RE: People in Christianity - St Patrick & St Brendan - Ireland in Schools

Northamptonshire County Council Education and Community LearningRE: People in Christianity - St Patrick & St BrendanPart 1: Christianity 2 Key terms & concepts 10Part 2: St Patrick 5 Resources 10Part 3: St Brendan 7 Cross-curricular links 10Medium term plan for REUnit:PEOPLE IN CHRISTIANITY(KS 1-2)Time 30 HoursExpectationsAt the end of this unit:most children will:• Describe their own experiences and feeling of belonging.• Listen and respond sensitively to the experiences and feelings of others, including theChristians studied.• Identify and describe some Christian practices.• Recognise and suggest meanings for key religious symbols and words related to Christianity.• Retell the stories of St Patrick and St Brendan and identify some religious beliefs andteachings.some children will not have made so much progress and will:• Identify aspects of their own experiences and feelings of belonging.• Identify what is of value and concern to themselves in the Christian material studied.• Recognise features of Christian life and practice.• Recount outlines of stories about St Patrick and St Brendan.some children have progressed further and will:• Compare aspects of their own experiences and those of others, identifying what influencestheir lives.• Make links between their own experiences, values and commitments and the Christian onesstudied.• Describe some Christian beliefs and teachings and their importance and describe how somefeatures of these are exemplified in celebrations and practices.• Describe the importance of the experiences of St Patrick and St Brendan and how it affectedtheir lives.IrelandinSchoolsPromotingmutualunderstandingbetween thepeoples ofBritain andIreland throughyoung people

Outline Planning Sheet for Religious EducationUnit Ref: Key Stages 1-2 Title: People in Christianity Part 1: ChristianityKey Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWhat is it like tobelong to a group?• To know that we allbelong to differentgroups.• To consider the role weplay in groups.• Children look at pictures of different ‘family’groups, matching labels to identifycharacters. (Avoid stereotypes of family, raceetc. Include pets.)• Children draw and label members of theirhousehold.• As a circletime activity discuss roles thatmembers of their households play. How dothey support/care for each other?• Complete simple sentences to explain howwe can care for each other as members of ahousehold.• Discuss belonging to other groups such asthe class, Brownies, Cubs, other clubs etc.What do they have to do as a member of thegroup? What shows they belong to thegroup? (Clothes, promises, badge etc.)• Children are given one ‘group’ to make asimple display, showing all they have learnedabout belonging to it.Pupils• Use their ownexperience toidentify whatis involved inbelonging to ahousehold.• Identify waysin which theydemonstratebelonging to agroup.Who belongs tothe schoolfamily?• To know that lots ofpeople make up theschool community.• A large jigsaw puzzle should be made and cutfrom polystyrene or similar material.• Discuss people that make up the schoolcommunity. Identify their roles andimportance.• Identify whatis involved inbelonging to alargercommunity.• Small groups take a piece of the jigsaw anddraw/label one of the people/groupsidentified. They write an explanation of theircontribution to the school community.Jigsaw pieces are fitted together to make alarger display.• Discussion should focus on the value ofeveryone in the community.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 2

Key Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWhat is it liketo belong toChristianity?• To know that there aremany different roles inthe Christian Church.• To become familiar withkey words associatedwith the ChristianChurch.• Children watch a video of Sarah and Paulgoing to church.• Discuss the people that were seen in thechurch and their roles.• Put a large picture of a church on display.On the left side cut and stick shapes labelledwith the people involved in the church. Moreable pupils could be given another religiousbuilding and people associated with it andasked to look for similarities and differenceswith the church.• Read, ‘Lucy’s Sunday’, from Bridges toReligion series. Discuss what Lucy enjoysabout the church, what activities is sheinvolved in? Discuss what other activities thechildren think/know happen in churches.• Have a selection of pictures of Christianworship / activities in Church, such as awedding, Baptism, Harvest etc. Partly coverthe each picture so that some is left showing.Ask the children, in small groups, to drawwhat they think is covered up.• What do they think is happening? Picturesare then uncovered and groups report backabout how accurate they were, what cluesthere were, what surprised them etc.• They then study the picture and compose 5 -10 statements about what is happening.These can be written or taped. After thisthey form up to 5 questions they would needto ask in order to tell people more abouttheir picture.• More able pupils can be given information tofind answers to their questions throughsimple text, access to CD Roms etc. Otherscould be supported in finding out the detailsneeded. Pictures and information gatheredcould then be displayed or presented to theclass or to an assembly.• Returning to the picture of the church on thewall - pictures or labels of activities that takeplace in the church could be recorded, cutout and placed down the right hand side ofthe picture. A list of key words should alsobe compiled and displayed nearby.Pupils will• Know the keypeopleinvolved in theChurchCommunity.• if they arecapable, canmakecomparisonbetween thechurchcommunityand anotherreligion.• Can describethe mainactivities thattake placewithin achurch.• Can identifykey wordsassociated withthe church.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 3

Key Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWhat does it feellike inside achurch?• To identify some of themain features of achurch.• To reflect upon andrespond to being inside achurch.• Arrange a visit to a church. Allow thechildren to sit quietly inside the church anduse their senses. How do they feel? Whatcan they see, hear, smell etc? They shouldtape or write their feelings and use this as abasis for a ‘senses’ poem:I see...I hear...I smell...I taste ... .I am ...• Investigate the parts of the church and askthe children to draw, tape or write about thething they found most interesting and toexplain why.Pupils• Reflect on thefeatures andfeelingsassociatedwith thechurch.• Identifyinterestingfeatures of thechurch.• On return to school these experiences shouldbe shared. What different things did theyfeel, see as most interesting etc?How does aVicar feel abouthis job?• To be aware of how aclergy person sees theirjob.• To ask questions andrespond with respect andsensitivity to a memberof the Christian faith.• Prior to the visit of a vicar or other clergyperson, work with the children on preparinga set of questions for the visit. Link to ICTand word process the questions. Put them ondisplay for the visit.• Ask the vicar or other clergy to talk of theirrole, why they chose that ‘job’ and to answerthe questions.• Following the visit reproduce the answers toput with the questions on display.• Respond withsensitivity tothe values andbeliefs of theClergy person.• Realise thatsomequestionscause peopleto wonder andare difficult toanswer.• Link ICT skillswith RE.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 4

Outline Planning Sheet for Religious EducationUnit Ref: Key Stages 1-2 Title: People in Christianity Part 2: St PatrickKey Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWho was StPatrick?• To become familiar withthe patron saint ofIreland - St Patrick.• To be aware of ways inwhich beliefs can affectbehaviour.• Prepare a storysack with objects related to StPatrick - e.g. shamrock, Bible, cross, map ofIreland, a toy sheep, a model boat, piratesoutfit, pictures of slaves, Roman coins,Priests robe or Collar, book of prayers etc.• Show each of the objects to the children oneat a time and ask them what clues we haveabout the person we’re going to learn about.Where might he be from? When did he live?What job could he have done? What religiondid he belong to? Etc.• Show a large picture of St Patrick beingcaptured. What are his thoughts? Childrenfill in speech bubbles and discuss.• Tell a simple version of the story of StPatrick. Have paper plates with differentfaces expressing feelings of happiness,sadness, fear, excitement etc. Ask thechildren to select the most appropriate faceat certain parts of the story to show howPatrick might have been feeling. Questionthem as to why they think that.Pupils• Identify withthe feelings ofthe characterof St Patrick inthe story.• Can retell thekey details ofthe story of StPatrick.• Can explainwhat they feelto be the mostimportantparts of thestory.• To reflect upon andrespond to questions ofmeaning and value.• Watch the animated tale of St Patrick toreinforce the story.• Give the children a blank ‘video cover’ andask them to devise a title for the story toreflect what it is all about and write thedetails for the ‘blurb’ of the cover (dependingon their ability this could be one simplesentence or a longer passage).• Ask the children to run the story throughtheir head like a video and stop it at whatthey think is the most important part of thestory and to explain why they think that.They could draw the scene on a blank ‘TVscreen’ or more able pupils could write/tapetheir justification.• Identify waysin whichbeliefs affectbehaviour.• Respond to StPatrick’sblessing andreflect uponwhat hopesthey have fortheirfamily/friends/themselves.• Discuss what St Patrick’s main beliefswere. Why did he act as he did? Relate toexamples from children’s experiences aboutwhy they or people around them behave asthey do.• Look at a variety of pictures of St Patrick bydifferent artists. Which do they think aremost likely to be accurate? Why? Which dothey like/dislike? Why? More able pupilscould select a picture and complete an‘images’ worksheet. Discuss whether picturesare the best way to find out about whatsomebody is like.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 5

Key Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/Assessment• Link to the children’s experience by askingthem to bring in photographs of themselves.Combine these with photographs of a varietyof famous people and people in school etc.Do the photographs reveal anything aboutthe person? Do the clothes matter? Etc. Canwe really tell what the person is like?• Read St Patrick’s blessing. Discuss what itmeans. Who is he concerned about?Children compose their own‘blessings’/thoughts about what they hopefor their friends/family. Children share theirthoughts if they wish to.• Explain how the church recognises Saints’Days and how to many countries these daysare very important. People are often namedafter Saints and, in Italy for example, villageshave grand celebrations when the Saint towhom their village/church is dedicated hastheir day. Look at some of thecustoms/celebrations associated withcelebrating St Patrick’s Day particularly inIreland e.g. The Parade in Dublin.• Prepare the class/school for a celebration ofSt Patrick’s Day. Invite parents and otherguests. Invite Irish Dancers to work with thechildren to devise simple dances to perform.Have Irish cookery lessons with food toshare, prepare a puppet play ordramatisation of St Patrick’s life and haveIrish songs and blessings. Involve guests inmaking cards to send greetings on StPatrick’s Day and generally celebrateIreland! Link, via e-mail, with schools inIreland to see how they are celebrating theday.• Following the event, reflect on how it felt toparticipate in the celebrations and evaluatethe experience.Pupils• Know that thechurchcelebratesSaints’ Days.• Experienceparticipation infestivities.• Become awareof a broaderpicture ofIreland.• Evaluate theirfeelings/experiences.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 6

Outline Planning Sheet for Religious EducationUnit Ref: Key Stages 1-2 Title: People in Christianity Part 3: St BrendanKey Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWho was StBrendan?• To know the story ofanother Irish Saint.• To understand howpeople can be motivatedby their beliefs.• Follow up work on St Patrick with a focus onanother religious Irish character such as StColmcille, St Brigid or St Brendan. I will beusing St Brendan here, as an example.• Tell the story of St Brendan. Retell as achorus drama where the teacher narrates asimple version of the story and the class forma chorus with relevant actions/ words/ soundsto reinforce key features of the story. Forexample:T There was once a young man whoplanned a journey.C Let’s go, beep, beep, aeroplane sounds,(parade in a line round class).T He found some friends to go with him.C Hello, Hi, How are you?T They built a boat.C Bang, Bang, Hammer, Saw.T They packed supplies.C Mmm yum yum.T They set sail.C Whoosh, whoosh etc.• Discuss the key points of the story. Why didBrendan behave as he did? What must thejourney have been like? Why didn’t he giveup?• Show pictures of the mysterious events ofthe journey. Children suggest what may bebeing said by characters and fill in speechbubbles to accompany the pictures. Discusswhy such things would have seemed sostrange then.• Link to children’s own experience by havingphotographs of everyday objects taken fromstrange angles or showing only part of theobject. Discuss how things seem strangeuntil we are familiar with them.Pupils• Can retell thekey elements ofthe story of StBrendan.• Reflect on whythings may seemto be strange/mysterious topeople.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 7

Key Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWhat was StBrendan’svoyage like?• To reflect on the feelingsof St Brendan.• To express feelingsthrough music.• To be aware that beliefscan be expressed indifferent forms.• Display a map of Brendan’s journey. Stickpictures or words on it to show/describe thefeelings at each stage of the journey.• Devise a story bowl together. What wouldthe ingredients be to tell the story of StBrendan? What characters?, Feelings? etc.• Show the children an empty envelopeaddressed to ‘My dear friend, Enda’. Explainthat the letter, from Brendan, has gonemissing. Decide where on the journey it waswritten and compose a letter together. Itshould show Brendan’s fears, hopes,excitement, etc. Depending on ability,children could then compose another letterfor a different stage of the journey on theirown or with support.Pupils...• Identify thefeelings of StBrendan.• Empathisewith thefeelings of StBrendan.• Listen to short extracts from ‘The BrendanVoyage’ by Shaun Davey.• Ask the children to close their eyes and thinkabout the music. What pictures does it bringto their minds? Why might that be? Discussthe instruments used. Draw the things thatcome to their minds and discuss. Do theythink the extracts relate to specific parts ofBrendan’s journey? Which? Why?• Ask the children, in small groups, to makeup sounds/music to represent differentfeelings, such as, anger, excitement, sadness,happiness, peace, fear. Whatobjects/instruments would they choose tomake the sounds? Why? Would the soundsbe loud / soft? Fast/slow? Etc. Oncecomposed the children could write simplepoems about their emotions to read withtheir ‘music’. This could be performed to theclass or an assembly.• Imagine that you could go back in time andmeet St Brendan. What questions would thechildren like to ask him? As well as simpledetails encourage questions on feelings andreasons for his actions. Teacher in the role ofSt Brendan then takes the hot seat andanswers questions put to them from thechildren, giving as much detail as possibleabout him. A role on the wall of Brendanshould then be created, gathering all theinformation learned about him together. (Asimple outline of a person is drawn anddetails written around the outside. Feelingsare written inside the outline).• Interpretfeelings/eventsexpressedthrough music.• Expressemotions,symbolicallythrough music.• Are aware thatmusic cansymboliseemotions.• Be becomingaware thatbeliefs can beexpressedthroughdifferentforms.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 8

Key Questions Learning Objectives Activities LearningOutcome/AssessmentWhat have welearned about StBrendan?• To produce a bookabout St Brendan.• Children individually, or in groups, useinformation to make zigzag books or bigbooks entitled, ‘Who was St Brendan?’Depending on their ability this might besequenced pictures, a few simple statementsor a more detailed collection of pictures andwriting including detail of why Brendan didwhat he did.Pupils• Synthesiseinformationgained throughdrama andstory to form apicture of thelife of StBrendan.Why do webehave as we do?• To make simplecomparisons between StPatrick and St Brendanand the motivationbehind their actions.• To be aware of ways inwhich beliefs motivatebehaviour.• Encourage the children to look forsimilarities between the two Saints studied.Identify the reasons behind their venturesand link to the children’s experiences of whythey behave as they do. Follow up workcould include looking at modem dayChristians who have been motivated by theirbeliefs.• Identifysimilarities/differencesbetween thelives/motivations ofSt Patrick andSt Brendan.• Linkexperiencesfrom the livesof the Saintswith their ownbehaviour/motivations.NCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 9

Key Terms Key Concepts Resources Cross CurricularLinks eg SMSC /Literacy / NumeracyBaptismCelebrationChurchHarvestIrelandJourneySt BrendanSt PatrickSymbolVicarVoyageWeddingWorshipBeliefBelongingCelebrationCommitmentCommunityFaithFamilyPrayerReflectionWorshipPolystyrene Jigsaw‘Sarah and Paul’ Video (crossview)‘Lucy’s Sunday’ book fromBridges to Religion SeriesPictures of members of houseincluding petsLabels of members of householdLarge pictures of churchPictures of Christian WorshipSt Patrick’s blessing‘Patrick - Brave Shepherd of theEmerald Isle’ video (St Paulmultimedia)Stories about St PatrickPhotographs of famous peoplePhotographs of people in theschoolVisit of a ClergypersonVisit to a ChurchStory sack for St PatrickStory of St BrendanPictures of St Brendan’s voyageMap of St Brendan’s journey‘Issues’ sheet‘The Brendan Voyage’ Musicby Shaun DaveyRange of objects / percussioninstruments.HistoryLiteracyDramaMusicICTCD-ROMSWord ProcessingUse of InternetE-mail links with Ireland schoolsNCC Education, RE (KS1-2): Saints, 10