1 INTRODUCTORY LESSON What is Easter about? 3 EVALUATION LESSON Happy or sad?

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1 Title: Is Easter happy or sad? Key Stage: 1 Length of unit: 3 lessons Year Groups: 1 Cross-curricular links: PSHEE; Literacy (vocabulary); Drama; Science; Numeracy Lesson Title of lesson Main points of content / Bible references for Christianity units 1 INTRODUCTORY LESSON What is Easter about? Show children a range of Easter cards and identify the Easter elements on each e.g. chocolate eggs / rabbits / flowers etc. Talk about the story of Jesus death and resurrection as being the focus for the Christian celebration of Easter. Look at the Easter cards again, and talk about which are linked with the different elements of the story. Share hot cross buns and chocolate eggs and explain their Easter challenge! This lesson could be extended into cookery (making hot cross buns) and art (decorating Easter eggs) 2 How do you feel? Use large faces showing different emotions, and ask pupils to see if they can guess the emotions being expressed and what might have made the people feel that way. Talk about the things that make pupils sad / happy. Explain that the story behind the celebration of Easter has two parts a sad part, and a happy part. Make a set of large stepping stones and physically walk the whole story together, asking pupils to think about the differing emotions connected with the events. In groups, dramatise it using freeze-frame faces, focussing on their reactions to the Good Friday / Easter Day parts of the story from the points of view of different people (e.g. Mary, the disciples, the crowd, Jesus, God etc.; anger / fear / 3 EVALUATION LESSON Happy or sad? loneliness / sadness / despair / disbelief / joy / etc.) Give children sorting rings and pictures from different parts of the Easter story. Children sort them into happy events and sad events, giving reasons for their decisions. Have they solved the Easter challenge?! Is Easter happy, sad or both? Notes / Background to the unit: All skills identified in these units are highlighted within the activities section in bold Where there are links with wider school issues such as SMSC, Every Child Matters and Community Cohesion (Co-Co), these are identified on each lesson plan. The introductory lesson needs a supply of Easter cards include a few religious ones, just to see how many children would identify the real meaning of Easter. You will also need hot cross buns and Easter eggs to share. Ensure good hygiene practices and take care to check for any allergy issues. How much of the story you focus on for lesson 2 will depend on the differing abilities of the children in your class. You may want to include all the events of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Day, or just focus on the events of Good Friday and Easter Day. More help with this is included within each lesson plan The events of Maundy Thursday are covered in a separate unit What happens on Maundy Thursday?

2 Lesson title: What is Easter about? Skills being developed: Investigation; Reflection; Interpretation Lesson: 1 of 3 Cross-curricular links/ wider school issues: Science (if cooking); Art; SMSC (SMSC) that symbols of new life are often associated with Easter that the cross is a symbol of Easter You will need Easter cards, hot cross buns and Easter eggs for this lesson. It could be extended into cookery (making hot cross buns) and / or art (decorating Easter eggs) Ensure good hygiene is practised if making hot cross buns for all to share, and take care to check for any allergy issues. Many craft outlets sell polystyrene or paper egg shapes suitable for decorating. Be as arty as you like! Eggs are traditionally associated with Easter because of the new life connection, but also because they are tomb-like in shape Baby animals e.g. chicks, rabbits, lambs etc. are often associated with new life & therefore the resurrection. The Easter bunny is an American invention Show children a range of Easter cards and ask them to identify the Easter elements on each e.g. chocolate eggs / rabbits / flowers etc. Talk about the story of Jesus death and resurrection as being the focus for the Christian celebration of Easter. Read the story together from a good Children s Bible such as the Storyteller Bible Investigation / Interpretation: Look at the Easter cards again, and talk about any that children can see are linked with the different elements of the story. Reflection / Interpretation: What might the other things on the cards have to do with Easter? Children talk to a partner about their ideas, then share with the class Explain to children that the cards with rabbits / chicks / eggs are still connected with Easter because they are symbols of new life and are linked to the resurrection Jesus coming back to life again on Easter Day. Don t give specific answers about eggs and the resemblance to the tomb, as you want children to really have to think! Interpretation: Share hot cross buns and chocolate eggs and explain their Easter challenge. Hot cross buns and Easter eggs are each associated with the two main days of Easter Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but can pupils work out which? Keep their ideas a secret until the last lesson! Plenary/Extending the thinking: Reflection: If children were designing an Easter card, what would they choose as the main symbol on the front and why? Talk with a partner again. What might a Christian choose and why? talk about what they see on the cards ( L1) be able to identify those elements connected with the story of Easter ( L1/2 depending on depth of information given by child) be able to explain the reasons for their choice of symbol - and suggest what a Christian might choose ( L2)

3 Lesson title: How do you feel? Skills being developed: Empathy; Reflection; Interpretation Lesson: 2 of 3 Cross-curricular links/ wider school issues: Drama; PSHEE; ICT; SMSC that Easter is a time of contrasting emotions (SMSC) that Jesus death and resurrection were both part of God s plan You could use your hall for this lesson or push your class furniture against the walls You could have as few as 3 stepping stones the crucifixion; burial; resurrection or as many as 6 (Palm Sunday; Last Supper / Garden of Gethsemane; the trial & Peter s denial; crucifixion; burial; resurrection) There are bound to be lots of questions raised during this lesson, and time should be spent taking pupils queries seriously The contrast of emotions reflected within the Easter story are in one way representative for Christians of the whole of life that God is in both the happy and sad times of life. Jesus didn t teach that life following him would be easy, but that Christians should take up their cross and learn what it means to trust him in all circumstances Christians believe that Jesus death was part of God s plan for restoring the relationship between God and mankind. Everything that people do wrong can be forgiven by God because of Jesus death Empathy: Use pictures of large faces showing different emotions, and ask pupils to see if they can guess the emotions being expressed and what might have made the people feel that way. Think about the fact that Christians believe that God made people to be like him able to feel and express emotions Talk about the things that make pupils sad and happy. Explain that the story behind the celebration of Easter has two parts a sad part, and a happy part. Empathy: Make a set of large stepping stones and physically walk the whole story together, asking pupils to think about the differing emotions connected with the events. In groups, dramatise each event using freeze-frame faces, focussing on their reactions to the Good Friday / Easter Day parts of the story from the points of view of different people (e.g. Mary, the disciples, the crowd, Jesus, God etc.; fear / loneliness / sadness / despair / disbelief / joy / etc.) Photos of each group should be taken as evidence of pupils work, and for pupils to talk about afterwards. If time allows, children could annotate the photos of their groups expressions using ICT Plenary / Extending the thinking: Reflection / Empathy: How do children think Christians feel about Easter what does it mean to them? Do they think the emotions of the story help them to understand? be able to talk simply (e.g. happy / sad) about the emotions connected with the Easter story ( L1) be able to retell the Easter story using their photo cards ( L2) be able to identify with different characters within the Easter story and talk about the range of emotions involved ( L2) respond sensitively to the thoughts and feelings of others ( L2) be able to articulate what Easter means for a Christian, making reference to the story ( L2/3)

4 Lesson title: Happy or sad? Skills being developed: Empathy; Reflection; Investigation Evaluation Lesson: Cross-curricular links / wider school issues: Numeracy (sorting); SMSC (SMSC) that Easter is a time of contrasting emotions (SMSC) that the cross is a symbol of Jesus death on Good Friday and the egg of Jesus resurrection on Easter Sunday If you prefer, you could give children sets of muddled-up pictures to cut and paste into happy and sad sets. Copy pictures out of a Children s Bible. Less able children could be given a smaller selection to sort than the more able. You could give more able children some more challenging pictures e.g. the thieves on the crosses next to Jesus etc., or other parts of the story that you haven t talked about in such depth Eggs are traditionally associated with Easter because of the new life connection, but also because they are tomb-like in shape Look back at the pictures taken during the last lesson, and recall the range of emotions discussed. Which are happy emotions and which are sad? Investigation / Empathy: Give children sorting rings and pictures from different parts of the Easter story. Children sort them into happy events and sad events, giving reasons for their decisions. Encourage children to tell you about their pictures in story order. More able children could also be encouraged to think about what Christians believe about Easter and if they want to, what they themselves think about Easter Plenary / Extending the thinking: Show hot cross buns and Easter eggs. Have they solved the Easter challenge?! Ask children to explain the reasons for their decisions and explain any other symbolism Finally, consider is Easter happy, sad... or both? be able to name the people in the pictures ( L1) be able to identify at least one happy and sad picture ( L1) be able to retell the Easter story using their pictures and give reasons for how they ve sorted ( L2) be able to talk about the range of emotions displayed in the pictures and why people were feeling that way ( L2) be able to articulate what Christians believe about Easter, making reference to the story ( L2/3) begin to consider what impact Easter has for themselves ( L3)

5 Assessment sheet for RE Unit: Is Easter happy or sad? Year: 1 be able to name the people in the pictures ( L1) be able to retell the Easter story using their pictures and give reasons for how they ve sorted ( L2) be able to articulate what Christians believe about Easter, making reference to the story ( L2/3) be able to identify at least one happy and sad picture ( L1) be able to talk about the range of emotions displayed in the pictures and why people were feeling that way ( L2) begin to consider what impact Easter has for themselves ( L3) Names: Names: Names: