Life and Soul

Overview

A 30-minute Religious Education session for Year 8 students at a Catholic school in New Zealand, focusing on the Christian understanding of life, soul, and mortality, with an emphasis on hope, love, and kindness inspired by Mother Mary’s special character. The lesson is differentiated according to the Universal Design for Learning (UDL), aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC).

---

Curriculum Links

NZC Learning Areas: Religious Education (within Health and Physical Education and Social Sciences domain)

Key Competencies:

• Relating to others: Sharing ideas and listening respectfully
• Thinking: Exploring spiritual concepts critically and reflectively
• Using language, symbols, and texts: Reading, interpreting, and discussing Biblical passages

Values: Hope, Love, Kindness (aligned with Catholic special character)

Years 7-8 Learning Outcomes:

• Understand key Christian teachings about life and death
• Engage in respectful conversation about beliefs
• Use Biblical texts to support learning
• Develop spiritual identity and empathy 【8:New Zealand Curriculum.html】

---

Learning Objectives (WALT)

• WALT understand what Jesus teaches about life after death from John 11:25-26
• WALT summarise the creation of humans from Genesis 2:7
• WALT grasp the distinction between mortal body and immortal soul
• WALT recognise how God’s role begins at conception and how physical traits relate to birth parents
• WALT define and apply the concepts "mortal" and "immortal"

---

Success Criteria

• Students can recite and explain John 11:25-26
• Students can summarise Genesis 2:7 in their own words
• Students can explain the difference between mortal and immortal with examples
• Students identify how physical characteristics and the soul are given
• Complete the worksheet with at least 4 correct out of 6 multiple-choice questions

---

Resources

• Printed copies of John 11:25-26
• Audio recording or read-aloud of Genesis 2:7
• Whiteboard/Smartboard for definitions and diagram
• Differentiated worksheets (3 levels) with multiple-choice questions on the readings
• Pens/pencils

---

Lesson Structure

Hook (5 min)

• Activity: Start with a “What makes me who I am?” Brainstorm on the board.
  • Students think-pair-share about where their physical and personal traits come from (biological parents, personality, and spirit).
  • This activates prior knowledge and curiosity about identity and soul.

---

Main Activities (20 min)

1. Reading John 11:25-26 (5 min)

• Display or distribute the text:

  Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.
  The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
  and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
  Do you believe this?"

• Explain: Jesus teaches our bodies die but our souls live eternally with God. The soul is immortal.
• Differentiation:
  • Fast group: Reflect on what “resurrection” and “life” mean spiritually and write a short response.
  • Middle group: Discuss in pairs what this means about death and afterlife.
  • Slow group: Listen and draw a simple symbol for eternal life (e.g., light or circle).

2. Listen to Genesis 2:7 and Summarise (5 min)

• Play or read Genesis 2:7:

  Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

• Ask students to summarise the reading aloud or in writing.
• Emphasise: God creates the body from Earth but gives life (soul) by breathing into it.
• Differentiation:
  • Fast group writes a two-sentence summary highlighting God’s role.
  • Middle group verbally share a summary with a partner.
  • Slow group matches keywords (God, breathed, life, dust) with pictures.

3. Discussion on Physical Features and Soul (5 min)

• Explain how physical features come from our biological parents' genes but the soul is given by God at conception, establishing a unique relationship with God.
• Draw a simple diagram on the board: Parents → Body (physical traits), God → Soul (immortal).
• Facilitate a class discussion using guiding questions:
  • What does it mean that God gives us our soul?
  • How does this make us unique?
• Differentiation:
  • Fast group: Write a short paragraph on the meaning of soul and physical traits.
  • Middle group: Discuss with a partner, then share one idea with the class.
  • Slow group: Use sentence starters to complete, e.g., “My body is like… but my soul is…”

4. Define Mortal and Immortal (5 min)

• Write and explain:
  • Mortal means something will die (our bodies are mortal).
  • Immortal means something lives forever (our souls are immortal).
• Students write their own sentences using each word, integrating the lesson ideas.
• Share a few examples aloud.
• Differentiation:
  • Fast group: Create definitions & examples and illustrate visually.
  • Middle group: Complete sentences and share orally.
  • Slow group: Match definitions with examples provided on cards.

---

Assessment & Worksheet (5 min)

• Hand out 1-page worksheet with 6 multiple-choice questions about John 11:25-26 and Genesis 2:7.

• Examples (differentiated in complexity across groups):

  1. Who gives us life according to Genesis 2:7? (God / Parents)
  2. What does Jesus say happens to those who believe in Him? (They die and are gone / They live forever)
  3. What does the word “immortal” mean? (Will live forever / Will die soon)
     ... and so on.

• Support slow learners with group work while fast learners can extend by answering open-ended questions on the back.

---

Extension Activities (For High Achievers)

• Write a reflection on how Mary’s character of hope and love relates to the promise of eternal life.
• Research how different cultures and religions view the soul and afterlife and prepare a short presentation.

---

Differentiation Summary

Group	Instructional Supports	Tasks
Fast (6 students)	Enriched texts, own reflections, and research tasks	Write responses, short essays, presentations
Middle (18 students)	Structured discussion, partnered summaries	Oral summaries, paired talks, worksheets
Slow (5 students)	Sentence starters, visuals, group support, picture aids	Matching tasks, drawing, sentence completion

---

Reflection and Closing (2 min)

• Recap key lesson points: Body is mortal, soul is immortal, God gives each soul at conception.
• Quick round: Students share one new thing they learned or feel hopeful about.

---

This lesson plan includes careful scaffolding to meet all students' needs, clear links to curriculum competencies and values, and integrates Catholic special character themes. It utilises multiple modes of learning—including verbal, visual, auditory, and written—to engage all learners following NZC best practices.

If you need, I can also generate the differentiated worksheet for this lesson. Would you like me to do that?