Teach Primary Issue 18.7

• Why is the Advent wreath a circle? • Why are there four candles? • Why do Christians celebrate Advent? • Do you count down to a special event each year? Explain that each of the four passages the children have just read is linked to one of the four themes of Advent. Their task is to match each passage to one of the themes and explain their thinking (the pairings are: Isaiah 40:31 = hope, Isaiah 9:6–7 = peace, Luke 2:8–14 = joy and John 3:16–17 = love). Superficially, this should be straightforward activity, as each passage contains the word for one of the themes. pink candle? Then think about the four themes that Christians explore in the four weeks of Advent: hope, peace, joy and love. How are these themes linked to Christmas? 2 | BIBLE READINGS Move away from discussion of wreaths and give children four Bible passages to read that are often shared by Christians during Advent: Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 9:6–7, Luke 2:8–14 and John 3:16–17. Discuss why these passages in particular might be read during Advent. Draw out how only one of these is from the Nativity story. The next part of the lesson can be a great opportunity to do some writing and undertake some sacred text scholarship. • Have children research how Advent is celebrated in different countries or Christian denominations around the world. • Ask children to find four of their own Bible passages, one for each of the themes. This is a chance to apply prior learning. • Ask children to research other meanings of the four candles. Different churches and denominations apply different names, so there are many to find out about. EXTENDING THE LESSON Give children plenty of time to think about the meaning of each passage and summarise their thinking in their justifications. You may wish to model an example first, highlighting to the children how the activity involves retrieval and inference, so they know to use their reading comprehension skills for this part of the lesson. After the writing, give time for children to feed back their ideas to the class or their tables and compare notes. You can also acknowledge any misconceptions at this point. 3 | EXPLORING OTHER TRADITIONS Ask children to recall their learning about other religions and worldviews. Can they think of comparable celebrations to Advent? Recap on Hanukkah and Ramadan. Are these traditions similar to Advent? While it might seem natural to compare Advent with Hanukkah and “We shouldn’t draw simplistic comparisons to festivals in other religions” USEFUL QUESTIONS Ramadan, given that all three involve counting days, discuss how these comparisons can be misleading. Hanukkah celebrates a historical event. Ramadan is a month of fasting and prayer, ending in the celebration of Eid al-Fitr. The point of this final exercise is for children to see that, while easy to do, we shouldn’t draw simplistic comparisons to festivals in other religions as they are informed by different traditions and beliefs. Matthew Lane is a teacher from Norfolk. His book Wayfinder , on how to lead curriculum change, is out now. www.teachwire.net | 75