Pentecost – Serving – Holidays & Holydays – Year 1
LEARNING FOCUS 1: What a holy day is.
The word holiday comes from holyday. In times past the only holiday anyone had was a saint’s
feast day or important feast days like Easter and Christmas. Some days of the year are ‘holy
days’, when we celebrate these special times in the Church’s year.
We have just celebrated the feast of Easter when we remember Jesus rising from the dead. Look
at the Easter garden or Church’s Story 2 pages 76-77 on the IWB. One special word we sing at
Easter time to celebrate is ‘Alleluia!’
Ask the children if they can think of other holy days e.g. the patron saint of the school,
Christmas, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday and the Ascension etc.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q Which holy days can you think of?
Q What happens on those days?
Q Which of them were also holidays?
Q How did you celebrate them?
Write and/or draw what happens on one of the holy days you have looked at.
Make a ‘Happy holy day’ card.
Sing the song Hurrah for Holidays Rejoice 1: 77 v. 4-5.151
LEARNING FOCUS 2: Know and understand what happened on Ascension Day.
Display the picture from Church’s Story 2 pages 76-77, on the IWB. Explain that after his
resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and made a promise to send his Holy Spirit to
them. (This is based on John 13:33; 14:18.) Read the first two paragraphs on page 81 of God’s
Story 2, The promise of the Spirit.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q Why were Jesus’ friends sad again?
Q What was the promise Jesus gave to his friends?
Q Who was the helper and guide?
Q Who would send the Holy Spirit?
Q How did this make them feel?
Find a hymn to the Holy Spirit that would be easy to learn and sing e.g. God Spirit is in my heart
or Give me joy in my heart, or Walk in the light
Create a collage of a picture of Jesus talking to his friends; add speech bubbles and copy the
words of Jesus’ promise.
Create a stained glass window on a template in the shape of a dove.
LEARNING FOCUS 3: Pentecost: the holy day.
Display Church’s Story 2 page 79 on the IWB. Talk about what is happening in the picture, and
read the text together. Explain how the disciples were afraid when Jesus had left them and they
had gathered together in one room. The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost changed them. It
is a holy day because this gift of the Holy Spirit is very special. The Holy Spirit helps and guides
us in our lives just as happened to the disciples. The Holy Spirit appeared to the disciples like
tongues of fire, giving them strength and courage.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q Who were the people there in the room when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost?
Q What were the signs of the Holy Spirit?
Q How do you think Mary and the disciples felt?
Q Why do you think they felt like that?
Q What do you think the tongues of fire represent?
http://www.widgit.com/resources/classroom/i_call_you_ friends/index.htm use the
symbol supported text to tell the story of Pentecost, to match symbols, make sentences.
Make heads from papier-mâché showing a variety of expressions.
Make puppets to use in continuous provision activities.
Talk about their own feelings and experiences. Make a feelings box/bag by writing a range of
feelings words n pieces of card and putting them in the box. Pick out words and discuss if
anyone has ever felt that ‘feeling.’
Sequence the events of the Pentecost Story.
Using craft materials make a face on a paper plate or a round piece of card to show how the
disciples felt.
Discuss what captions would be appropriate and display the faces with some of the captions
e.g. ‘the Holy Spirit bring us happiness.’ ‘the disciples were astonished’ etc.
LEARNING FOCUS 4: What happened on Pentecost Day.
Using God’s Story 2 pages 84-85, Pentecost Sunday and the picture on the IWB, read and talk
about the story of Pentecost in more detail. Emphasise how Jesus’ friends knew he would keep
his promise and how, with the help of the Holy Spirit, they shared the happiness of Jesus’ love
with everyone.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What do you like best about the Pentecost story and why?
Q What change had the Holy Spirit made to the friends of Jesus. How would you be able to
tell?
Q What was the good news the friends shared?
Imagine you were one of the people in the picture, tell a friend what you saw and heard.
Make a dance of the sequence of the events. Use orange, red and yellow streamers.
Dramatise the event using the music from The Seasons by Vivaldi, or allow the children to
use untuned instruments to interpret the story themselves.
Use puppets make previously to re-enact the story.
LEARNING FOCUS 5: Pentecost: the birth of the Church.
Use Church’s Story 2 page 22-23 and display the picture on the IWB. Pentecost is a holy day on
which many parish families celebrate with a party. Jesus had returned to God his Father and the
Holy Spirit was helping the friends of Jesus to pass the message onto others so that they might
become his friends too. This marked the beginning of the Church, its birth. On the holy day of
Pentecost the priest wears red vestments at Mass.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q Who is in the picture?
Q What do you think the people in the picture are celebrating?
Q What does a birthday celebrate?
Q Why is Pentecost a holy day?
Q Why do you think the priest wears red vestments at Mass for Pentecost?
Make a birthday card for the Church.
Make a ‘Birthday of the Church’ display and decorate it with red balloons etc.
On a flame shape use colours to show fire and write on it something you have learned about
the Holy Spirit.
Decorate balloons with flames for the classroom.
LEARNING FOCUS 6 : Spreading the Good News.
Holy days like holidays are times for celebrating and enjoyment, we relax from ordinary life and
think about other things. Holy days are special times of thinking about the life of Jesus and about
God the Creator’s love and care for us. This is good news. The Holy Spirit guides us and gives us
strength and courage to share that good news.
Look again at the picture on page 84-85 of God’s Story 2.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What are the people in picture doing?
Q What is the good news they are hearing?
Q How do you feel if you have good news to tell or receive? (show this by facial expressions)
Q What do you do if you have good news?
As a class put together headlines for a Pentecost ‘good news’ newspaper article.
Write a prayer to the Holy Spirit asking for help and guidance
Write your own version of what you would like to tell others about the good news of Jesus.
Reconciliation – Inter-relating – Being sorry – Year 1
LEARNING FOCUS 1: Jesus looks for people making wrong choices, (sinners) he
doesn’t wait for them to come to him.
Explain how Jesus was gathering a group of people to help him spread the Good News. He did
not choose people who did nothing wrong but those who would follow him faithfully and would
be sorry for what they had done. Levi the tax collector was one of those people. This is what
happened:
One day Jesus saw Levi the tax collector sitting at his table collecting people’s taxes. Jesus knew
Levi had not always been honest, but still he asked him to follow his way. Levi was really pleased
at Jesus’ invitation and he got up and said: ‘Come to my house I am going to have a big party to
celebrate.’
Levi changed his ways and became a friend of Jesus.
Based on Luke 5: 27-31
Use the picture in God’s Story 2 page 68, on the IWB.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What did Levi do?
Q How did he do his job?
Q What was Levi’s answer to Jesus’ invitation to follow him?
Q What invitation did Levi give to Jesus?
Q How do you think did Levi change?
Provide the children with a frame of a post card and ask them to imagine they are Levi and to
write a thank you card to Jesus.
Write a sorry prayer together, that Levi might have said to Jesus, giving reasons why he was
sorry.
During the course of normal continuous provision draw attention to those children who are
displaying the qualities of friendship and affirm it. Take the opportunity when things go wrong
to discuss making right/wrong choices and how they feel.
Improvise phone conversation in home corner between children saying sorry.
LEARNING FOCUS 2: Jesus forgives Zacchaeus who then makes up for his
wrong choices.
Later on Jesus met another tax collector, called Zacchaeus. Tell his story to the children: ‘Good
News for Zacchaeus’ (God’s Story 2 pages 70-71, based on Luke 19:1-10). Display the picture
from page 70 on the IWB. Explain that when we make wrong choices like Zacchaeus did, we
need to show that we are sorry in some way.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What wrong choices did Zacchaeus make?
Q Why do you think he wanted to see Jesus?
Q How did Zacchaeus feel when Jesus told him that he was coming to his house?
Q What did the people who grumbled think? Why?
Q How did Zacchaeus show he was really sorry for his wrong choices?
Q Why was it a happy day for Zacchaeus?
Dramatise the story in two parts: 1. Jesus meets Zacchaeus 2. Jesus at Zacchaeus’ house.
Make a TV interview of the characters in the story and record it using a video camera.
Insert some speech bubbles onto the picture on the IWB and ask the children to put in words
that Jesus and Zacchaeus spoke to each other.
Make a story board of the events for the display.
Role play the events of the story.
LEARNING FOCUS 3: God helps us to be kind.
Think about the stories of Levi and Zacchaeus. Do you think they found it easy to change their
ways and to be sorry? It is not easy to do this by ourselves, but God is there to help us, just as
Jesus helped Levi and Zacchaeus.
Isaiah wrote about God’s forgiveness, even before Jesus came to earth. He makes it clear what
good choices we need to make to be kind and make ourselves and others happy as. Read his
words in God’s Story page 48-49, Isaiah 58: 9-11, God’s promise, and display the pictures on the
IWB.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What is God’s promise?
Q How do you think people feel when they hear Isaiah’s words?
Q What kind things does Isaiah suggest that we do?
Q Can you think of any other kind things to do?
Q What would the world be like if everyone followed Isaiah’s advice?
With the text of God’s Story 2 pages 48-49 displayed on the IWB, highlight the words the
children think are most important and ask them to give reasons why.
Ask the children to choose one of these ideas and make a promise card, explaining in
words or pictures how they will act on this promise
On a drawing of a large candle ask the children to write words that will show how they can
be kind and ‘be a light that shines in the dark’.
Continue to act out the stories.
LEARNING FOCUS 4: Recognise that we need forgiveness.
Recall the previous session and how when we need help, God answers, ‘Here I am’. Use the
picture and text on Church’s Story 2 page 44. Talk about the words ‘sorry’ and ‘forgive’ and what
they mean. These are more than just words - we need to mean what we say. It may take a little
time before we understand that what we have done has made others and ourselves unhappy.
Refer to Church’s Story 2 pages 46-47. It is good at the end of the day to stop and think about
what has happened during the day. (It may be helpful to make up a story about the children and
their grandmother in the picture and about what has happened during the day.)
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What are the children thinking about?
Q Who is thinking about a happy time and who is thinking of a wrong choice?
Q Who should the children say sorry to? (Look at the picture for clues.)
Q Why is bedtime a good time to think about what has happened during the day?
Q What do you think we should say to God about the happy times we have had?
What should we say about the unhappy times?
Q Can you think of a prayer the children might say?
Get the children to make a card in the shape of a thought bubble, with the words ‘Sorry!’ on
one side and ‘Thank you!’ on the other. Invite them to take it home and keep it under their
pillow. Ask them, when they go to bed, to think about the good things that have happened
and say, ‘Thank you!’ to God for them. Then to think about the wrong choices they have made
and say ‘Sorry!’
Ask the children to work with a partner, telling each other about something good that has
happened and how they each felt. Then ask them to talk about a wrong choice for which they
are sorry. They could make happy and sad masks to demonstrate their feelings.
Thank you and Sorry cards – children to hold up during the day when they have experienced
one or another.
Add thank you and sorry to the word wall
LEARNING FOCUS 5: Saying sorry.
Use the picture of children making up after a quarrel. (Perhaps use picture from I’m
Sorry book). Sometimes we quarrel with each other and have arguments, it is important
to say sorry and to forgive others when they say sorry to us. God always forgives us
when we are sorry.
Here is a suggestion for a sorry prayer which focuses on God’s love.
God, our Father, thank you for loving me.
I am sorry for the times I have not shown love to others.
Help me always to live like Jesus.
Amen.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
What do you see in the picture?
Q Do you think has happened?
Q What are the children saying to each other?
Q How do you think the children are feeling? (relate this to the picture chosen)
Q Why is it sometimes hard to say sorry?
Q What might help you?
The children could put the sorry prayer in their books and illustrate it or make up their
own prayer based on this one.
Learn/sing the hymn, patching up a quarrel’ Rejoice ‘ or similar
Set up scenarios – when do I say sorry at school, home etc.
LEARNING FOCUS 6: We are happy when we love one another.
Jesus is always there to help us. In John’s gospel, we hear about a new rule he gave us. It is a rule
which Jesus always kept. Read ‘A New Rule’ to the children from God’s Story 2 pages 72-73
(based on John 13:34-35).
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What do you think this means?
Q How did Jesus show his love for all the people he met?
Q What would happen if we all kept that rule, what would the world be like?
Q How can we try to be more like Jesus? It is good to make up and to try not to let it happen
again. When we go to Mass, just after we have all said the Our Father we give each other a Sign
of Peace to show we are or want to be friends with one another.
Supposing everyone kept this rule, what would our homes, our school and our world be like?
When is it easy to keep such a rule?
When is it harder?
When would be a good time of day to think about this rule?
What rules could we have for ourselves that would make others happy?
Make handprints and add to the pictures above.
Universal Church – World – Neighbours – Year 1
LEARNING FOCUS 1: Give thanks to God for neighbours everywhere.
Go outside and lead children into this shared reflective activity:
Stand in a space.
Close your eyes.
Think about yourself in your space.
What can you hear?
Now open your eyes and look around you.
What do you see?
What do you see above you?
If you were here tonight, what would you see above you?
What are you standing on?
Look around you.
Look at the people who share this space with you.
You are a neighbour to each one. There is only one sun, one sky, one world.
We share all these with one another.
Back in class/gathered together, share the story of King David, who wrote a psalm about the sky
that we share with all our neighbours. This story imagines when and why he wrote it.
One morning, King David woke up very early. Everything was bright and beautiful. Even though
he could not see it, he knew the sun had risen in the sky. David was a good king. He often
thought about the people that he was a neighbour to, all the people who lived in his land.
He thought about them looking up at the same sky, seeing the same sun, feeling the same light
and warmth as himself. “How wonderful God is!” he thought. He knew the golden sun spread the
message of God’s love for neighbours all over the world. He wanted his people to know this too.
Listen to or read the psalm he wrote:
The sky above tells how wonderful God is.
Every day it is there for us to see.
Every morning the golden sun appears shining on everyone,
bringing light and warmth to all.
Spreading the message of God’s love all over the world
to neighbours here, neighbours there, neighbours everywhere.
(based on Psalm 18:1−5)
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q How does the sky tell us how wonderful God is?
Q Why does looking at the sky help us to think about neighbours everywhere?
Q We have friends and neighbours throughout the world. They are called our global
neighbours/friends. Why are people in our own and other countries all our neighbours?
Q How do we show God’s love to our neighbours?
Produce a sky at night collage on black paper using silver and gold squares of paper for the
stars and moon OR produce a sky during the day collage on blue paper using gold/yellow
squares of paper for the sun and white/grey for the clouds. Choose the appropriate line from
the psalm to stick next to the collage. Add photographs of global neighbours to show that we
all share the same sky, the same world (see cafod.org.uk/comeandsee).
Ask the children to talk about their favourite part of the psalm and record this in a way of
their choice.
To enhance the continuous provision activity, make a street of houses with open flap doors.
Stick pictures of people from around the world behind the doors to show we are all
neighbours.
From the selection of neighbours’ pictures provided (see cafod.org.uk/comeandsee), ask the
children to choose one picture. Invite them to cut it out and, using the information given, write a
sentence of thanks to God for this neighbour (e.g. Thank you God for my neighbour _______ from
______).
LEARNING FOCUS 2: To tell of God’s greatness all over the world.
In the book of Isaiah, we find out what some of God’s messengers had to say. God’s messengers
were alive before Jesus was born and said wise things to the people of that time about God and
what was going to happen.
Read Isaiah 12: 4−6 God’s Story 2, page 47. Put the text on the IWB.
Think, pair, share:
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What does Isaiah say will happen one day?
Q What does it mean to praise God?
Q How do you think the people felt when they heard what Isaiah had to say?
With the children collate ideas on the board of what good things we know about God.
Q How can we share these ideas with our neighbours?
Share with the children: Share ‘Neighbours’ Reflection’ PowerPoint (see
cafod.org.uk/comeandsee).
Q Talk about how we can share these ideas with our neighbours?
With the children collate ideas on the board the good things we know about God.
Invite the children to choose a neighbour from this topic (e.g. home, school, global
neighbour). Think about God’s great love for everyone and write about it (e.g. God loves
neighbours everywhere, God is your friend, God is good, God is with you).
Ask the children to work alongside a partner. On a template of the world, write one thing
that is great about God. Give their partner the message to take home and share with their
family or give to a neighbour in another class.
In small groups, invite children to write or draw on a large sheet of paper as many good
things about God as they want to share with their neighbours. It could even be something
that God wants us to do (e.g. be good neighbours by making new friends, praying for our global
neighbours).
This could go into a class book or display.
LEARNING FOCUS 3: Jesus taught his friends to be good neighbours.
Read Mark 6: 30-32, Jesus and his friends, God’s Story 2 page 66. Jesus and his friends (put the text
on the IWB).
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Q What makes a good neighbour?
Q In what ways did Jesus’ friends show they were good neighbours?
Q How can you be the best friend you can be?
Play Mani’s Healthy Village activity on the IWB with the children (see
cafod.org.uk/comeandsee). Emphasise that Mani is helping all his neighbours in the village.
Q How is Mani being a good neighbour in his village?
Q Jesus taught his friends to be good neighbours. We can work with CAFOD to be good
neighbours by sharing and caring for others. How did CAFOD help our global neighbours in
Nigeria?
On a person template, list key words/skills associated with being a good neighbour (e.g.
caring, sharing, listening, etc).
Display pictures of global neighbours to stimulate ideas. Produce a poster using pictures or
key words associated with being a good neighbour, in the way that Jesus taught us.
Mime/act out some ways of being a good neighbour – such as Mani e.g. visiting different places
in the village to help others.
LEARNING FOCUS 4: Everyone is our neighbour.
“Who is My Neighbour?”
Read the story of the Good Samaritan using the picture from God’s Story 3, page 101.
One day someone asked Jesus a tricky question, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus answered by
telling one of his stories, called a parable.
There was once a Jewish man who was on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho, when robbers set
upon him. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up and left him by the roadside. A priest
happened to pass by. He saw the man lying injured and walked by on the other side of the road.
Then another man came along. He went over and looked at the man but then he walked away
too.
Next came a Samaritan. When he saw the poor injured man lying in the ditch he went over to
him, cleaned his wounds and bandaged them up. Then he helped the man to climb up onto his
own animal and took him to an inn, where he could be looked after. Next day the Samaritan
gave the innkeeper two silver coins. “Take care of him,” he told the innkeeper.
Jesus ended the story with a question, “Which of the three was a neighbour to the man?”
(based on Luke 10: 25−37).
Explain to the children that Samaritans lived in Samaria and that Jews and Samaritans would
have nothing to do with one another. They could not get on because they could not agree about
what they believed, so they became enemies.
SOME KEY QUESTIONS
Can you answer Jesus’ question – “Which of the three was a neighbour to the man?”
Q How do you think the injured man felt when the first two men walked away?
Q What did the injured man need?
Q Why was it strange that a Samaritan helped?
Q Think of a time when you have helped someone.
The Good Samaritan made sure the injured man had what he needed. CAFOD works with our
neighbours around the world, no matter who they are or what they believe, to make sure they
have what they need. Show the children the Helping Our Neighbours PowerPoint (see
cafod.org.uk/comeandsee) to show how CAFOD helps neighbours.
Children to record in their own words the story of The Good Samaritan, saying why he was a
good neighbour.
Children to work in groups; provide them with a set of pictures to sort into needs and wants
(from cafod.org.uk/ comeandsee). Talk about the differences between needs and wants,
emphasising that many of our global neighbours do not have what they need. Discuss ways
that CAFOD works hard to change this.
Ask the children to produce a frieze on their own or in groups to represent the main areas of
need (food, water, shelter, health, education) for our global neighbour.
In groups, invite the children to act out the story of the Good Samaritan.
Sequence the story of The Good Samaritan.
LEARNING FOCUS 5 : How to be a global neighbour.
Bake/buy some fairy cakes or buy Fairtrade fruit to eat (check allergies). Ask the children to
share half each with a friend and discuss how to be a good neighbour to people who do not
have as much as we do. Record ideas on a candle template (see cafod.org.uk/comeandsee for
template).
Ask children to read out the idea on their candle. Have a large cake outline in the centre of
the circle. Children place their candle on the cake.
Pray this prayer with the children :
Lord Jesus, teach me to care,
Lord Jesus, teach me to share,
Lord Jesus, teach me to be kind to neighbours everywhere.
Lord Jesus, help our sisters and brothers all over the world to have a fair share.
Using the prayer above, make into a bookmark and decorate.
LEARNING FOCUS 6 : To discover new ways of helping our neighbours.
Design or re-create a Fairtrade mark on the T-shirt template provided (see
cafod.org.uk/comeandsee). Use art program on the computer, or use paint, collage, chalk.
Design a poster to put in the staffroom to encourage all staff to drink fairly traded tea and
coffee.
Write a letter or a postcard to Maria to show how they have helped a neighbour this week.
Visit a local shop or supermarket to buy some Fairtrade goods to share at the end of the
rejoice celebration.
Play interactive Fairtrade shopper game (see cafod.org.uk/ comendsee).
Create a local shop or supermarket. Provide Fairtrade goods/packages.