? How does it get onto our plates/into our lunch boxes? Who should we thank?
Make a bowl of fruit from brightly coloured paper or tissue - this activity can be linked to literacy using the book ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Browne (Walker Books, also available in Big Book format).

5. Look at examples of thank you hymns and prayers

6. Read story of the Hebrews in the wilderness ‘A Long Journey’ page 36 Storyteller Bible. Make a shelter for Sukkoth to eat lunch in.

Festival of Shelters (Sukkoth)

The origins of this week long Jewish festival are described in Leviticus Chapter 23. It is part of the harvest celebrations and is a time for saying thank you to God for all he has provided. Jewish families build temporary shelters of branches and leaves in their gardens to eat and even sleep in. Sleeping under the stars reminds them of the time when God cared for their ancestors for 40 years in the wilderness under the leadership of Moses (in the book of Exodus). Read the story from The Storyteller Bible.