Boredom is the enemy of education. These resources aim to give students an engaging, fun way into topics that are relevant to their lives, including awkward ones like sex education, and informing about issues that are shaping the world and their future. My hope is that they help be an effective tool to the teacher to wake up a hunger for knowledge in students, and that everyone in the classroom would have a more enjoyable and enriching experience because of their use.
Boredom is the enemy of education. These resources aim to give students an engaging, fun way into topics that are relevant to their lives, including awkward ones like sex education, and informing about issues that are shaping the world and their future. My hope is that they help be an effective tool to the teacher to wake up a hunger for knowledge in students, and that everyone in the classroom would have a more enjoyable and enriching experience because of their use.
This lesson aims to cover 3 objectives, and is lesson 4 in a series about Judaism and the key beliefs, symbols and practices within it. It is part of a Judaism booklet project.
These objectives are:
To know what the Passover is, and understand the importance of it for Jewish people.
To prepare for Project – chapter 4 (of a booklet)
To reflect on the value of freedom.
Differentiation by task (comprehension questions), video links embedded, and team work tasks (T-P-S) are all included, as well as a cover lesson with a couple of options for the cover teacher. The presentation itself is in a prezi, the link for which can be found in the lesson plan, which is also included.
The video clips are from the Disney film: the prince of Egypt, and students always enjoy this zooming presentation. The presentation can be downloaded onto your hard drive if you wish to.
This is a set of resources for year 9 and up, and should not be used for students any younger. The objectives are to describe a case study of evil (the largest powerpoint focusses mainly of Jamie Bulger, but the resources can be adapted to look at any of the topics). There are 13 resources here, with evidence students can evaluate from each example.
There are also 'Must, should, could' guidance as well as plenty of opportunity for extension of gifted and talented students.
Good links to Citizenship, religious studies, Sociology, and the activities are pretty self explanatory.
Radio show links, videos included.
This is a pretty harrowing subject to teach, but sometimes students seem to be particularly interested in real life examples and applications. When discussing things like Capital Punishment it seems particularly helpful to bring into relief the truly horrible things people do sometimes, and how a responsible society should respond.
A bundle of 8 lessons which includes: embryology, IVF, surrogacy, cloning, transplants and transfusions and human experimentation. these include case studies, embedded videos, youtube links, articles, current updated statistics and a variety of activities for students to get stuck into. This also includes some extenstion activities, some key word tasks and a revision session to really embed your students learning.
50% reduction on indivual lessons.
A powerpoint which includes differentiation activities, a worksheet (with different activities for KS3 or 4 which we print on double sided A3, and there is enough here for at least 2 lessons.
Youtube links, treasure hunts, a debate, TPS activity and more. Easily personalisable to suit your own needs, and included here is the SMSC objectives met with this lesson.
The Powerpoint itself has some instructions on how to use the resource, although most of it is quite self explanatory.
Enjoy!
This lesson is an introduction to global citizenship, part of a module on Global citizenship, that begins with a personal look at the individual. It includes youtube videos, mindmaps, one print out and structured questions to help students understand their own biases and the biases of the class they are in. It is a powerful step forward for self reflective learners, uses PELTS well, and incorporates SMSC, Ethics, PHSE, Citizenship and geography into one topic. Tasks are differentiated, with questions going from easy to more difficult.
Ideal for KS3-4 (11-16yr olds).
Learning Questions include:
What is global citizenship?
What is my own personal, social, historical and economic background?
How might my background affect how I see the world?
A lesson which explores and explains genetic engineering, looking at some specific examples (such as glow in the dark mice) as well as a case study activity. It builds on previous lessons on religious attitudes to medical ethics particularly well, but also stands alone.
Learning Objectives are:
To know the difference between:
Genetic Screening & Genetic Engineering
To evaluate religious arguments about genetic screening and engineering
To develop my own opinion on these technologies.
Starters and plenaries included with activities differentiated by outcome.
A 7 lesson Scheme of work on Poverty in the UK, including powerpoints, youtube clips, images, worksheets, booklets, and revision resources to help for KS3 or 4 work. Designed around the AQA Religious Studies B Spec.
1) What is Wealth and Poverty
2) Religious Attitudes to Wealth and Poverty
3) How do people get rich or poor
4) Poverty in the UK
5) Charitable Solutions to Poverty
6) Poverty: Solutions and Responsibility for Poverty
7) Revision/Consolidation lesson (with a 20 question competitive comprehension activity)
This lesson has been a few years in the making. I have been struggling to get together decent resources that inform, without shame or judgement, a generation of young people for whom porn is highly accesible, in huge quantities and ubiquitous (25% of all internet searches are for pornography).
I hope this goes some way towards that ambition.
The lesson covers:
What is pornography?
Why is it so addictive?
Is pornography having a negative effect on society?
Should all, or some pornography, be illegal?
It includes research tasks about fightthenewdrug.org, and then goes on to deconstruct that website to try and encourage critical thought, infographics, group tasks, debates and discussions. It aims to inform students of the dangers of porn addiction.
I have included here some controversial material for KS5 if you want to have a more nuanced discussion. The research done in the article ‘the sunny side of smut’ is quite problematic, and students should be directed to deconstruct it whilst also considering the points it makes.
Feedback really, really welcome.
A lesson to explore what pacifism is, how it has been used in the past and if it is a reasonable attitude to take to war. Looking particularly at the Quakers and their use of pacifism in anti-war protests and campaigning, the lesson aims to engage students in active critical thought and improve their awareness of how belief manifests in the real world.
Learning Objectives:
What is Pacifism?
What is a conscientious objector?
How did people treat conscientious objectors in WWI and II?
Why might a religious person refuse to fight?
Should we ALL be pacifists?
It also includes links to youtube videos on conscience and examples of conscientious objectors for students to explore. It also includes, for more able students, examples of people who ‘broke the mold’ such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
A differentiated resource, complete with worksheets and independent a scaffolded role-play task where students take on the role of Muslim, Christian or Atheist response to Capital Punishment. Intended to enable students to explore their own opinions about Capital Punishment using religious views as a springboard, this resource should stretch and challenge a range of ability levels.
1.What do Muslims and Christians say about Capital punishment?
2. How do people in the same religion disagree with each other?
EXT: Why do people in the same religion disagree with each other?
A lesson that explores the learning questions:
What causes war?
Is war ever justified?
Using a game students explore in teams of 6 the possible causes of war, and evaluate if they are worthwhile. Differentiated learning outcomes and links to youtube videos included, this lesson has been tweaked over a course of 5 years into something that works for me in the classroom. It includes guided discussion and debate topics, as well as some religious opinions in the form of Augustine’s just war theory.
Any necessary instructions included in the powerpoint notes.
This comprehensive lesson exploring the facts, benefits and religious responses to organ transplants and blood transfusions will need trimming to fit in one hour. There are plenty of case studies, youtube clips, embedded short videos about ‘cellular memory’, and comparative religious arguments from the six major religions. Activities are differentiated by outcome, with discussion or learning pyramid plenaries available. Went all out on this one.
Learning Objectives:
To know the possible benefits about organ transplants.
To know some religious attitudes to blood transfusions and organ transplants.
To evaluate and compare religious attitudes to medical ethics.
It also includes a particularly close look at Jehovah’s witnesses opinions on blood transfusions.
This lesson is part of a scheme of work on Judaism, aimed at KS2-3 students. The objectives it covers are:
To know and understand the main symbols of prayer in the home
To think about what is most important in my life, and write a short prayer or poem about it and create a symbol for it
It includes the main symbols used by Jews in prayer, including the Tefillin, Mezuzah, Kippah and Tallit. Ideally you would have these in the classroom and be able to dress up a student in them. There’s also a song including of the Shema, the main prayer of Judaism.
Differentiated comprehension questions, a range of activities, and information slides to help students get to grips with how Jews may worship in the home. Worksheets also included.
This lesson is an exploration of the incredible human beings who risked (and sometimes lost) their lives working to rescue Jews from the Holocaust. It is an inspiration from Philip Zimbardo who encourages us to educate children about the psychology of heroism. This powerpoint and collected resources aims to help students understand and be inspired by the incredible acts of bravery these people engaged with. I greatly encourage you to play the video linked to this lesson to students: it moves me to tears every time!
Learning Questions include:
How did some people act heroically in the Holocaust?
How did these heroes’ beliefs affect their actions?
Can you evaluate the motivations for people’s actions?
EXT: What is the psychology of Heroism? What can we do to help ourselves become more heroic?
Great for PHSE, Citizenship, Religious Studies and History. Extension tasks and differentiated activities included.
This is a marketplace activity which aims to give students some introductory knowledge about four key aspects of Jewish life. The four aspects included here are:
Beliefs about G-d
The Shema
Shabbat
The Ten Commandments
What are some key Jewish beliefs and practices?
What are their benefits for Jewish people?
EXT: What are their challenges for Jewish people?
Good lesson for Religious Studies, PHSE, Citizenship, SMSC and improving community understanding.
A lesson to explore the psychological, social and environmental causes of crime. It includes youtube clips, 'a recipe for a criminal', and other creative activites that become increasingly challenging. A well differentiated lesson that is fun to deliver.
Lessons include:
What are the possible causes of crime?
How do environmental, social and psychological factors influence crime?
What do you think are the main causes of crime and why?
A lesson for KS3 students to get their heads around the Big Bang and if it is compatible with religious beliefs. Can one believe in God and the Big Bang? This includes videos about the big bang, the size of the universe and a short powerpoint with pictures of earth to play while students enter to create that SMSC 'awe and wonder' feeling. Also included are instructions in the PPT on how to teach and youtube links.
Learning Questions:
What is the Big Bang theory?
What is my opinion about how the universe was created?
Is it possible to believe in religion AND science?
Great for SMSC, Religious Studies, and Science and Religion modules.
A PPT with a variety of extensions to give students an idea about what all the fuss is about. The PPT itself is pretty self explanatory, and contains links to a variety of youtube videos (some are animations) as well as the Specials 'Free Nelson Mandela&' single. What a legend!
The idea of this PPT is to print out the pages of the Gurus and a story about their lives so students can convert the information into a poster, or put it onto a timeline, or create a marketplace activity.
Hopefully this is some useful raw material for you to work your creative magic on. It's supposed to show how Sikhism developed from a spontaneous vision of the first Guru (Nanak) into a world religion heavily shaped by oppression and military necessity (Gobindh Singh).
Hope it&'s helpful!
Be well,
d
A lesson, more like two really, exploring what the Hajj is, why people do it, and how the Hajj effects Muslims. They hyperlinks in the PPT (image link on second slide and last slide) are to two excellent videos.
Ext: why do different Muslims go on Hajj for different reasons?