Teach-Primary-Issue-19.1

Excitingly, RE is a multi-disciplinary subject, drawing on skills frommany academic fields of study. Theology, philosophy and human and social sciences are often suggested as key disciplinary starting points. However, many teachers find introducing these particular skills challenging. In this lesson, we encourage pupils to use their physical senses to explore examples of Hindu expressions of the divine through a home shrine. Our senses are important, as they help us make sense of the world around us – a task philosophers are always thinking about. 1 | INTRODUCE WORSHIP If there are Hindu pupils in your class, you can invite them to share their experience (this should always be optional for them). Otherwise, explain that, for many Hindus, murtis (sacred images or statues used to represent the deities) are useful to look at and focus the mind during worship. The deities reveal different things about what Brahman is like and people choose varying deities to focus on. Introduce the idea of the home shrine though an exemplar Hindu character. For example, ‘Jasmine says: “In my family, we have a shrine in our home. One of the deities important to us is Ganesh. The murti on our shrine helps us think about what Ganesh is like. His elephant head shows wisdom.”’ Share a picture of a home shrine. Ask pupils what they can see. Do they have any questions about the shrine? Watch this BBC clip ( tinyurl.com/tp-BBCpuja ) and ask pupils how the home shrine is set up and used. Remind the children that this is just one example – shrines may be different in other homes. 2 | RECREATE A HOME SHRINE With the pupils’ help, set up a home shrine in the classroom based on what you saw in the clip. You may want to include different items than were shown in the START HERE MAIN LESSON WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l Worship is important to many Hindus as a way of connecting with Brahman l Some Hindus worship using a home shrine appealing to all five senses l We can find out about different types of Hindu worship using our senses RE Begin by burning incense in the classroom (if your health and safety policy allows; if not, you can just hand out unlit incense sticks). Invite pupils to close their eyes and focus on the scent. Ask them if they like the smell. Does it remind them of anything? What might the scent be useful for? Continuing to experience the scent, share images of the Trimurti (trinity of supreme divinity – see BBC Bitesize content at tinyurl.com/tp-BBCTrimurti ) . Discuss pupils’ prior knowledge of the symbolism of the Trimurti and what their special objects reveal about the deity. E.g. ‘Brahma’s prayer beads show he can concentrate his mind’. Hindu shrines and using our five senses Develop pupils’ philosophy skills using sight, sound, taste touch and smell to explore worship, with Katie Gooch KS1 LESSON PLAN @goochkt unitedcurriculum.org.uk/primary © Creative Commons, Yann Forget 76 | www.teachwire.net