In this highly differentiated lesson, students will challenge themselves to work out the Ontological argument put forward by Anselm and the criticisms from Gaunilo. They will also be able to evaluate the criticism from Gaunilo. It's all ready for the NEW 2017 OCR Religious Studies A Level. The lesson has a focus on independent learning and student-led activities. Included are all of the resources, a powerpoint and a detailed lesson plan. Just add chocolate! Notes: The card sort runs over three pages and needs to be printed onto green, yellow and red card. The first page should be printed onto green, the second onto yellow and the third onto red. This means students can choose their level of challenge by the traffic light colours. Answer to the quiz: BCCABCACB

In this pair-working lesson students are challenged to understand the range and diversity of reasons for committing crime and how these can affect our the way we judge criminals. They also consider two contrasting teachings in Christianity and apply these to the same issue. The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Reasons for Crime'. It will, however, work with any specification including Crime and Punishment. Target grade is 7-9. Ready to teach this lesson includes: - Full Lesson Plan - PowerPoint - Silent Debate Sheet

An introduction to compatibilism with a focus on the specific understanding put forward by Locke. The powerpoint offers key information for students' own note taking and I have included some guidance in the presenter notes for yourself. The resource includes a differentiated group interpretation sheet where students are tasked with examining quotes from about and from famous compatibilists including Locke, Hume and Hobbes in order to identify key features of compatibilist thought. Included is a 50 word grid for use with the plenary. I hope you find it helpful since it has taken me a long while to feel very comfortable teaching this area of the course! I have provided for free the follow-up reading on David Hume (which can be given as an independent reading task or done in lesson). It can be found by searching 'A2 Compatibilism' on the TES resources or by copying this URL into your address bar: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/a2-compatibilism-david-hume-reading-with-questions-11127076

Used with A2 AQA Life, Death and Beyond though relevant to AS AQA Nature and Value of Human Life (and many others!) Examines Christian, Buddhist and Hindu teachings. Print the Card sort onto Green/Yellow/Red card as instructed at the end of the document. Print the Gapfill onto A3 double sided (one each). Print the Learning Grid onto A4 (one each). Lesson Plan: Starter- Students to organise the quotes however they like in pairs. Choosing their level of challenge based on the colour. Students are likely to sort from most positive to most negative. Main - Gapfill task in groups. Then groups to pull out key features of each religion's attitude to what a human is, completing the first column of the Learning Grid sheet. Plenary - Students to return to their pairs to make links between these ideas and the quotes in the card sort used as the starter.

This lesson features as part of a complete scheme of work entitled 'Human Nature: What is a person?'. The SOW is designed to challenge KS3 students to explore challenging philosophical questions and apply key religious and non-religious perspectives to these questions. You can purchase the complete SOW at a discounted price here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/human-nature-what-is-a-person-complete-ks3-sow-and-resources-11068727 In this lesson students will consider what sets us apart from other creatures and address the question of our unique position and status. Included: - PowerPoint - Resources - Scheme of Work document containing lesson plan.

This is the first lesson I teach in the Religious Pluralism and Theology unit. It is designed to give students freedom and tools to start to embrace the challenge of this complex and exciting unit. Students will open the discussion around pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism by exploring their own thinking and preconceptions. They will learn and be assessed on key terms including concepts beyond those outlined in the spec to prepare them for better and clearer explanations. Finally, they will watch Richard Swinburne discuss religious exclusivism and compare his views to their own initial ideas. Ready to teach, lesson includes: Full lesson plan Resources Worksheets

This is a full 10-page A3 workbook designed to engage and support our students with the key information needed for AQA Religious Studies A Christianity Beliefs and Teachings (Q1 of Paper 1). It is designed to be used in conjunction with the OUP textbooks but can be used without. The pack consists of full colour landscape pages for the whole unit that really clearly points out key terms, teachings and key beliefs and concepts. There is a wide range of activity styles to keep students engaged and motivated. Students will be working from memory as well as looking up information. Pages of the textbook are subtly shown to indicate where the information can be found if needed. A wide range of extension tasks to allow students to delve more deeply into each topic area in the unit. Plenty of ‘tips’ to point out important guidance to students. At the end is guidance and practice opportunities for the different question styles. Included are model answers. There is also a knowledge audit to allow student to RAG rate their confidence in different areas. It should be printed double-sided and blown up to A3. There is just too much included on each page for it to scale to A4 comfortably. I have designed this to be high on impact for students and totally no-fuss for yourself as a teacher. Just print it and go, use in class time or set as independent work. Do sections at a time or give it out as a full pack.

In this lesson students will explore the various arguments around homosexuality including the thinking of Augustine, Aquinas and Fletcher. They will develop knowledge of the changes in attitude to homosexuality in Britain and be able to employ detailed knowledge of scripture to evaluate the heteronormative position held by some Christians. The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Relationship and Families'. It will, however, work with any specification including homosexuality. Target grade is 7-9. Ready to teach this lesson includes: - Full Lesson Plan - PowerPoint - Worksheet - Completed worksheet with teacher information

This content-packed lesson will give students the tools to comprehensively answer any Q3, Q4 or Q5 on divorce and remarriage in Christianity. Students will consider why divorce is so prevalent today and the factors that affect our relationships. They will then go on to explore Christian teachings using Bibles and link these to different beliefs about divorce in different denominations of the Church. Finally, they will apply this new learning to a Q5 with guidance on how to make this an effective answer. In fact, there are a variety of Q5 titles if you'd like to give your students more choice and freedom. The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Relationships and Families'. It will, however, work with any specification including Divorce and Remarriage. Target grade is 7-9. Ready to teach this lesson includes: - Full Lesson Plan - PowerPoint - Recap quiz - Worksheets

This lesson features as part of a complete scheme of work entitled 'Human Nature: What is a person?'. The SOW is designed to challenge KS3 students to explore challenging philosophical questions and apply key religious and non-religious perspectives to these questions. You can purchase the complete SOW at a discounted price here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/human-nature-what-is-a-person-complete-ks3-sow-and-resources-11068727 In this lesson students will explore ideas about the dualist and materialist ideas about body and soul. Included: - PowerPoint - Resources - Scheme of Work document containing lesson plan.

This lesson features as part of a complete scheme of work entitled 'Human Nature: What is a person?'. The SOW is designed to challenge KS3 students to explore challenging philosophical questions and apply key religious and non-religious perspectives to these questions. You can purchase the complete SOW at a discounted price here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/human-nature-what-is-a-person-complete-ks3-sow-and-resources-11068727 In this lesson students will make some tough decisions and pin down what gives life value. Included: - PowerPoint - Resources - Scheme of Work document containing lesson plan.

In this puzzling lesson students examine closely different elements, symbols and beliefs about marriage in Christianity. They will be able to explain in detail why marriage is important for Christians. They will also be able to suggest reasons why same-sex couples have fought for the legal right to marry, as well as identify objections that Christians might have for this. There is a numeracy element to the starter and the group work task really engages the students to figure out how the puzzle goes together. Lesson plan and all resources are included, it's ready to go out of the box. Please note that I don't use a powerpoint for this lesson - it just doesn't need one!

KS3 RE Assessment. Three or four lesson assessment task. I use this as the culmination of a Year 8 SOW on the holocaust entitled 'Faith and Suffering'. The lesson could be adapted for use in History SOWs. Lesson one: You require the PPT slideshow, the memorial stations (preferably printed onto A3 and laminated) and the ideas board. I encourage students to write on the stations sheets using board pens so they can be rubbed off and re-used. The ideas board can be set as a homework. Lesson Two (possibly with an additional lesson): Students working in pairs to complete the A3 proposal blueprint for their own memorial design. Lesson Three: Students to write a letter to the local council to ask permission to erect their memorial. This is individual work to be levelled alongside the pair work.

The Sala Dei Nove is a series of Frescos in the Council Chambers of Sienna. They are entitled 'Allegory of Good Government', 'Allegory of Bad Government', 'The effect of Good Government' and 'The effect of Bad Government'. The example appears in the AQA RS textbook and this task is designed to help students identity key features of the frescos. This resource includes three high resolution images of the frescos and a number of small cards to place onto the pictures as annotation. I include an annotated version as an answer sheet or hand-out. Print the frescos onto A3 and provide these to each group. Give a set of the cards (printed A4) and ask the students to place the cards onto the pictures. In doing so, students should come to an understanding of the utility of the frescos to the Council of Nine and the people of Sienna. All images shared freely by Wikipedia as faithful reproductions of images in the public domain.

This lesson features as part of a complete scheme of work entitled 'Human Nature: What is a person?'. The SOW is designed to challenge KS3 students to explore challenging philosophical questions and apply key religious and non-religious perspectives to these questions. You can purchase the complete SOW at a discounted price here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/human-nature-what-is-a-person-complete-ks3-sow-and-resources-11068727 In this lesson students will assess the idea of free will and outline some constraints on freedom. Included: - PowerPoint - Resources - Scheme of Work document containing lesson plan.

Lesson designed to enable students to give arguments for and against and evaluate our duty to shelter refugees in the UK. The lesson is designed as a KS4 RE lesson though source content is not expressly religious in nature and therefore I believe the lesson could be employed in other subject areas. This lesson follows on from an introduction to Human Rights but if students don't have their own copy of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they will need to be provided with one to complete the starter if you choose to use it. The source material is taken from recent publications and is designed to allow for stretch and challenge at the top end. There are a large number of sources available and you may wish to choose to omit some based on time pressure and/or ability range of students, though they should be able to differentiate for themselves since the sources are designed to be traffic lighted using different colours of card. I hope you find it enables students to respond with evidence and justification to this relevant and engaging debate.

I love teaching these fundamentals of philosophical argument. The lesson goes through what is meant by: a priori knowledge a posteriori knowledge analytic statements synthetic statements deductive arguments inductive arguments I use a range of examples to explain and to test knowledge. Included also is a a brief run down of AO2 considerations: How do you defeat a deductive/ inductive argument? What is the difference between valid and sound reasoning?

The empathy person task is a way of showing understanding of concepts/ideas or events by forcing students to categorise their thinking. I've used this task to accompany video material often. Such as the key events like Passover ('Prince of Egypt' works well for this) or ritual events like weddings/funerals. I've used it when teaching prejudice and discrimination, wealth and charity, the list goes on.

Spruce up your assessment feedback and reflection time. How to use: Step 1: Students fill in the topic, name and date then add targets from previous essay on the reverse side. Step 2: Write an essay, attach cover sheet and hand in. Step 3: Teacher circles mark on criteria. Highlight in green what has been done, pink what hasn’t. Step 4: Fill in teacher feedback on reverse. Step 5: Students complete reflection on cover sheet and choose three targets. Super-charge your DIRT by highlighting a paragraph that needs improving in line with your feedback before handing back. Ask students to redraft. Immediate progress!

Students are challenged in this lesson to understand the range of different reasons why Christians believe Jesus was sacrificed on the cross. They will use extracts from 'Love Wins' by Rob Bell and explore some recognisable hymns to make links between theory and lived religion. The lesson was designed for use with the new AQA Religious Studies A - 'Beliefs and Teachings'. It will, however, work with any specification including Jesus and Salvation. Target grade is 7-9. PowerPoint and worksheet included.