Learning objective

  • To recognise that Easter celebrates Jesus coming back to life and express this through art.

Success criteria

  • I can discuss what ‘hope’ means to me.
  • I can describe what many Christians celebrate at Easter.
  • I can explain how Easter brings hope to many Christians.
  • I can use colours to show how some Christians may feel about the Easter story.

Religious Education Council Curriculum Framework for RE in England (non-statutory guidance):

  • A1. Recall and name different beliefs and practices, including festivals, worship, rituals and ways of life, in order to find out about the meanings behind them.
  • A2. Retell and suggest meanings to some religious and moral stories, exploring and discussing sacred writings and sources of wisdom and recognising the traditions from which they come.
  • A3. Recognise some different symbols and actions which express a community’s way of life, appreciating some similarities between communities.
  • B1. Ask and respond to questions about what individuals and communities do, and why, so that pupils can identify what difference belonging to a community might make.
  • C1. Explore questions about belonging, meaning and truth so that they can express their own ideas and opinions in response using words, music, art or poetry.

See REC Curriculum Framework for RE in England (non-statutory guidance) – Religious Education Council of England & Wales.

Before the lesson

Watch
Watch
Watch
Watch
Resource: Colours (support - see Adaptive teaching).
Activity: Cross template (one each).
Activity: Easter story (support - see Adaptive teaching).
Resource: Knowledge organiser: Why and how do people celebrate Easter? (optional - see Teacher knowledge).
Resource: Lesson vocabulary (optional - one class set for display).

Lesson plan

1: Recap and recall

Display the Presentation: Jesus and ask the children to discuss with their partner how they would complete the sentence:

‘Some Christian people believe that Jesus is…’

Presentation: Jesus

Take feedback. The children may suggest:

  • ‘…the son of God and God on Earth.’ 
  • ‘…strong and powerful because he can do miracles like calming the storm.’
  • ‘… loving and kind because he cared for his friends and kept them safe in the storm.’

2: Attention grabber

Ask the children to imagine they really want to play outside but it has been raining all morning. In pairs, ask them to briefly discuss what they would like to happen. 

Take feedback and suggest they may have hoped it would stop raining so they could play outside. Explain that hope means believing that something good might happen in the future.

Display the Presentation: Hopes and read what the characters hope for. 

Presentation: Hopes

Ask the children to discuss in pairs:

  • What do you hope for? (The children may suggest: a new toy; a friend feels better soon; pizza for dinner; going somewhere special at the weekend, etc.) 

Invite some children to share their ideas.

3: Main event

Explain that Easter is a Christian festival celebrating the life, death and coming back to life of Jesus.

Display the Pupil video: The Easter story.

Pupil video: The Easter story

Remind the children that this is a story from the Christian Bible (scripture believed by many Christians to be the word of God) and that many Christians believe it happened but not everyone believes it is a true story.

Ask the children: 

  • Which part of the story might make some Christian people feel hopeful? (The children may suggest: when Jesus went to Jerusalem; when he came back to life.) 

Display the Presentation: Colours of hope and explain that the colours are a symbol of what people might feel during different events in the Easter story, such as hope or sadness.

Presentation: Colours of hope

Invite children to drag and drop the ‘colourful stickers’ next to the titles of each of the events in the story.

Discuss how brighter colours, like yellow or pink, often make people feel happier and more hopeful. Some people may have felt happy and excited to see Jesus on Palm Sunday; others may have felt joyful and hopeful on Easter Sunday because Jesus came back to life. As a result, these parts of the story could be linked to brighter colours.

Questions

  • Which colour matches this part of the story? Why?
  • Are there any other colours that match this event in the story?

Hand out the Activity: Cross template (one each), black card and colourful chalk. 

Model the activity to the children using the following steps:

  1. Cut out the cross and place it in the centre of the black card.
  2. Place a small piece of sticky tack on the back of the cross template to hold it in place on the black card and prevent it from moving.
  3. Using coloured chalk, colour sections in alternating colours all around the edge of the cross template.
  4. Ensure the sections overlap slightly onto the black card to create a vibrant, blended effect. 
  5. Carefully remove the cross to reveal the bold cross shape surrounded by the colourful chalk background.
  6. Gently shake off any excess chalk dust.

Remind the children to use colours that remind them of feeling hopeful. 

Display the Presentation: Crosses of hope to show the children an example.

Presentation: Crosses of hope

4: Wrapping up

Display the Presentation: Wrapping up words.

Presentation: Wrapping up words

Ask the children to discuss in pairs:

  • Why is Easter celebrated? (Answers may include: because when Jesus came back to life in the Easter story it gives Christian people hope; to remember Jesus; because it is a happy time; because Jesus came back to life and showed God’s love; to celebrate new life.)

5: During the week

Books

  • ‘The Garden of Hope’ by Isabel Otter.
  • ‘The Easter Story’ by Katherine Sully.
  • ‘The Story of Easter’ by Fiona Boon.
  • ‘The Easter Story’ by Heather Amery.
  • ‘The Promised One: The Wonderful Story of Easter’ by Antonia Woodward.
  • ‘Alive Again! The Easter Story’ by Raffaella Ligi Sarah J. Dodd.
  • ‘The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross Storybook: The true story of why Jesus died and rose again’ by Carl Laferton.
  • ‘Alive Again! The Easter Story’ by Raffaella Ligi Sarah J. Dodd.
  • ‘The Easter Story’ by Brian Wildsmith.

Adaptive teaching

Pupils needing support

Could use the Resource: Colours (support) to refer to when discussing colours that remind them of hope; could use the Activity: Easter story (support) to refer to throughout the lesson; could be provided with a pre-cut cross from the Activity: Cross template.

Pupils working at greater depth

Could create a border of related words or phrases around their cross artwork, linking them to the feelings of hope from the Easter story; could write a short sentence or phrase explaining why each word connects to the Easter story or hope; could use more than one colour for each part.

Assessing progress and understanding

Pupils with secure understanding indicated by: describing what hope means; identifying which event in the Easter story gives many Christians hope; using colours to show how the Easter story may make many Christians feel.

Pupils with secure understanding indicated by: giving examples of what they hope for; explaining why the Easter story gives many Christians hope; using more than one colour to show each event in the Easter story may make many Christians feel.

Vocabulary definitions

  • belief

    An idea or opinion that someone thinks is true.

  • believe

    To think something is true.

  • Christian

    A person who believes the Bible to be God’s word and follows the teaching and example of his son Jesus.

  • Christian Bible

    Scripture believed by many Christians to be the word of God.

  • cross

    A symbol of Christianity.

  • disciples

    Followers of Jesus who spread his teachings.

  • Easter

    A Christian festival celebrating the life, death and coming back to life of Jesus

  • festival

    A celebration, often for religious reasons.

  • God

    A powerful, non-human being.

  • hope

    Believing that something good might happen in the future.

  • Jesus

    The man Christians believe to be God's son.

  • symbol

    An idea, object, picture or shape used to represent something else.

  • scripture

    Writings considered to be holy or special.

Kapow Primary’s Religion and Worldviews Team

Religion and worldviews specialist

Find out more

Maintained by: Kapow Primary team

_
close popup

Are you sure you want to download this lesson plan?

Downloading may not be your best option. Be sure you are looking at the most up-to-date version by always viewing your resources online.

Bookmark or save the link to this lesson so you can find it quickly! Do you want to continue?
For copyright reasons, you may not screenshot this page.
Press esc to exit