Overview

This 5-day detailed teaching plan is designed for Year 4 Religious Education classes in New Zealand. It aligns with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh by incorporating key competencies like "Relating to Others," "Managing Self," and "Using Language, Symbols, and Texts," alongside relevant learning objectives from Health and Social Sciences where appropriate.

Classes will explore the Anointing of the Sick over 2 days and Holy Orders over 3 days with engaging, age-appropriate activities suitable for 18 students, lasting 35 minutes per session.

---

Curriculum Alignment

• Learning Area: Religious Education (supported by Social Sciences and Health where relevant)
• Key Competencies:
  • Relating to others: sharing ideas, respecting different views
  • Using language, symbols, and texts: exploring religious language and rituals
  • Managing self: setting learning goals, participating responsibly
• Learning Objectives:
  • Understanding the significance of religious rituals and sacraments
  • Respecting diverse spiritual beliefs and practices
  • Expressing and reflecting on personal values and feelings related to wellbeing and community roles
  • Using discussion and questioning to deepen understanding and respect for difference
• Approach: Active learning with discussions, storytelling, role-play, and multimedia to link beliefs to personal experience and community values .

---

2-Day Plan: Anointing of the Sick

Day 1: Introduction to Anointing of the Sick

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the purpose and meaning of the Anointing of the Sick.
• Recognise the importance of care and healing in community and religious practice.

Activities:

1. Warm-up Discussion (5 mins):
   Ask: "What do you know about helping someone who is sick?" Connect answers to ideas about caring and healing.

2. Story Time (10 mins):
   Share a simple age-appropriate story or video describing the Anointing of the Sick ritual, focusing on its purpose of comfort and strength.

3. Group Discussion (10 mins):
   Students discuss how families and communities help people when they are sick. Connect to the ritual symbolising care and hope.

4. Creative Reflection (10 mins):
   Each student draws or writes about a time they or someone they know received care when unwell.

Assessment:

• Observe participation in discussion.
• Collect and review drawings/reflections for understanding of care themes.

---

Day 2: Anointing Symbols and Roles

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the symbols used in the Anointing of the Sick rite (oil, prayers).
• Understand the roles of people involved (priest, community).

Activities:

1. Symbol Exploration (10 mins):
   Show images or real examples of oil and explain its use in blessing and healing.

2. Role Play (15 mins):
   Students enact the Anointing of the Sick ritual in pairs or small groups, practicing respectful behaviour and language.

3. Reflection and Sharing (10 mins):
   Discuss feelings during the role play and importance of support when unwell.

Assessment:

• Check understanding through role-play accuracy and respectful behaviour.
• Use discussion responses to assess empathetic understanding.

---

3-Day Plan: Holy Orders

Day 1: What is Holy Orders?

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the meaning of Holy Orders as a special role in the church.
• Recognise the commitment involved in religious leadership roles.

Activities:

1. Introduce the Concept (5 mins):
   Explain Holy Orders is a special blessing for those who serve as priests.

2. Storytelling (10 mins):
   Tell a story of someone becoming a priest and what it means to help others.

3. Visual Exploration (10 mins):
   Show photos or videos of ordination ceremonies, highlighting special clothing and rituals.

4. Discussion/Q&A (10 mins):
   Invite student questions and discuss how leaders help their communities.

Assessment:

• Listen to questions to gauge curiosity and understanding.

---

Day 2: The Ceremony and Symbols

Learning Objectives:

• Identify symbols such as the laying on of hands, special robes, and prayers.
• Appreciate the community aspect of the ceremony.

Activities:

1. Symbol Matching Game (10 mins):
   Students match pictures and descriptions of ordination symbols.

2. Role Play (15 mins):
   In groups, students recreate a simple ordination ceremony, practising the symbolic actions.

3. Discussion (10 mins):
   Talk about feelings of responsibility and what it might be like to be given such a role.

Assessment:

• Observe student engagement in role play and knowledge of symbols.

---

Day 3: Reflecting on Service and Commitment

Learning Objectives:

• Reflect on the notion of commitment to service in a community.
• Express personal thoughts on helping others.

Activities:

1. Group Brainstorm (10 mins):
   Discuss ways people help in families and communities.

2. Personal Reflection (15 mins):
   Write or draw about a time they helped someone or how they want to help.

3. Sharing Circle (10 mins):
   Share reflections and discuss how commitment in Holy Orders relates to everyday helping.

Assessment:

• Review reflections for personal engagement with themes of service.
• Note contributions to sharing circle for understanding of concepts.

---

Additional Teaching Considerations

• Use respectful, inclusive language acknowledging diverse beliefs.
• Integrate Māori perspectives if appropriate, e.g., care of whānau and community values.
• Provide visual aids and realia to enhance understanding.
• Build in questions that encourage students to connect learning to their own lives and beliefs.
• Maintain a safe environment for sharing and difference of opinion【4:0-14†Te Mataiaho English Single Page.pdf】 .

---

This plan offers a rich blend of story, hands-on activities, reflection, and discussion perfectly suited to Year 4 students, fulfilling the NZ curriculum directives for Religious Education and Key Competencies within a 35-minute timeframe per day.