The Complete Multifaith Resource for Primary Religious Education

Ages 7-11

Judith Lowndes

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136721496
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The Complete Multifaith Resource for Primary Religious Education Ages 7-11 is a definitive teaching and learning aid for cross-religious exploration in the classroom, offering stimulating and detailed ways in which to apply a concepts-based approach to the teaching of RE. It provides a model for learning which engages children and encourages the development of higher order thinking skills and which can be applied to other subject areas in cross-curricular settings.

Comprising of a book anddownloadable resources, The Complete Multifaith Resource features key concepts that underpin religious beliefs and practices and that are key to effective learning in RE for the target age level. Each concept chapter provides a wealth of material which will enable teachers to lead their pupils through the learning experience. Resources can be displayed on an interactive whiteboard for classroom viewing, or alternatively printed out for pupils to use during individual and group activities, requiring no further search for resources. This includes:

• stories, pictures and questions to prompt discussion
• writing frames, sort cards, matching pairs and other engaging activities

This indispensable tool provides a modern, innovative and refreshing approach to teaching RE that has already proved to be effective in a large number of schools and can be applied to the effective delivery of an agreed syllabus for RE. Each chapter is introduced by looking at the key concept from a Christian point of view, and is then examined from the perspectives of the other major world faiths, including Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.

The Complete Multifaith Resource for Primary Religious Education Ages 7-11 will be of value not only to RE managers and leaders, but also to primary phase teachers who may have little confidence or expertise in teaching RE. Trainee teachers and those studying on education courses will also benefit from gaining a better understanding of the concepts-based approach to the teaching of RE as expounded by the Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton Agreed Syllabus.

Various concepts

In this section there are six units of work, and every unit identifies a concept that has been selected because it is of central importance to the religion in which it is contextualised. Each unit explores one religion. In the book the concept sacrifice is contextualised through the Easter story. Pupils enquire into the concept as an example of the Christian belief that Jesus sacrificed his own life for humankind. The units of work from some of the major world faiths are listed below:

The concept of suffering in Buddhism

The concept of devotion in Hinduism

The concept of freedom in Judaism

The concept of revelation in Islam

The concept of service in Sikhism

The concept of sacrifice in Christianity

Figure 7.1

Step 1 Enquire

What does sacrifice mean?

• In small groups pupils produce a mind map or brainstorm around the word sacrifice. Compare and collate the ideas of the different groups.
• Watch the excerpt from the film of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe about Aslan's sacrifice. What did Aslan do? Why? Discuss whether this helps pupils to describe the meaning of sacrifice.

Questions to prompt discussion

• What sacrifice did Aslan make? Why?
• What is a sacrifice?
• Can some sacrifices be bigger than others? Why? Why not?
• What is the biggest sacrifice anyone could make, do you think?

• Pupils devise a role-play scenario to illustrate sacrifice. Groups of pupils role play to others in the class in turn. What do class members think about the sacrifice? Is it a large or small sacrifice?

Step 2 Contextualise

In what way is Jesus's sacrifice expressed in the Easter story?

• Tell the class the Easter story (see below and on CD).

Jesus's sacrifice

Jesus and his followers had a meal together and Jesus told them how pleased he was to share the meal with them, before he had to suffer. After the meal they went to the Mount of Olives where he told his friends to pray. He moved some distance from them and fell to his knees to pray to God on his own. ‘Father,’ he said ‘if you will, please take this suffering away from me.’

When he returned to the others, a crowd arrived, led by one of Jesus's followers called Judas. Some of the crowd carried swords and clubs. They arrested Jesus and took him away to the house of the Jewish high priest to be questioned. While Jesus was under arrest the men who were guarding him ridiculed him and beat him.

The chief Jewish priests, the elders and the teachers of the Jewish law formed a council. In the morning they met together to question Jesus and they asked him about what he had been saying to the crowds that listened to him. They believed that he had broken the sacred Jewish laws by claiming to be the son of God.

The Jewish council then took Jesus to Pilate who was the Roman governor. The Romans had control over the country and the governor had to decide on the punishment for criminals. The members of the Jewish council told Pilate that Jesus had been stirring up trouble and causing riots among the people. Pilate questioned Jesus closely and then spoke to the members of the Jewish council again. ‘This man has not committed any of the crimes that you accuse him of.’ he announced. Then he spoke to the crowds that had gathered outside. ‘What shall I do with this man?’ he asked the crowd. ‘Crucify him! Crucify him!’ they all shouted back. With that response Pilate sentenced Jesus to die on a cross.

Roman soldiers led Jesus away and he was tortured. The soldiers made a crown of thorns and put it on Jesus's head, they beat him and hit him over the head with a stick and they spat on him. Then Jesus was led to the site for crucifixions. He was nailed to a cross and hung there for hours. Just before he died Jesus shouted out ‘My God, my God, why did you abandon me?’ and then his breath left him.

Three days later Jesus appeared to his followers. They were all astounded to see Jesus again. Then he spoke to them about what was written in the Jewish laws and other Jewish writings. ‘This is what is written,’ he said. ‘The Messiah must suffer and must rise from death three days later. The message about forgiveness of sins must be preached to everyone. I will be with you always to the end of the age.’

Questions to prompt discussion

• What was Jesus's sacrifice in this story?
• What do you think Christians believe the sacrifice was for?
• Are there any similarities between Jesus's sacrifice and Aslan's sacrifice?

• Pupils look at works of art representing aspects of Jesus's sacrifice (see artwork 1–4 on CD). The pupils should look closely at the images in groups. They should annotate them and use their notes to form a poem, or write ‘art gallery’ labels to go with each picture, explaining how each one expresses the idea of sacrifice.

Step 3 Evaluate

What is the value of Jesus's sacrifice to Christians and what issues are raised?

• Invite a Christian into class to answer pupils’ questions on their beliefs about Jesus's sacrifice.
• Have a class discussion about Jesus's sacrifice.

Questions to prompt discussion

• Was Jesus's sacrifice worthwhile for Christians?
• Has it made any difference?
• What difference has it made to Christians?
• How do Christians fe...

Table of contents

• Front Cover
• The Complete Multifaith Resource for Primary Religious Education
• Acknowledgements
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Concept: community
• Concept: God
• Concept: holy
• Concept: symbol
• Concept: ritual
• Various concepts