Planning RE using the Mind Friendly Framework for Learning

Connect to previous learning: What do I already know? What do I want to know?

When was the last time you had a party? What was it for? We have celebrations for many different reasons.

Learning intentions: to know, to be able to do, to understand

(That Christians celebrate Christmas, Muslims celebrate Eid and Jews celebrate Pesach). We are going to think of questions about some different celebrations that we want to find the answers to.

The Big Picture: What will I be finding out or learning about?

Religions usually involve celebrations, different religions have different celebrations. We are going to find out about some of these.

Achievable steps: What are we going to do? How are we going to do it?

We are going to make a list of different celebrations and then sort them into different groups. We will then think about some information about three different religions. We will then think of some questions about three celebrations.

Teacher input: engaging the learner and encouraging thinking through visual, auditory and kinaesthetic cues

The children work in small groups to make a list of all of the different celebrations and festivals that they can think of. These are to be written in coloured pens on coloured balloon shapes.

As a whole class the children will feed back their ideas and decide whether it is a religious festival or other celebration. The teacher can then record these on the board in 2 columns. The religious festivals can then be discussed and contrasted with other kinds of celebration. A selection of posters and pictures available to illustrate some of these.
Introduce the three religions we will look at. Show pictures of symbols and learn 3 hand gestures to represent cross, star of David and the crescent moon

Main activity: children explore the learning and establish meaning through activities which take account of multiple intelligences.

The children work in small groups with a set of word cards. The children find the words Jew, Muslim and Christian and then sort the remaining cards into piles beneath each heading. The group can then discuss whether they know any of the words. As a class these piles are checked and adjusted. The words are discussed, comparing the 3 religions e.g. the names for the different holy books, religious buildings.
The children find the words Christmas, Pesach and Eid and stick them on 3 sheets. As a group think of questions about these festivals that they would like answering.

Show you know: practise, rehearse and memorise key points. What have I learned?

Use the hand gestures to answer questions about the 3 different religions.
Tell a partner 1 question that they would like answering.

Reflection: How did I learn? What do I need to know next?

Think about different things done during the lesson; working with others, thinking of questions, matching cards and using hand gestures.