Optional Easter lesson: Why does Easter bring hope to many Christians?
A Year 2 optional lesson recognising that Easter celebrates Jesus coming back to life and exploring how it gives many Christians hope.
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.
Before the lesson
Watch
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Watch
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Lesson plan
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…'
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.'
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.
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
Make presentation full-screen
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.
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.
Display the Presentation: Wrapping up words.
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.
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In this unit
Assessment – R&W Y2: What is a prophet?
Lesson 1: What characteristics did some prophets have?
Lesson 2: How might it feel to be a prophet?
Lesson 3: What promises do some people believe God made to some prophets?
Lesson 4: How do we know that Muhammad was the last prophet in the Muslim worldview?
Lesson 5: Why is Jesus important to some religious people?
Lesson 6: Why might some Sikhs believe Guru Nanak is special?
- Current lesson
Optional Easter lesson: Why does Easter bring hope to many Christians?
