Understanding Sacrifice

Lesson Overview

• Subject: Religious Education
• Year Group: Year 2
• Unit: Lent: A Journey of Faith (Lesson 5 of 8)
• Lesson Duration: 60 minutes
• Lesson Title: Fasting: Understanding Sacrifice
• Curriculum Area: UK National Curriculum – Religious Education (Key Stage 1)
• Objective: By the end of this lesson, students will understand the meaning of fasting during Lent and how small sacrifices can help us grow in kindness and empathy.

Learning Intentions

• Know: What fasting is and why Christians fast during Lent.
• Understand: How fasting is not just about food but also about giving up something for a meaningful reason.
• Do: Create a simple, personal fasting plan that reflects their own small sacrifices.

Success Criteria

✔ I can explain what fasting means in Lent.
✔ I can describe different ways people fast, beyond just food.
✔ I can create my own plan to practise a small sacrifice in my daily life.

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Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity (10 mins) – Thoughtful Reflection

• Begin with a quiet reflection activity: "Imagine you always have your favourite snack, but for one day, you choose not to have it. How would that feel?"
• Pair-Share: Students discuss with a partner how giving something up might feel and why someone might do this.

🗣 Question for discussion:

• "Have you ever given something up for someone else?"

🏆 Challenge: Ask a few volunteers to share a time when they gave something up (e.g., letting a sibling have the last biscuit).

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2. Main Teaching (15 mins) – What is Fasting?

📖 Teacher Explanation:

• Explain that during Lent, Christians often fast as a way to grow closer to God.
• Discuss how fasting is not just about food – it can also be about giving up habits (e.g., too much TV, sweets, complaining).
• Explain that fasting helps people practice kindness and self-control.

📺 Visual Aid: Show a picture or short video of a Christian family talking about what they give up during Lent.

💡 Amazing Fact:
Did you know fasting is practised in many religions, like Islam (Ramadan) and Judaism (Yom Kippur)? This shows how sacrifice is important to many people around the world!

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3. Group Activity (15 mins) – Fasting Through Kind Actions

👥 Small Group Discussion:

• Divide the class into small groups.
• Each group receives a scenario card (e.g., "You usually have a chocolate after dinner. What could you give up instead?").
• Groups discuss and write down their ideas on how to fast in different ways.

📌 Example Ideas for Fasting:

• Giving up sweets for a day and donating a treat to someone else.
• Spending less time on screens and playing with a sibling instead.
• Giving up grumbling and trying to use kind words more often.

🎤 Mini-Presentation: Each group briefly shares their idea.

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4. Independent Task (15 mins) – My Fasting Plan

📝 Personal Fasting Plan:

• Each pupil creates their own simple fasting plan, choosing one small thing to give up for a short time.
• Students write their plan on a small decorated card:

✏ Template example:
"For the next week, I will give up ________ so I can grow in kindness and patience."

📅 Extension: Some students might want to track their progress by adding stickers or drawing pictures of their journey.

🏆 Extra Challenge: Encourage pupils to think about how their fasting helps someone else (e.g., "If I give up my favourite snack, I can share a different treat with my friend.").

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5. Plenary (5 mins) – Reflection & Prayer

💭 Reflection Time:

• Ask: "How do you think giving something up can make us better people?"
• Pupils share one sacrifice they wrote down.

🙏 Simple Class Prayer (Optional):
"Dear God, help us to be kind and thoughtful during Lent. Help us to make small sacrifices that show love and care for others. Amen."

👏 Final Thought:

• Teacher praises students for their thoughtful ideas.
• Encourage them to keep their fasting plan and try to follow it at home.

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Resources Needed

✔ Scenario cards with different fasting ideas
✔ Paper or decorated fasting plan cards
✔ Pens, stickers, colouring materials
✔ Picture/video (optional)

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Assessment Opportunities

• Teacher Observation: Listening to discussions in pair-share and group work.
• Class Contributions: Students explaining their understanding of fasting.
• Fasting Plan: Checking pupils' written plans for understanding of sacrifice.

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Teacher's Notes & Adaptations

🔹 SEN Support: Provide sentence starters for the fasting plan writing task. Allow verbal answers instead of writing.
🔹 EAL Support: Use visual examples of fasting (picture of food crossed out, picture of a child sharing), and pair EAL students with peers for discussion.
🔹 Challenge for Higher Ability: Ask, "How can we make fasting less about ‘giving up’ and more about ‘giving to others’?"

This lesson fosters empathy, self-reflection, and understanding of religious practices in a way that's meaningful and accessible for Year 2 pupils. 🌟