Saint Patrick and People of Faith Thematic Unit
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Year 5 Saint Patrick and People of Faith Thematic Unit A CCEA Publication © 2010 Contents About this Thematic Unit 1 Section 01 Activity One Patrick’s Life 5 Patrick Activity Two The Places in Northern Ireland that Patrick May Have Visited 7 Optional Activity: Location Mapper 9 Activity Three Patrick’s Legacy 10 Section 02 Activity Four Churches and Other Faith Other Saints, Buildings in Your Area 15 Churches and Other Optional Activity: Building Mapper 17 Faith Buildings, and Church Visits Activity Five Saints’ Names 18 Activity Six Class Visits: Churches and Other Faith Buildings 19 Activity Seven Classroom Visitors of Faith 21 Section 03 Activity Eight Saintly Qualities 25 People of Faith Activity Nine People of Faith Who Have Lived Their Faith’s Values 27 Activity Ten Moses 28 Activity Eleven Gandhi 29 Activity Twelve Dalai Lama 30 Resources 33 Acknowledgements CCEA wishes to acknowledge Yvonne Naylor, who developed this Thematic Unit. Thanks go to Norman Richardson for information on Gandhi and to the staff and pupils at Mill Quarter Primary School for permission to use photographs of pupils. Grateful thanks also go to the Religious Education Advisory Group for their assistance in the development of this unit. About this Thematic Unit This thematic unit is linked to the Years 4/5 ICL Journeys. In this thematic unit, children develop an awareness of the life and impact of St. Patrick, and explore religious buildings and people who have lived according to their faith. They become aware of the contribution that religious people have had on society in Northern Ireland. They learn that they can make either a positive or negative contribution towards others, and they explore ways in which their own contribution can be positive. Children explore: • the life and legacy of St. Patrick; • the location, design and type of religious buildings in their locality; • the names of saints found in their area; • the values and qualities of people who are called saints; • how they may show these qualities in their lives; and • how people of faith have impacted on those around them. This thematic unit presents children with opportunities to develop some of the skills that meet the statutory requirements of the Northern Ireland Curriculum at Key Stage 2. The focus within this unit is outlined below: Northern Ireland To develop the young person as an individual. Curriculum Objective Key Element Spiritual Awareness Thinking Skills and Personal This thematic unit focuses on Working with Others. Capabilities (TSPC) Children will have opportunities to: • listen actively and share opinions; • give and respond to feedback; • respect the views and opinions of others; and • develop the skills of thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and managing information. Cross-Curricular Skills Where appropriate, learning intentions that relate to the cross-curricular skills are signposted. These cross-curricular skills are: • Communication (Comm) • Using Mathematics (UMaths) • Using ICT (UICT). Connecting the Learning This thematic unit provides teachers with opportunities to connect learning across the following Areas of Learning: • Religious Education; • Personal Development and Mutual Understanding; and • The World Around Us. Aim The aim of this thematic unit is to encourage children to: • be aware of and appreciate the religious buildings in their area; • understand how one person motivated by faith can impact on others; and • build understanding of the faiths around them. 1 SECTION Patrick01 Section 01 Patrick Activity One Patrick’s Life Ask the children to research the meaning of the word Suggested Learning Intentions myth and discuss their answers. Patrick’s Biography Create groups and using appropriate resources, Children will: including websites, books, etc., have the children • learn more about the real life of Saint Patrick; find out as much information as possible about • research, select, edit and use information from Saint Patrick. Then using ICT and/or art and design digital sources (UICT); materials, have each child create a leaflet about • generate ideas and possibilities (TSPC); and Saint Patrick based on their group’s research. • structure and sequence their writing (Comm). Their leaflets should include the following, plus any additional information they find interesting: Suggested Learning and • when he was alive; Teaching Activities • where he lived; • where he went/stayed during his life; and • why he is well known. What Do We Know? Ask the children if they know any stories or Encourage them to imagine what Patrick looked information about Saint Patrick. Use the Think, like and illustrate pictures to use with their leaflet. Pair and Share* or Post-It® Collection* method to Alternatively, they could source illustrations from the generate information. Then, have the children report web or books. back to the class what they know about Patrick by using a KWL* grid to note down some of the class’ ideas. These might include some of the following: • He was from Wales. • He spent his early years in Ireland on the slopes of Slemish Mountain in County Antrim. • He built his first church near Saul in County Down. • He built his headquarters in Armagh. • He drove all the snakes out of Ireland. • He used a shamrock to tell people about the Trinity. • He climbed to the top of Croagh Patrick to talk to God. Explain to the class that a lot of what we think we know about Patrick is myth, folklore and legend because there is not very much recorded information about Patrick. Instead, people often used stories to retell his deeds. 5 St. Patrick and People of Faith Patrick the Author Remind your class about the leaflet(s) they produced and explain that Patrick himself produced two writings – the Confession or testimony and a Letter to the soldiers of a ruler called Coroticus. Remind them that because he lived such a very long time ago, unfortunately there isn’t very much information available about the places he lived in, his work or the life and times in which he lived. Explain that for this reason, many people use the things he wrote himself in order to learn about him. Next, to help them better understand what life would have been like for Patrick, challenge the children to investigate life in Ireland and Great Britain in the Go around the circle and have each child complete fourth and fifth centuries. Working in groups, ask the phrase: “If I met Patrick, I would like to ask them to compile five facts about life then. They could him…” Allow them to note some of the questions, use appropriate websites, books, etc. for this. When and have them fill the W section of their KWL grid. all groups have gathered their information, have each share their findings with the class. * See CCEA’s Active Learning and Teaching Methods for Key Stage 1&2. Next, use Resource A with its accompanying picture set to tell the story of St. Patrick. Then pair the children and have them compare the story to what they found out in their research. What was the same? What was different? Can they list three new, interesting facts that they learned? These might be about where he came from and how he spent his time in Ireland. Bring the class together and ask each pair to share the new facts they have learned. List these on the KWL* grid. Next, create two headings on the board or flipchart paper, etc. labelled ‘Myth’ and ‘Reality’. Ask the class to differentiate between myth and reality and to place the information they’ve learned about St. Patrick in one of the lists. Ask the class whether they prefer the myth or the reality about St. Patrick and then together discuss their reasons. Finally, use circle time to find out what more the children would like to learn about St. Patrick. 6 Section 01 Patrick Activity Two The Places in Northern Ireland That Patrick May Have Visited • How did people travel back then? Suggested Learning Intentions • In what ways was travel during Patrick’s time different than the way we travel today? • Are there any similarities? • How much longer would journeys have taken? For Children will: example, the story in Activity One said that Patrick • learn more about the places associated with Saint walked 200 miles from the west of Ireland to the Patrick in Northern Ireland; east of Ireland and it took him 28 days. Have any • select the information needed for a task (TSPC); of you travelled to the west of Ireland? How long and did your journey take? Did you walk like Patrick or • locate relevant information and use it travel a different way? appropriately (Comm). Suggested Learning and Teaching Activities Travelling in the Past Begin by gathering the class in a circle and passing around a map of Great Britain and Ireland. Ask everyone to: • find a place on the map that they have visited; • name the place; • say how they travelled there and if they made any friends there; and • if appropriate, tell the class how long they stayed. Next, ask everyone in the circle to suggest all the Next, role-play what life might be like travelling in different ways we travel today and list these on the a sail boat. (You could use Bible stories, like Luke 8: board. Then place the class in groups of four to 22–25, to describe life on a boat.) Use a parachute to research how people travelled during St. Patrick’s represent the waves, with one child standing on the lifetime in the fifth century. chute at the centre and the rest of the class around the outside of it holding its edges. Together, make When complete, discuss together what they small, gentle waves by gently moving the parachute discovered and list their suggestions on the up and down.