This lesson planning page takes you through the lesson materials for Year 1, Branch 1, Learning Focus 2.
Before you begin, make sure you have watched the Year 1 Branch 1 Overview videos, which introduce the key themes to draw out across all Learning Focuses within Branch 1. If you have already seen these videos, feel free to skip on to the next section.
Take a look at the following key information about Learning Focus 2, which includes all the links and documents you need to plan your session:
Branch 1
Creation and Covenant
Learning Focus 2
Catholics believe that…everything comes from God.
Teaching time
Approximately 2.5 hours
Downloads
Lesson Plan Template
Y1 | B1 | LF1
Assessment Framework
Y1 | B1
Self-assesment Proformas
The Creed
Illustrated Handout
Nicene Creed Tetris
Handout
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You might like to use our Lesson Plan Template for Year 1 Branch 1 Learning Focus 2 to make your own notes/plan as you go along. This template is pre-populated with the Learning Focus, Expected Outcomes and Success Criteria, and a list of titles of available lesson materials. The rest of the document is left blank for you to complete.
Learning Focus 2 helps children to understand that God didn’t create part of the world or only some things; the Church teaches that all that is comes from God, our Father, who made heaven and earth.
The activities within Learning Focus 2 help children to recognise God as the creator of the world they enjoy. This is supported by discussing, learning and (where appropriate) praying the opening four lines of the Nicene Creed.
Before we look at the lesson materials in detail, it’s useful to know the desired outcomes. This curriculum is based on the RED Expected Outcomes for each year group. Below is a table mapping specific Expected Outcomes to Success Criteria statements as well as the titles of lesson activities that could be used to achieve these.
There are 6 main activities that you can use as building blocks to create your own session. These are explored within this section.
These activities have been planned to utilise the screen, but there are always very easy ways for the activities to be adapted for off-screen and we’ll give examples as we go through.
This first part of ‘Do You Remember…?’ falls within the Believe and Live Knowledge Lenses. It offers an opportunity for pupils to recall and articulate learning from Learning Focus 1, which will also be helpful to you in gauging individual pupil progress. Use the questions on screen as a quick fire quiz with the whole class, or you might like to give each question to a small group to discuss and share their thoughts on.
The second part of the activity invites pupils to choose two words to describe how they feel about God’s gift of Creation. This is building into the next activity which invites pupils to go on an ‘awe and wonder’ walk. There is no need to plant the words ‘awe’ and ‘wonder’ at this stage, but recording the words that children offer in order to reflect on them in the next activity will be useful.
Also within the Believe and Live Knowledge Lenses, the ‘Awe and Wonder Walk’ activity should be completed prior to going on an actual walk.
Pupils are reminded that God made the world and everything in it, and that Catholics believe we should live in a way that appreciates the beauty of this gift – responding with awe and wonder. There is a pause point here to discuss what children think this means. Be prepared to explain words such as ‘appreciate’, ‘awe’ and ‘wonder’.
The following explanations might prove helpful:
Then children are invited to find out more about God’s love for us by looking at the world around them on an awe and wonder walk.
You can facilitate this in any way that suits you (and the weather!), but some suggestions include:
The next activity is within the Hear and Believe Knowledge Lenses, and introduces children to the opening lines of the Nicene Creed.
‘The Creed’ consists of slides delivering teaching about the Creed, some questions to discuss and a short film of school children saying the opening four lines:
I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and Earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
Children are invited to identify words that they find tricky to understand – be prepared to discuss these. In particular, ‘almighty’ means having complete power (‘omnipotent’). Where possible, encourage children to speak the words out loud, including any words which feel unfamiliar. Just be aware that it won’t be appropriate for some children from other faith backgrounds to say these words out loud, so make sure you facilitate accordingly.
One of the questions for discussion is ‘Where is God?’ Take all acceptable answers, including heaven, everywhere, inside you and me etc. Just be cautious around any suggestion that heaven is a place we could physically get to, for example a place in the sky.
‘The Creed – Illustrated’ takes this learning one step further, inviting pupils to create their own artwork for each of the opening four lines of the Creed. This activity is within the Believe and Live Knowledge Lenses.
‘The Creed – Illustrated’ handout shows a framework for a zig-zag book that pupils could print, complete and fold. You could also complete this without the printout, or in another format, such as a poster.
Some pupils might benefit from the alternative cut and stick activity, where symbols are presented for each line, and they cut and stick them in place. This can be found in the same ‘The Creed – Illustrated’ handout.
Finally, in the structure of the handout, ‘of all things visible and invisible’ is split into two sections. It might be beneficial to discuss with children the invisible things that come from God, for example, angels who are spiritual beings without bodies, and our capacity to think and feel.
The next activity is within the Celebrate Knowledge Lens. ‘Closer to God’ is a short film which further explores how we can draw closer to God our Creator through prayer.
The film explores how the Creed is a statement of faith that Catholics pray together at Mass, and that when we do so we are united as a family bringing praise and glory to God in heaven.
The feeling of happiness we experience at seeing a gift we have given being received well is used to help children understand that when we pray the Creed together, or praise God for His Creation, God delights that we express our faith in Him and are thankful for all He gives us.
The next activity is ‘Show, Tell and Praise’, which is within the Celebrate Knowledge Lens.
This involves pupils setting up a prayer station, praying the opening lines of the Creed and taking it in turns to say “God we praise you for…” and completing with something in Creation that they have seen and loved. Where this wouldn’t be appropriate for children to say, they could take part by saying instead “I’m grateful for…”.
You might like to refer back to the ‘Awe and Wonder Walk’ as part of this reflection, inviting children to share about something they loved. If their collected treasures didn’t go into a scrapbook, they could be contributed to the prayer station.
Depending on how you facilitate this activity, you might find it beneficial for pupils to sit in a circle so they can easily see one another. For the prayer station, you could have a globe at the centre of the circle, perhaps with electric tea lights around it.
There are three activities in the Explore More section, which you might like to use to extend learning, or instead of other suggested activities.
‘Nicene Creed Tetris’ is the first of two activities in the Believe and Live Knowledge Lenses which help pupils to become more familiar with the opening lines of the Creed.
This activity helps pupils to practise their literacy skills and problem solving skills as well!
Firstly, print out the ‘Nicene Creed Tetris’ handout. Then have pupils colour in blocks to make tiles of different shapes. Have children cut these tiles out, mix them up and then try to put them back together – can they write out the Nicene Creed using the tiles?
Alternatively, just cut up the individual words without complicating it by creating different shaped tiles.
Finish by praying the Nicene Creed together (as appropriate for the pupils in your class).
The second activity to help pupils become more familiar with the opening lines of the Creed is ‘Nicene Creed Handprints’, which is also within the Believe and Live Knowledge Lenses.
For this activity, children should:
The next activity is ‘Sing Our Thanks’ and is from within the Celebrate Knowledge Lens.
Pupils are encouraged that we can praise God and thank Him by singing, and are invited to explore some praise songs. All of the listed songs have lyrics that children can join in with if they wish.
The songs are ‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’ by Lifetree Kids, ‘If I Were a Butterfly’ by CJ and Friends and three versions of ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’ with slightly different tunes. You might like to discuss which the children prefer, and how it could inspire them to make up their own tune to these words.
God Our Father,
Thank you for the opportunity to explore this content with the children in my care.
By the power of your Holy Spirit, lead and guide me as I prepare this lesson.
Bless me, and each and every child, with an open heart and mind to continue our journey of knowing you more clearly.
I ask this in the name of Jesus, Your Son and our Lord,
Amen
