THE MARK WAY SCHOOL
SCHEME OF WORK
UNIT TITLE: God and the World (Concepts – God, creation,
stewardship)
YEAR GROUP: 8
KEY STAGE: 3
TIME SCALE: 6 Weeks / Spring Term
TEACHING/LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Pupils should learn:
1) to enquire into the key concepts of God, creation and stewardship.
2) how the concepts of God, creation and stewardship are expressed in
the Christian and Muslim religions.
3) to evaluate the concepts of God, creation and stewardship and what
their value is to Christians and Muslims.
4) to communicate their own response to the concepts of God, creation
and stewardship and apply this response to their own and other’s lives.
TEACHING ACTIVITIES:
Communicate
1) Show picture of the Hindu God, Lakhshmi. Discuss how we know she
is the God of Good Fortune. Draw own picture of a god e.g. God of
Power.
Apply
2) Pupils consider times and places when they or others might think about
God. Draw and annotate those situations (e.g. when scared, happy, sad,
lonely, in a beautiful place, in a place of worship). Discuss: Are people
happy or sad when they think about God? Why? What difference does
God make to people?
Enquire
3) Discuss ideas about the nature of God and brainstorm possible names
for God.
Contextualise (Islam)
4) Compare these with some of the Muslim 99 names of Allah. Look at
Muslim prayer beads and discuss how they represent the 99 names of
Allah.
5) Discuss why there are no pictures of Allah. Write some of the 99
names and decorate with examples of Islamic decoration.
Evaluate
6) Discuss whether pupils think these ideas about Allah are important to
Muslims. How do the ideas help them? If they did not have the 99 names
would they forget Allah?
Contextualise (Christianity)
7) Examine various pictures of God that Christians have painted. Answer
questions and compare to pupil’s own ideas about what God looks like.
Evaluate
8) Discuss how important pupils think the idea of God is to Christians.
Why is God so important to them?
Communicate
9) Discuss whether pupils believe in God? Why / why not?
Apply
10) Pupils consider reasons why people believe / do not believe in God
by sorting cards to show arguments for and against the existence of God.
Enquire
11) Pupils are given a ball of clay and instructed to make something
(anything) out of it. Compare results. What have you created? How did
you create it? Can you find something in nature that has been created? (a
leaf, acorn, feather, shell etc) How was it created? Discuss what the word
creation means and come up with a definition for it.
Contextualise
12) Watch videos on Aboriginal and Chinese creation stories. Compare
and discuss.
13) Read Dreamtime story and listen to didgeridoo music. Put story in the
right order.
14) Watch videos of Christian and Muslim creation stories and compare.
15) Produce circular storyboard of favourite creation story.
16) Watch video offering a scientific explanation of the world’s origins.
Draw pictures of how pupils think the big bang looked.
Evaluate
17) Why do we think religious believers tell these stories? Pupils put
statements into groups, agree with / disagree with? Repeat exercise for
Humanists, who believe in the theory of evolution.
Communicate
14) Look at picture of the world from space and read quotes from
astronauts. Discuss what the earth would look like from space and
produce a big picture of ideas. Discuss how pupils think such an amazing
place was created.
Apply
15) Discuss: do we all think the same? Why / why not? Does it matter?
Communicate
16) Discuss: Have you ever looked after something precious? How would
you treat it? Discuss how you might be even more careful if you were
looking after something for somebody else. Write an instruction leaflet
for somebody else to explain how to look after something of yours e.g. a
pet.
Apply
17) Discuss: is it always good to look after other people’s things? How do
you feel about it? (e.g. responsible, worried, privileged.) What if
something breaks while you are looking after it? How would you feel if
someone looked after your special thing?
Enquire
18) Discuss the role of a steward at a football match or concert. Explain
that Christians and Muslims believe that people were given the role of
being stewards of the world.
Contextualise
19) Role-play story of Francis of Assisi and the wolf.
20) Read Muslim story of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and the thirsty
camel. Discuss the story. Complete bulls eye diagram to show what
mattered most to Ahmed in the story. Repeat process to show what pupils
think Muhammad (pbuh) was trying to teach mattered the most.
Evaluate
21) Discuss what the stories tell us about what Christians and Muslims
believe about looking after the world. Discuss why looking after the
world is so important to Christians and Muslims.
Communicate
22) Discuss whether pupils think it is important to look after the world.
What will happen if we don’t look after the world? Is it their
responsibility? Can they make a difference?
Apply
23) Pupil use post-it notes to identify how they can contribute to looking
after the world.
24) God and the World assessment sheet.
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Most pupils will: describe in simple terms the concept of creation. They
identify and talk about the concepts of God and stewardship. They give a
simple description of ways in which these concepts are expressed in the
context of the Christian and Muslim religions. They evaluate the concepts
of God, creation and stewardship by describing in simple terms their
value to Christians and Muslims and by talking about an issue raised.
They describe in simple terms their own response to the concepts of God,
creation and stewardship and identify simple examples of how their
response is, or can be applied to their own lives and those of others.
(Level 2b)
Some pupils will not have made so much progress and will: start to
describe in simple terms the concept of creation. They identify and start
to talk about the concepts of God and stewardship. They start to give a
simple description of ways in which these concepts are expressed in the
context of the Christian and Muslim religions. They evaluate the concepts
of God, creation and stewardship by starting to describe in simple terms
their value to Christians and Muslims and by starting to talk about an
issue raised. They start to describe in simple terms their own response to
the concepts of God, creation and stewardship and start to identify simple
examples of how their response is, or can be applied to their own lives
and those of others. (Level 2c)
Some pupils will have progressed further and will be able to: describe in
a little more detail the concept of creation. They identify and talk in a
little more detail, about the concepts of God and stewardship. They give a
slightly fuller description of ways in which these concepts are expressed
in the context of the Christian and Muslim religions. They evaluate the
concepts of God, creation and stewardship by describing in a little more
detail their value to Christian and Muslims and by talking about an issue
raised. They describe in a little more detail their own response to the
concepts of God, creation and stewardship and identify and start to
describe simple examples of how their response is, or can be applied to
their own lives and those of others. (Level 2a)
POINTS TO NOTE:
- Pictures of God work is differentiated to meet three levels of need.
- Lights can be dimmed, a candle lit and didgeridoo music can be playing
in the background for the reading of the dreamtime story.
- An alternative to drawing the 'Big Bang' could be to make models from
clay or plasticine.
- The role-play work should take place in mixed-ability groups designed
to maximise peer support.
RESOURCES:
Fact sheets / worksheets: 'In search of the real', 'Pictures of God',
'Christian Creation Story', 'Muslim Creation Story', 'Evolution', Why do
we think religious believers tell these stories?, 'Spaceship Earth', ‘God
and the World Assessment Sheet’.
99 names of Allah board
Does God exist? cards
Muslim prayer beads
Videos: 'Why Believe?', ‘Quest – Creation Stories’
RE in Practice: Whose World is it Anyway? (Primary) textbook
Developing Primary RE: Faith Stories
KEY SKILLS:
Literacy
Aborigine Dreamtime story exercise (sequencing)
Key Words – Christian, Muslim, God, Allah, exist, believe, creation,
world, Aborigine, evolution, earth.
Numeracy
Islamic decoration (Space, shape and measures)
ICT
Pupils use video camera to record Francis and the Wolf role-play.
(3a, b, c)
Working with Others
Pupils work in groups to sort cards with arguments for and against God,
to draw picture of the Earth as they think it might look from space and to
role-play the Francis and the Wolf story.