Year 7 lesson plans

Unit 1

Example 1

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The Icons programme

1 A About belonging

1. About belonging

Aims: To consider what it means to belong to a community.

Introduce the course

Show cartoon of boy all alone

Consider what it is like to feel alone. – discuss

Introduce the idea of community

In Pairs

Tell the person next to you all the groups to which you belong.

Brainstorm them on the board

Look at the advantages and disadvantages of belonging to the different groups.

Now look at the difference between a 'group' and a 'community'.

Which of the groups they belong to could be called communities?

Design an advert for Painsley, which could go into a local paper, that shows how Painsley is a community. (Include people/ groups who make up the community etc.)

2. Do you speak the language?

Aim: To consider how we use language and how language has different meanings in different contexts.

· Recap on the idea of Belonging.

· Belonging often means you need to know the language. Put up 6 or 7 pieces of paper around the room with a heading on each. The pupils should go around the room adding words they would associate with each heading on the appropriate sheets of paper.

· Spend some time looking at the outcomes, which words belong to more than one group? Which words change their meaning from one group to the next?

On OHP's write the following:

Maths, art, geography, (A sport), space travel, ICT.

Write down the different words associated with the different areas.

Follow the 'Work as a class' task.

Discuss - are there any examples of 'language' or 'words that you use with would not mean much to others?

Design a cartoon based upon the different understanding of words.

How would you feel if you were in a group and did not understand the language?

3. Church Community

Aims: To consider what a church is.

Recap on the idea about belonging and community

Show picture of people and picture of a church and ask if they know what they have in common.

(Idea – that they are both a ‘church’, the former being more important)

Go over the idea that the church is a community of people who worship God together.

Give pupils the following list of what makes up a church and ask them to put it into the right section – either church building or church community:

Bricks

Plaster

People of all ages and backgrounds

Glass

A feeling of community

A priest

Musicians

Readers

Electrical cable

People to run a children’s liturgy group

Wood planks

Visitors the sick/lonely

Fund raisers for charity

Light fittings

Prayer/ bible study group leaders

Youth group leader

Cement

Christians

Now consider the following after discussion:

Looking at your list of people in the church community, in your own words, explain what sort of things should happen in a church community. What do the people do on Sundays/ in the rest of the week?

Design a church - if you had to design a church - it would not just be the building but the people.

If you were designing the church building - what would you need to include to support the church community.

Brainstorm ideas

What sort of building would you need? What sort of facilities? How could it be made to appeal to people?

Draw up plans.

4. People first

Aims: To explore how the church community has developed

Recap on the two different ideas a church can be.

Brainstorm: When were the happiest or most exciting times of your life so far?

Draw out the idea (hopefully!) that the best times have been when we are with other people - that being with others - in community - is very important.

Read Acts 2: 44-47

Why did they do this?

Again draw out the idea that Christians believe that to really live a Christian life you need to be part of a Christian community (Church).

Look at how the Christian Community (Church) has developed

Written work: Draw diagram/ flow chart to illustrate.

Extension work

Explain why Christians believe that they need to be a part of a Church - and not just on their own as Christians. Include the following words in your answer:

Church Community Sharing Fellowship Breaking of bread Good News

5. The early church

Look at the way the early church was persecuted

Use relevant unit in Jesus and the birth of the church to help

Do reflection on what life might have been like in the catacombs

Written activity – Imagine they were a Christian in Rome in the first century – write their account.

6. The local church

Introduction

Explore the idea of sharing

Ask for volunteer

Let them stand in front of the class - Give then bar of chocolate to eat.

Tell them it must be eaten in the next few minutes.

See what happens (Some may just eat it – some may share)

Draw out the idea that sharing is difficult

Give another situation out

Ask them to put their hands up if they think that someone’s life and health is more than a TV. (Most will obviously say yes)

Ask who has TV in bedroom – most will put their hands up.

Tell them that if sold, their TV would make enough money to feed a child living in poverty for six months. Ask them (only for their own contemplation) if they would then give up their TV and give the money to charity.

Continue to draw out the idea that sharing is difficult.

Look at the early church and how they shared all they had (Icons 1 page 9)

Look at the activities of the parish and the way Christians today try to share (Their time, talents etc.)

Look at the news letter

(Use the master copy 2 to help.)

Invent your own church and then design your weekly news letter showing all the ways in which the local church can ‘share’ their talents, time, resources with others.

7. Assessment 1

Preparation work

Discuss the different facets to a Parish as seen in the news letter etc.

Answer the 'Make a record of your work' questions.

Explain assessment

In groups discuss the following questions:

What sort of atmosphere would you want to have in your parish (In mass, after mass, in the different organisations etc.)

How could you make people feel that they belong to the Parish?

What groups would you think a Parish should have?

What would the church building need to include?

How will the parish be run - and by whom?

Show assessment - begin preparation

N.b. There will be a church visit and a talk from the Parish priest to support the assessment.

8. The world wide church

Introduction

Ask for examples of some different nationalities around the world.

Ask then to tell some thing of what they know about them.

Read through the section in Icons and discuss the questions

Read the Passage from Paul about being 'One body in Christ' Romans 12

Explore the idea that we are all part of God's family.

B/S all the ways in which they are the same as us.

Activity

On large sheet of paper - in pairs or on own - draw a large body.

In the middle draw a picture of the world with the words 'We are one body in Christ'.

Around the edge write up all the nationalities you can think and all the ways in which we are similar/ have in common.

ICT activity - Worldwide church available on the Year 7 page

9. Sharing he language of faith

Do belief quiz

What do you believe?

Ghosts

UFO's

The Loch Ness monster

Fish

The Easter bunny

Trusting your friends

Trying to get on with others

Love at first sight

God

Go through and get a straw poll.

In the back of books - get pupils to write down one thing that they believe strongly in.

(It could be any of the above or something else)

Q - If you met someone who felt exactly the same as you about this belief how would you feel/ react towards them?

Get across the idea that when you have something in common with someone you feel closer to them - and that in a similar way Christians feel close because of their belief in and love for Jesus.

Activity

Explain that we are going to look at the Creed (explanation) and explore the special language it contains and what it tells us about Christian beliefs and how it unites Christians.

1. Read through the Creed as a class

2. In pairs - underline all the words or phrases that are difficult to understand.

3. Feed back

4. In small groups - give each group a phrase/word to try and work out the meaning.

5. Feed back

6. Each pupil to write a 'children's' version of the creed - in simple language.

1B A matter of identity

Jesus Christ

4 Lessons

1. A matter of identity

Resources: Copies of the mission statement

Discuss the idea of belonging and what we have in common in this school

Bring in the idea that the school’s mission statement is one of the things we share.

Look at the statement

In pairs discuss:

If we follow the mission statement what affect should it have on our actions?

Report back and discuss

Begin activity in pairs

If you had to design five pledges every person in the school should make, based upon the statement – what would they be – give ideas.

Report back/ discuss

Now – using credit – type card as visual aid – design a card that could be carried by everyone in the school.

On one side you will write the mission statement, on the other will be the five pledges that you come up with.

Design both sides on paper, cut out and stick in books.

2. Belief in Jesus

Write the word Jesus on board

Get pupils to do the same in books

Brainstorm all the words they associate with ‘Jesus’

Now get pupils to fill out copy master 6 – so you think you know Jesus.

Now discuss where they get their ideas from.

Read the section from Icons ‘Belief in Jesus’

Look at the sources of information for the life of Jesus.

Dictate some brief notes on the following sources in Back of book.

Each of the four Gospels and their writers

St Paul

The experience of Christians

Activity

Now, using all the information that you have, design a detailed diagram of how we know about Jesus.

Using a double spread of you book , with the word – Jesus – in the centre, draw a flow diagram showing all the sources of information.

3. Bible skills lesson

Copy master 8

You will need a class set of Bibles and examples of different translations

Bibles skills lesson

Introduction

List all the different types of book you would find in a library

Take some examples – have some as visual aids

Who were they written for?

What message/ideas are they trying to get across?

(Fiction/ poetry/ history etc.)

Bring in the idea that the Bible is like a library of books –

each book tries to give us ideas about God and how believers should live their lives.

Look at how you discover passages in the Bible from Bible references.

Use the Bible skills sheets.

Use activities and set as competitions to look up in pairs.

Explore the different types of writing in the books you come across.

4. Portrait of Jesus

Aims: To reflect on the image we have of Jesus

To consider different peoples images of Jesus and what that tells us about belief in him.

Open up with themes examined so far – where we get our ideas from about Jesus.

Now in all the stories that you have heard about Jesus – there is one thing that is not said or explained about him – something very obvious.

Look at some images of Jesus

Which picture most reminds you of Jesus/ looks the most like Jesus? Why?

Where do we get these ideas from?

Why don’t the Gospel writers tell us what Jesus looked like? (Rhetorical)

Write a description of the person next to you.

Now write a description not what they look like – describe the type of personality they have. (Be nice!)

Which description is the most important?

Get across the idea that The Gospel writers were interested in what sort of person Jesus was – not what he looked like.

Activity – as a group

Using the skills you have learnt, in pairs, look up the following passages and in the back of your books write down what the passage tells you about Jesus.

Matthew 5:43 – 45

Matthew 6: 1 – 4

Matthew 14: 22 – 26

Mark 1: 40 – 45

Mark 11: 12 – 18

Luke 19: 37 – 38

Luke 23: 32 – 43

John 13: 1 – 9

Now, with the information you have researched, and from what you already know, write a fact file on Jesus and what he was like in the Gospels.

Go back to the pictures of Jesus – what are they trying to tell us about what Jesus was like?

Write a thumb nail sketch of Jesus’ personality.

1C Living relationships Human person 4 Lessons

1. Living relationships

Aim: To consider the idea of relationships; the privileges and responsibilities they entail.

To examine how the disciples responded to their encounter with Jesus.

Begin with a meditation on the first activity.

After the meditation do work on our relationships with others.

Look at the effect Jesus had on the lives of his followers.

After reading each one do the following activity:

With the person next to you – one of you will be a reporter, the other with be either Levi, Phillip or Nathaniel, Saul or Lydia.

Devise an interview with this character looking at the affect meeting Jesus had on you.

Now do the following:

Draw a chart showing the effect Jesus had on each of the people.

Person who knew Jesus

How Jesus influenced them

2. A Sign for the world (inc. Disciples past and present)

Aim: To consider the influence Jesus has had on peoples lives.

Read the passage about the vine from John 15:5

Show OHP of a plant or use a real plant.

Discuss what John was trying to say in using this analogy.

Now look at the ways Christians have gained strength from Jesus and the fruit it has born.

Read story of L’Arche, Julian of Norwich, Martyrs of the Jesuit University.

Group/ pair work

Answer questions 1-5 on page 27.

B/S the ‘Fruit they bore because they knew Jesus.

What other examples of Christians do they know and what ‘Fruit’ did they bear?

Draw symbol of the vine and use it to illustrate how these people have born fruit for Christ.

1D Celebrating initiation Sacraments 4 Lessons

1. Celebrating initiation

To consider the idea of life as a journey

To consider the rituals and symbols in that ‘journey’.

Draw a life line – look at each period of their lives so far – birth, infancy etc.

B/S – what are the most important things that have happened in your life so far? Note them down & Discuss.

Leave this until later

Now, look at the four words: sign; rite; ritual; symbol.

Discuss meaning and write down the definition of each.

Now go back to their life journey.

For each event that has happened in their life think of either a sign; rite; ritual or symbol to represent each one. Try and choose at lease one from each.

Activity.

In your books – draw a ‘Life’s journey map’ that shows the important moments in your life so far.

On the map draw in a sign; rite; ritual or symbol for each important moment/ event.

2. Sacraments of initiation

Introduction

Bring in water (Clear jug or vase etc.)

Pour it, drip it, and so on and get pupils to think about its properties.

Can anyone say which sacrament this is associate with? (easy Q!)

Recap on the ideas about sign, rite, ritual and symbol from last lesson.

Put up OH transparency of these key words and discuss each in relation to the symbolism of water and its relation to baptism.

Read through and discuss the ‘Sacraments of initiation’ section in Icons. (pages 30 – 32)

Written work

Part B in ‘Celebrating Baptism’ in the classwork section. Include a written explanation for each window.

Literacy - extended piece of writing on the baptism service – descriptive writing.

1E Celebrating Christ's Mass Liturgical year 4 Lessons

1. Celebrating Christ's mass

Reflection/ meditation on the special or important times in their life – base on page 35.

Feed back on their thoughts

Quick quiz on special times in the Church’s year .

Begin to look at the Christmas story

Show short nativity clip from Jesus of Nazareth

2. Christ's mass: good news of God's gift of Jesus

Luke’s account

Begin with Carol silent night (Taped or pupils can sing.)

Whilst still playing the music/ guitar – read the nativity from Luke as a reflection.

(Tell pupils they must listen carefully as I’ll be asking them about the story in a few minutes.)

Recapping exercise – have key words (based upon those from page 37 in Icons.) on OH transparency/ cards.

Focus on particular words/phrases and choose pupils to remind us of that part of the story.

John’s account

Now, get pupils to read John’s account of Jesus’ advent into the world.

In pairs get them to Brainstorm/highlight the differences from Luke’s account and/or ideas that they do not understand etc.

Report back and discuss – focus on imagery/symbolism

Light

Darkness

The Word

We use words (Taken from Icons)

We use words to express ourselves.

Words may be spoken. Written words are silent. Actions can be words: a nod for ‘yes’, a shake of the head for ‘no’. Words give shape, in sound, to our thoughts. They ‘flesh out’ what we think and mean. The Church believes that Jesus is the living Word of God. Everything that God the Father wants to say is expressed in Jesus. John’s gospel says ‘The Word was made flesh’. The Church’s word for this is incarnation — in the flesh.

Activity

Design a Christmas Card/decoration using the symbolic imagery we have discussed.

3. Most highly favoured lady

Introduction

Think about the most difficult decision or choice you have had to make.

Give own example.

Tell the story of the Annunciation (Use the angle of a young girls who finds herself pregnant and then has to explain that it was nothing to do with her ….)

How would she feel in that situation?

What would other people think? Her family/ Joseph etc.

Show clip from Jesus of Nazareth of the annunciation and her visit to Elizabeth.

Explore the words of the ‘Hail Mary’ and ‘Gabriel’s Message’ on page 39 of Icons and note down the ideas about Mary as presented in these passages.

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produced by the RE department of Painsley Catholic High School