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Unit overview
Title of unit: Sacred stories
The unit description includes a title and a paragraph that outlines the intent of the unit.
Unit description:
The purpose of this unit is to help students recognise and explore sacred stories, their nature, content and purpose. In this unit, sacred stories are seen as those stories that have an enduring place in religious communities, e.g. the Quran, the Tanakh, and the New Testament.
Students will have opportunity to appreciate the difference between influential and sacred stories.
Influential stories are personal experiences (e.g. a car accident), family experiences (e.g. about great grandpa’s disposition), national and international events (settlement of Australia, ANZAC, the
Holocaust) that have shaped individuals, nations and eras. Sacred stories are stories that people turn to, to glimpse the transcendent, to conserve a faith tradition, to be authoritatively guided, or to address life’s big questions.
Time allocation:
Semester 1, 2, 3 or 4; 55 hours
A time requirement for the unit is indicated.
Content to be taught
Concepts and ideas
Sacred stories shape and guide lives and are often ‘revealed’.
Sacred stories bind communities.
In the telling and retelling of significant stories, people find meaning and purpose in life.
Influential stories, such as experiences of individuals, families, communities or nations, can be the catalyst for change, can hold people back, or inspire people to do great things.
Knowledge, understanding and skills
The knowledge, understanding and skills listed should be developed, showing integration of the core areas.
Personal
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 how sacred stories shape and inform the individual how sacred stories express meaning for individuals influential figures, events from the past and present who have influenced my life
Relational
 sacred stories that inform relationships with others
 the importance of sacred stories for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples in connecting with ancestors, community and country/place, and in maintaining family relationships
 family, community and/or national events/incidents that generate ideas
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Spiritual
 the ‘grand’ religious stories that have shaped our world, e.g. Abraham and Moses, Buddha, Jesus,
Muhammad stories of founders and followers of different religious groups the importance of sacred stories for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the protocols for engaging with and sharing these stories
 the contributions of Aboriginal stories and Torres Strait Islander stories to the Australian identity
Note: There are protocols for sharing that must be observed, as some stories may be secret men’s or secret women’s stories. Permission from Elders must be sought.
Learning experiences show coverage of the core and elective and support the assessment possibilities indicated.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Sacred stories
Page 2 of 5
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015

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Learning experiences
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 recognising and describing concepts, ideas and terminology contained in sacred and influential stories and explain how they shape and inspire people and reinforce common beliefs
Syllabus dimensions and objectives are delivered through learning experiences throughout the unit of work.
identifying and explaining the ways sacred stories shape and guide lives by surveying community members to identify the way/s sacred stories express meaning for individuals organising information and material about the ways Christianity, Judaism and Islam express and interpret their creation stories explaining viewpoints and practices contained in sacred stories to determine what makes them
‘sacred’, e.g. their (said) origins, (said) nature, function, scope, effects and influences
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 listening to members of different religious traditions speak about their sacred stories and analysing perspectives, viewpoints and practices applying concepts and ideas to make decisions about the way individual experiences shape future lives, habits, dispositions and character
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 using language conventions and features to communicate ideas and information, e.g. by relating sacred stories to children or adolescents recognising and explaining how influential stories might shape individuals viewing episodes of the ABC program Australian Story , e.g. ‘Saving Trooper Gebhardt’ or ‘Wayne
Bennett’, and Compass , e.g. ‘Lifers’, ‘Life, Hope, Dreams’, ‘Archie Roach’ visiting a religious community to interview members about their viewpoints and practices relating to sacred stories, e.g. how they are used and understood, their effects and influence, their nature and origins
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 inviting a guest speaker from the local community to tell their influential story and to discuss how their personal experiences have influenced and shaped their life interviewing a close family member about their personal story or family stories to reflecton the influence these storyies have or have had on personal/family values and beliefs
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 retelling a personal family story in a medium of choice, such as visual artwork, song or role play, to highlight aspects of the story that have shaped your own life inviting a local Aboriginal Elder or Torres Strait Islander Elder or community member to tell their sacred stories and to speak about the importance of sacred stories for Aboriginal peoples and Torres
Strait Islander peoples, and, with permission, the protocols for sharing such stories
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 listening to relevant episodes of ABC Radio National podcasts, e.g. The Spirit of Things , to hear insiders of religious traditions talk about the sacred stories of their traditions examining different interpretations of sacred stories depicted in and through creative and performing arts
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 reading chapters or acting out scenes from sacred stories to assist in recognising and describing concepts, ideas and identifying how they express meaning for individuals planning and undertaking inquiries into sacred stories, e.g. by discussing the appropriateness of certain sacred stories for children
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 communicating the outcomes of inquiries, e.g. explaining how Aboriginal artists and/or Torres Strait
Islander artists use symbols in their artworks to pass down traditional knowledges or practices within a family exploring sacred stories in depth, such as the story of Paul the Apostle of the New Testament (his life, his letters, his message and its effects and influence), or stories of founders and followers of different religious groups, to identify how these stories have impacted upon religious communities comparing different interpretations of the same sacred story, e. g. the birth of Jesus, the story of creation, the exodus, or the story of a significant figure, e.g. Abraham, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed,
Moses, Noah
 appraising inquiry processes and the outcomes of inquiries into the value of sacred stories for children, adolescents and/or adults, or explaining the process of rewriting a sacred story for a particular audience
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Sacred stories
Page 3 of 5
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015

Assessment
The following assessment tasks are suggestions only. Teachers may choose from techniques and the options that follow, or devise alternate instruments, to suit their students’ needs and school context.
Assessment instrument 1: Project — creating a children’s story
Dimensions assessed: Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique:
Assessment conditions: Semester 1 –2
Written component:
Spoken component:
Multimodal component:
Project
400 –700 words
1½ – 3½ minutes
2
–4 minutes
Semester 3 –4
500 –900 words
2½ – 3½ minutes
3
–6 minutes
Performance component: Schools provide students with some continuous class time to develop the performance components of the collection of work.
The length of this component will depend upon the nature of the task.
Product component: Schools provide students with some continuous class time to develop the product components of the collection of work.
The length of this component will depend upon the nature of the task.
Part A (product component)
Students create a children’s story book that re-presents a sacred story in a contemporary way for primary school children.
The different components within a project can be delivered at different times throughout a unit of work. However, one overall result is given for the completed project.
Part B (spoken component)
Students deliver a presentation explaining the process of writing the story book and an appraisal of the outcome. This may take the form of a panel discussion, Q & A session or ‘Book Club’ presentation.
Assessment instrument 2: Investigation
Dimensions assessed: Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique:
Written component:
Investigation
Assessment conditions: Semester 1
–2
500
–800 words
Semester 3
–4
600
–1000 words
Spoken component: 2 –4 minutes
3
–5 minutes
3 –4 minutes
4
–7 minutes
Multimodal component:
Students interview a significant person in their life and analyse how that person’s life experiences have influenced and shaped the student’s own life, habits, character and dispositions. Students develop a written transcript of the interview and provide a presentation, focusing on the impact of the significant person on their life.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Sacred stories
Page 4 of 5
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015

Assessment instrument 3: Extended response to stimulus (choice of response mode)
Dimensions assessed: Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Producing and evaluating
Assessment technique: Extended response to stimulus
Assessment conditions: Semester 1
–2
Written component:
Spoken component:
Multimodal component:
500
–800 words
2 –4 minutes
3
–5 minutes
Semester 3
600
3
4
–4
–1000 words
–4 minutes
–7 minutes
Stimulus materials : a selection of Christmas cards depicting the birth of Jesus.
Students examine the different interpretations of the story of the birth of Jesus through the various depictions on the cards and present an analysis in a written mode of their choice.
Assessment instrument 4: Examination — short responses
Dimensions assessed: Knowing and understanding
Applying and examining
Assessment technique:
Assessment conditions:
Recommended duration
Short response test
Examination
Semester 1
60
–2
–90 minutes
Semester 3 –4
60
–90 minutes
50
–150 words per item
(diagrams and workings not included in word count)
50
–250 words per item
(diagrams and workings not included in word count)
The examination consists of a number of items that could require students to:
 recognise, describe and explain concepts, ideas, issues and viewpoints contained in sacred and influential stories
 analyse, interpret and apply ideas and information about the nature, content and purpose of sacred and influential stories
 respond to stimulus materials, for example:
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an unfamiliar sacred story that students analyse in terms of its setting, structure, characters, context, message etc., and its ability or potential to influence the ways by which people behave towards each other
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an artwork depicting a sacred story that students have to identify and discuss
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a comparison of two versions/interpretations of the same sacred story.
Religion and Ethics SAS 2014
Sample unit of work — Sacred stories
Page 5 of 5
Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority
February 2015