Year 6 [Unit 6/d] 7 hours

This unit is about: ideas about God
(Some time will be spent looking at Hindu beliefs about God in this unit.)

• What might God be like?
• What do Hindus believe about God?
• What do Christians believe about God?

Christians believe that humans are created in the image of God. They believe God is in three parts; God the Father, God the Son (Jesus) and God’s Holy Spirit. The analogy of an egg (yolk, white and shell) or water, ice and steam, or humans as mental, physical and spiritual beings could be used to help the children grasp the concept of ‘three in one’ - The Trinity.

Ask class to think about how we often use words beyond their literal meaning - metaphor, analogy, simile etc.

In the Bible words are used in various ways to describe God:-

As a parent ‘We are God’s children’ Romans 8:16

As a king ‘God is king for ever’ Exodus 15:18

As a mother bird ‘Hide me under your wings’ Psalm 17:8

As a mother ‘Just as a mother could not forget her baby, so I could not forget you’ Isaiah 49:15

As a shepherd ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ Psalm 23:1

As a rock ‘The Lord is my rock’ Psalm 18:2

As a judge ‘Won’t the judge of all the earth be fair?’ Genesis 18:25

As a friend ‘God’s friendship blessed me’ Job 29:4

As a potter ‘You are the potter and we are the clay’ Isaiah 64:8

As a helper ‘I will hold your hand’ Isaiah 42:6

Read modern translation of Psalm 139. Talk about the words.

The Bible describes God as a loving Father. In Isaiah Chapter 49 verse 15 God says “I will not forget you. I have written your name on the palm of my hand” How do these words make the children feel?

Christians believe that God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus so that by looking at his life and listening to his teachings, people would know what God is like.

You may like to explore the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Prodigal Son found in Luke Chapter 15. Look also at the picture ‘Tell Me!’ by Andràs Simon (click here to view), which shows a father and child, depicted as one continuous line.

Pentecost and the early church

The Bible claims that in the weeks following the first Easter (27 CE) many people saw Jesus alive again. Jesus told his followers to wait for his Holy Spirit to come to them. In Acts Chapter 2 (verses 1 - 41) there is a description of what happened when it did. It says that the first Christians were meeting together in a room to pray when something that seemed like a wind filled the room and that something that looked like fire was over their heads. Everyone started talking in foreign languages which were recognised by the people that were gathered outside. Even though it was early in the morning many thought at first that the Christians must have been drinking. Peter explained what was happening and about 3000 became Christians that day. The rest of Acts describes the travels and persecutions of the early Christians around the Mediterranean area and the growth of the early church.

Christians today desire to be filled with God’s Holy Spirit. In Galatians Chapter 5 (verse 22) the various ‘fruits’ of the Holy Spirit are listed - i.e. Christians believe that when people are filled with the Holy Spirit they will develop qualities of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Ask pupils to look up these attributes and use their own words to describe situations where they would be beneficial.

We have copies of a 25 minute video (actors playing the parts of early Christians) available for loan to local schools.

See Jesus Through Art - available from us on loan.

See Cracking RE Summer ‘98.

Year 6 [Unit 6/e] 7 hours

This unit is about: human responsibility for the environment

• What do Christians believe about their relationship between humans, their environment and other living creatures?
• What do Buddhists and Hindus believe about the relationship between humans, their environment and other living creatures?

NEW!!  Lesson plan to download at the foot of this page.

Creation

Recap on Creation work done in Year 5 Summer term.

Look at A Spaceman’s View - a guided imagery exercise.  Ask the children questions such as ‘I wonder how it got there?’, ‘I wonder how it stays there?’, ‘I wonder how it came to be so special?’

Ask pupils if they have ever made anything special. Where/how have they kept it? How would they feel if someone else mistreated what they had created?

In the biblical account of Creation, God asks Adam to look after the world. Using a modern translation ask pupils to read Genesis Ch 2 verses 15-20.

Write the 8 letters of the word CREATION on 8 pieces of paper and display them on the board. What does the word make the pupils think of. Rearrange the letters to spell I CARE NOT. Ask pupils to discuss ways in which our world is being spoiled today. How has our environment changed since the industrial revolution or just in the last century?

Create a class collage with newspaper cuttings about environmental issues.

Ask pupils how they can make a difference - how can they help care for the environment?

Watch ‘Pathways To Belief - Creation’ video and consider a class/school recycling project.

The children could write to the local council to find out what recycling facilities are available in our area. Watford Council’s website has a list of recycling facilities available in the town. Visit www.watford.gov.uk to find out more.

Investigate websites such as www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet or www.globalgang.org.uk for more information on caring for the environment.

Year 6 [Unit 6/a] 8 hours

This unit is about: expressive and visual arts in religions

• How do Christians, Buddhists and Hindus express their faith in art, drama and song?
• Why do people of faith use art, drama and song to enrich their religious experience?

What is 'worship'? The word worship comes from the words 'worth ship' . When people worship, they are expressing how much something means to them.

With a basic grasp of Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity, pupils will understand that worship in these three faiths is bound to differ........

Buddhists either do not believe in God or feel that the concept of God is beyond human understanding. They think of themselves showing respect to the Buddha as a great teacher and do not worship him as a god.

Hindus believe in many gods as different manifestations of one creator God. During worship they offer food and flowers to statues of their gods.

Christians (like Jews and Muslims) believe in one God, creator of the universe and everything in it. Through their worship they want to show reverence and thankfulness to God for all he provides.

Christians also believe Jesus is the son of God, sent by God to save the world. They believe he died on a cross to take the penalty for the sins of the human race so that people can be forgiven by God and go to heaven. That is something for which they are overwhelmingly grateful. Jesus is worshipped as God worldwide through all the expressive art forms in different cultures - particularly music, art, creative writing and dance.

Click here to look at our web page showing how Christians express their faith through flowers. The pictures were all taken at the Bushey Festival and the page is designed for children to use.

1. Christians express their faith in: stained glass windows.
Aim: to show that Christians express their faith in many different ways.
Stained glass windows have a twofold purpose - to give glory to God and to point others to God. The BBC History Trail website has lots of background information on the making of stained glass. Look at the Life of Christ portrayed through stained glass here.
Activity: Design a stained glass window - either individually or as a class.
Think about: If you had to choose one Bible story to put in a stained glass window which one would it be and why?

2. Christians express their faith in: worship.
Aim: to explore how Christians express their faith in worship, using a website to investigate.
Look at the Educhurch website together and compare and contrast the buildings. See what happens inside, especially the banners in all three churches and the paint wall at Mendelsham Christian Fellowship.
Activity: Write a brief summary of the things the three churches do to express their faith.

3. Christians express their faith: through poetry.
The website Rejesus has an interview with Christian poet Steve Turner together with a selection of his poetry.
If possible find a copy of Steve Turner’s poem ‘My Dad’. Who is the poet talking about? What does the poet feel about the father in the poem? What does that tell us about Steve Turner’s feelings about God.
Activity: from what you know about God, write a short poem about him.
To think about: Read the story of the hymn writer Horatio Spafford. Could I write so positively if something terrible happened to me?

4. Christians express their faith: through drama.
Look at the story of the prodigal son. Think about how the father and the two sons would have felt and explore body language for I’m sorry, I’m sad, I’m lonely, welcome etc.
Activity: In groups of 3 or 4 act out the story.
Think about: Why did Jesus tell this and other picture stories? Why do Christians continue to tell and act these stories?

5. Christians express their faith: through music.
Play a selection of Christian music  (For example, hymn, choral music, modern worship song, rock/pop.)
The Trust has produced a CD to be used in this lesson, with an accompanying worksheet. Email for details.
Which one do you like best? All these songs were written by Christians who were trying to express their love for God and Jesus.
Activity: listen and describe each piece in one sentence.
Think about: Which one do you think God likes best?

6. Christians express their faith: though art.
‘Jesus Through Art’ and ‘The Bible Through Art’ both contain a wealth of material and lesson plans based around famous paintings. Visit the National Gallery website to see pictures on line or to book a free themed visit with a guide for an hour (telephone 020 7747 2424). You can specify your topic and ask to look at paintings of Jesus.
The ‘Expressions’ section of the website Rejesus contains a gallery of images of Christ and also the work of Christian photographer, Lizzie Everard.
The Lindisfarne Scriptorium website has beautiful examples of modern illuminated texts produced by Christian artists.
Activity: Make your own illuminated text.

7. Christians express their faith: through textiles.
Visit the website www.church-textiles.co.uk. The artist, Juliet Hemingray, has created beautiful banners, altar cloths and vestments which express various aspects of the Christian faith in richly coloured fabrics. Many churches today use banners as a way of inspiring worship. They are often changed to represent different seasons of the church year.
Activity: Design a banner to illustrate one of the ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus, perhaps using coloured paper or collage.

Year 6 [Unit 6/b]  3 hours

This unit is about: sacred and secular Christmas

• What is the difference between the sacred and secular Christmas?
• What would a Christian think Christmas should be about?
• Should Christmas be banned for people who are non-Christian?

Sacred v Secular Christmas

Aim of lessons: To help pupils differentiate between traditional celebrations which reflect the real meaning of the first Christmas and those that are purely secular.

Many pupils are unaware that even the word ‘Christmas’ has any religious meaning.  Write the word on the board and ask if they can see a name in the word. ‘Christmas’ comes from Christ Mass. Ask pupils to look up the word ‘mass’ in a dictionary.

Why is Christmas celebrated in this country on December 25th?  The Romans decided to replace the pagan winter solstice celebrations with a day for celebrating the birth of Jesus. Jesus is unlikely to have been born in December as the month is too cold for shepherds to have been out in Palestinian fields at night. Ask pupils to find out how and when other countries celebrate Christmas. In Austria the holiday begins on December 6th, in Mexico festivities start on December 16th, while in Spain gifts are not given until January 6th.

Read an account of the first Christmas.  Give the class a selection of old Christmas cards. Ask the pupils to sort them into those with a religious meaning and those with none. There are likely to be several cards that they are not sure about (i.e. “Do bells count?”) which can lead to a class discussion to decide. Pupils can also be asked to look at the difference in the words printed inside.

Provide pupils with Christmas catalogues from stores such as Boots, Tescos, Sainsburys or Asda.  Working in pairs ask them to find any evidence of the sacred meaning of Christmas in amongst the merchandise. They may find kings, crowns, angels (fairies don’t count!) or stars.

Ask pupils to compile a list of Christmas traditions.  The Why Christmas website has a wealth of information about Christmas customs and traditions from around the world.  Using this site or the book ‘What’s the Point of Christmas?’ ISBN 0 7459 1505 1 @ 99p (available locally from our Resources Co-ordinator at the e-mail address on our Home Page), explain some of the origins of Christmas traditions which have now lost their sacred meaning. 

Here are a few examples:

The kind Bishop of Myra (St. Nicholas) in 4thC Asia is said to have thrown money down a chimney to provide an anonymous gift for a poor family.  The money landed in the girls stockings which were hanging up by the fire to dry leading to the traditions of Father Christmas, Christmas stockings & gold chocolate coins. Father Christmas has only been depicted in red and white since an advertising campaign by Coca Cola early last century.

Evergreen trees have been used as a symbol of everlasting life ever since the 8thC when St. Boniface, an English missionary to Germany, stopped a child being killed in the woods as a sacrificial offering.  He suggested that the child’s life should be spared and that a small fir tree nearby could be cut down instead.  Martin Luther (Germany 1540) was said to have been the first person to bring a tree indoors at Christmas and put candles on it as a sign that God was welcome in his home (fairy lights).  Prince Albert made the Christmas tree popular in this country.

Delicious food was baked in small open pies (called ‘shrid pyes’ - later known as mince pies) as a reminder of the baby Jesus in the manger. In France they bake a cake with a crown on the top (a Galette des Rois) which they eat on 12th night. Inside the cake is a hidden token and who ever finds it is allowed to be ‘king or queen for the day’

Christmas carols used to be ‘caroles’ which were dances performed at religious gatherings.

The Bible does not tell us how many Magi came to visit Jesus. Three gifts - gold, frankincense and myrrh are mentioned which has led to the traditional idea of there being just three wise men - there could have been dozens!

Play a selection of secular Christmas music - Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day etc and then listen to Silent Night or In the Bleak Mid -Winter Silent night was written by Phillips Brooks who spent Christmas in Bethlehem in 1866. In the Bleak Mid-Winter was written by the Victorian artist and poet Christina Rossetti.  Ask pupils to explore the real meanings of the words.

Look at the poem by Gordon Bailey, Christmas/sacred or Christ/massacred.  You can find a copy of the poem at the end of the story about Josh’s birthday, also by Gordon Bailey. You may like to use the story to reinforce the idea of Christmas without Christ.