SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

RE LESSON PLAN
Pre-Primary/
Primary

LESSON ORGANISATION
Unit of work: Loved and Forgiven Salvation topic: Penance Human person Topic: Wondering
at the power of Love
Year Level: Year 4 Students’ Prior Knowledge: (include faith
situations/previous lessons/Units)
Key Understanding:
Students have previously learnt what is and is not a
Christian Response
sin and how to class sins into accidental and
C1: Catholics celebrate God’s joy when forgiving sins purposeful.

Learning Point(s): In previous lessons the students learnt that Jesus

C1.2: Interprets from Gospel parables God’s reaction to had the power to forgive sins, which created wonder
people when they turn back to God after sinning to those living in the time of Jesus.

Students are aware that Gospel books create an

image of the life of Jesus through their stories told.

Spiritual and Religious Capabilities (that may potentially be covered in the lesson)
Prudence Justice Fortitude Temperance Faith Hope Charity
eg Right choices eg Right eg Inner strength eg Moderation eg Prayer eg Reconciliation eg Service
relationships
General Capabilities (that may potentially be covered in the lesson)
Literacy Numeracy ICT Critical and Ethical Personal and Intercultural
competence creative behaviour Social understanding
thinking competence

Cross-curriculum priorities (may be addressed in the lesson)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Asia and Australia’s engagement with Sustainability
histories and cultures Asia
Lesson Objectives (i.e. anticipated outcomes of this lesson, in point form beginning with an action verb)
As a result of this lesson, students will be able to:
• Students will identify that forgiving sins brings joy to people.
• Students will share a reaction they have experienced after forgiving a sin.

Teacher’s Prior Preparation/Organisation: Provision for students at educational risk:

(include Teacher Witness) Gifted Student:
Students who are gifted are given the opportunity to add dialogue
Gather a Godly Play of The Prodigal Son or a sentence to identify what is occurring during that filmstrip to
accompany their drawings.

Physical Disability:
Students who are unable to draw in their film strip are able to use
the Godly Play resource and describe the part of the dialogue
where the farmer felt the joy of the return of his son.
LESSON DELIVERY attach worksheets, examples, marking keys, etc. as relevant
Resources/References
Time Motivation and Introduction:
Align these with the segment
GODLY PLAY where they will be introduced.
The Prodigal Son Appendix 1: Prodigal Son
5 mins Sitting in a semi-circle on the mat allowing for time of silence after the script, with wondering prompts
story has been told and purposefully packed away. for students

Lesson Steps (Lesson content, structure, strategies & Key Questions):

INDIVIDUAL ACTIVITY

• Students will create a film strip of the events that occurred in the
15 Godly Play parable The Prodigal Son
mins • Students will highlight the frame where the joy is felt after forgiving
the sin
I wonder why forgiveness makes me feel happy… I wonder if I always
forgave people I would be happier… I wonder if God forgave my sins to
make me happier.

COLLABORATIVE ACTIVITY

• In the students reading groups they will be able to share their

5 mins highlighted part of the film strip where the joy of forgiveness is felt. Appendix Two: Activity Sheet
• Students will also share a time where they have forgiven a sin and for film strip
felt joy through forgiveness.
(TEACHER EXAMPLE: I forgave my sister for spilling her juice
on my homework, which made me happy because she went
out and bought me coloured paperer to redo my homework
on.)

I wonder if I ask for forgiveness that would make people in my family

happier… I wonder if joy of forgiveness is felt for forgiving and being
forgiven.

Lesson Closure:(Review lesson objectives with students)

5 mins Invite students to share their real-life experiences of forgiveness bringing

them joy or happiness
Encourage students to use their journals to record this experience

Transition: (What needs to happen prior to the next lesson?)

Students need to be introduced again to the season of Lent and what it

means to be participating in Lent. Making sure the scared space of the
classroom is using the appropriate colours in table cloths.

Assessment: (Were the lesson objectives met? How will they be

assessed?)

• Student’s film strips will identify correctly where the farmer felt joy
of the return of his son
• Student’s will share an experience with the class or in their
journals where they have forgiven a wrong doing (accidental or
purposeful) and given had an outcome with a positive reaction.
APPENDIX 1:
The Prodigal Son - The loving Father

KWL Chapter 10, Pt 1

(based on Luke 15:11-24)

You will need:

§ 2D laminated figures of prodigal son, brother, father, 2 or 3 other characters, pigs

(see RE Online for masters)

§ a long piece of cloth or felt that could be rolled out to make a road

§ a simple cut out shape to represent the Father’s house and popsticks or cloth strips to form a pigpen

Children are seated in a semi-circle ready to listen to the story. When the children are settled, go to the shelf and carry
the materials as you would the Bible. Place these beside you.

Roll out the road, place the Father’s house at one end and the pigpen past the other end of the road but off to one side
as you say:

Jesus once told a story about a boy who was away from home for a long time. Jesus told this story to help us
understand what God’s love is like.

Bring the Father out and place on one side of the house. Bring the two sons out and place on the other side of the house
as you say:

The story is about a father who had two sons.

Move the younger son over next to the father.

One day, the younger son asked his father to give him a lot of the family’s money so he could leave home and go far
away. The father gave him the money.

Move the younger son a little way along the road. Move the father in front of the house as if looking up the road. Move
the older brother off to the side (almost out of the scene).

So the younger son packed his things and went away.

Continue to move the younger son towards the end of the road.

Bring out one of the extra characters and put him with the younger son.

He spent his money on wild parties and having a good time.

Remove the extra character and move the son into a space by himself.

Soon he had spent all the money the father had given him and he had nothing left. Now, he was hungry and poor.
Move the son next to pigpen and bring out the pigs.

He got a job feeding pigs. He was so hungry he could have eaten the pigs’ food.

Move the son to the end of the road facing the direction of his father’s house.

He thought for a long time and made up his mind to go back to his father. He was going to ask his father to take him
back, not as a son but as a servant.

Move the son slowly down the road. Stop on the road, just over half way

He started the long journey home.

Move the son on a little further and stop a short distance from the house. Move the father along the road towards the
son. Have father and son facing each other.

One day his father saw him in the distance and ran to meet him. He hugged him and kissed him.

Walk father and son back down the road together and stand next to the house. Bring in the other extra characters and
place around them.

The boy was trying to say sorry, but the father quickly called his servants to get a party ready. All the father wanted
to do was celebrate and welcome his son home.

Bring father to the front as if addressing the crowd and hold your hand over him to indicate he is speaking.

‘My son was lost,’ he said, ‘and now he is found. He was dead and has come back to life!’

And they began to celebrate.

Engage with ‘I wonder’, KWL p112.

I wonder….the father might have felt when the his son went away…if you would like to work all day feeding pigs…what
it would be like to eat pig’s food…how the son felt after going back to his father after having spent all his money…how
the father felt when he saw the father coming home…if it is easy to forgive someone who as upset you…if you knew
someone who is like the father in this story…if you have ever had a welcome home party.

Carefully pack story materials into storage box and put on shelf. Ensure that children are watching so they know how to
pack the materials away and where to find them.
APPENDIX 2:

FILMSTRIP: THE PRODIGAL SON