Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Clinton, and I'm so pleased that you've joined me for our lesson.

I am here to help us with our learning today.

Today's lesson is called "The Idea of Beginnings," and it's from the unit, "The World: How do different people explain how it started?" We will be thinking about how we can retell a story about beginnings told by Jews and Christians.

Sometimes learning can be challenging and hard, but don't worry, that's why I'm here, and we are going to do our learning really well together today.

We have some key words to help us with our lesson today.

So we're gonna do, "I say, you say." Are you ready? Sit up straight, and let's get going.

I say creation, you say.

I say creation, you say.

I say creation, you say.

And creation is a word that means the act of making something.

I say Bible, you say.

I say Bible, you say.

And Bible is the holy book for Christians.

I say Torah, you say.

I say Torah, you say.

And Torah is a holy book for Jews.

I say Genesis, you say.

I say Genesis, you say.

And Genesis is the first book of the Bible and the first book of the Torah.

So we have two learning cycles today, one, where we are going to look at where we can read a story about the beginnings of the world, and the second, looking at what does the Bible tell us about the creation of the world.

So let's start with learning cycle one, "Where can we read about beginnings?" John explains why we use stories in religious education.

He says, "We can better understand people's worldviews by listening to their important stories and thinking about the deeper meanings of these stories.

We can also look at the difference the stories make to people today." So in this lesson, we'll be using a creation story to help us understand Jewish and Christian world views.

Sophia and Jun are wondering about beginnings.

Sophia says, "I sometimes look at the world around me and wonder where it has all come from.

I watch nature programmes on TV so that I can learn more about our beautiful world." And Jun says, "My mom has a book of stories all about the beginnings of the universe.

She reads me stories about how the Earth came to be.

I wonder what it was like when there was nothing at all." Yeah, I wonder that as well, Jun.

Do you ever wonder about how the world began? Many thousands of years ago, people wondered about the beginning of the world.

Stories about the creation of the world were passed on from parents to their children over many years.

Some stories were collected and written down.

Fergus has a Christian world view.

He reads the Bible.

Do you remember from our key words who the Bible is their holy book? Yes, that's right, it's Christians.

Fergus says to us, "There's an ancient story about the creation right at the very beginning of the Bible.

It's in a book called Genesis, and Genesis means beginning." So it's the very first book in the Christian Bible, and it means beginnings.

That's brilliant, thank you, Fergus.

I have a check for your understanding.

What is the meaning of the word Genesis? Is it A: beginning, B: creation, C: ancient? Hmm, I wonder which it is.

You might like to pause this video so that you can talk to the person next to you, or maybe just think about your own answer, A, B, or C.

Start the video again when you are ready to give me your answers.

Welcome back.

So what is the meeting of the word "Genesis"? Is it A, B, or C? I wonder which one you said.

The correct answer is "beginning," A.

Well done if you got that right.

That's really well done, and I'm very proud of you remembering that already in our lesson.

So the Christian Bible is made up of many books and you can see all the different books on the bookshelf there.

The first book of the Bible is called Genesis.

And Christians share some of the books at the beginning of the Bible with Jews.

So there you can see, the arrow is showing that first book, the Book of Genesis.

Now, the first five books are the Bible are the same as the books of the Torah.

And remember, the Torah is one of the holy books for Jewish people, for Jews.

Ah, let's go in on a closeup.

Okay, so you can see which books make up the Jewish Torah.

So we have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

They're very old books.

Victoria has a Jewish worldview.

She reads the Torah, and there you can see a picture from a synagogue, a Jewish holy place of worship, and you can see somebody there reading the Torah scroll, and holding a yad, which helps them mark which bits they're reading out loud.

So Victoria tells us, "The Torah scroll is made up of five books of the law.

It begins with Genesis and the creation of the world." I have another check for your understanding.

The Torah and the Christian Bible both share the same beginning story.

Hmm, is that true or false? You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think or talk to a partner and come back to me when you're ready to tell me your correct answer.

Welcome back.

Shall we see what the correct answer is? The Torah and the Christian Bible both share the same beginnings.

Is it true or false? Show me with your thumbs.

And the answer is true, why? The Torah and the Bible both starts with the creation story of the world in the book of Genesis.

Remember, Genesis means beginning.

So Victoria explains some more to us.

She says, "Each year we read the whole Torah from the beginning to the end, week by week." And that would be at her synagogue, her holy place of worship.

"We start to genesis and the creation story every year.

The story of creation tells how God created the world from nothing." Victoria and Fergus explain more about creation.

Victoria says, "When I hear the creation story read aloud from the Torah each year, it starts my year by reminding me how powerful God is." And Fergus says, "The creation story tells me that God was there right at the very beginning of time, and even before the beginning when there was nothing at all." So who might read the creation story at the beginning of the book of Genesis? Is it A: only Jews, B: only Christians, or C: Jews and Christians? You might like to pause this video to give you some time to think about your answer, or you might like to talk with somebody who is sat next to you.

Come back to me when you've got your answer.

Welcome back.

So what's the correct answer, A, B, or C? who might read the creation story at the beginning of the book of Genesis? The correct answer is C: Jews and Christians.

Very well done if you got that answer correct.

Sophia is thinking about beginnings.

"The book of Genesis is important only to Christians because it's at the very beginning of their Bible." Is Sophia correct? Can you help her by giving your reasons? You might like to pause this video to give you some time to work on your answer, maybe on your own or with a partner, or maybe in a small group, and start this video again when you've done this task.

Welcome back.

So Sophia is thinking about beginnings.

Is Sophia correct? Give your answers.

You might have said, "Sophia is not correct.

The book of Genesis is important to Jews and Christians.

It's at the very beginning of the Torah and the Bible." "Genesis has a creation story about the beginning of the universe." And if you've got either of those, very well done, that's excellent work, and you've really worked hard on this learning cycle.

Let's go on to learning cycle two, "What story does the Bible tell us then about creation?" We've learned about why it's important and what it tells Christians and Jews.

But I'm really interested, I'm really eager to find out about this story in the Bible that they share.

Jews and Christians share a story about creation and the beginning of the universe.

It's in the Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible.

The story begins with the words, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and it's from Genesis 1:1.

Let's read the creation story from the Bible.

"In the beginning, when God created the universe, everything was shapeless and empty.

There was nothing at all, just deep lonely darkness.

Then God said, 'Let there be light,' and bright light appeared.

God separated the light from the darkness.

He called the light, day, and the darkness, night, and that was the first day." "Next, God made the sky to separate the waters above the waters below.

He was pleased when He saw the bright blue sky with the deep blue heavens above and the bluey green waters below.

That was the second day.

On the third day, God gathered the water together in one place so the dry land could appear.

He called the land, earth, and the water, sea." Then God added colour and life to His creation.

He made so many different plants, trees, seeds, flowers and fruit to grow out of the earth.

And God saw that it was good." So let's check our understanding.

Is it true or false? In the Bible story, God created land and sea.

Is that true or false? You might like to pause this video to give you a chance to think about your answer or to talk to a partner about your answer.

Welcome back.

So did you think it was true or false? In the Bible story, God created land and sea.

Show me with your thumbs.

The answer is, it was true.

Of course, God created the sea and the dry land on the third day.

Well done, if you remembered which day.

On the fourth day, God said, "Let there be lights in the sky." He made the sun to shine during the day and the moon and stars to shine at night.

He created a way to count the days and years, the time, and the seasons.

God saw that this was good.

Then God said, "Let the waters be full of fish and sea creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created great sea monsters, and everything, living creature that swims in the waters.

He created birds of many kinds flying high and low in the sky.

God saw that it was good, and that was the fifth day.

On the sixth day, God made animals, big and small, wild animals that roared, and tiny creatures that crept along the grounds, crawling, running, climbing, and jumping.

The animals filled the whole Earth.

Finally, God created people.

He made them to be like Him, to care for the Earth, and to care for all He had created on the land and in the sea.

He blessed them and gave them fruit and seeds and green plants to eat.

God wanted the people to enjoy all that He'd made.

God saw the world that He created and it was very good.

God finished His creation at the end of the sixth day, and so He rested on the seventh day.

God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because it was the day when God rested from all the work He had done.

So I have a question for you.

What did God create on the sixth day of creation? Was it A: the sea and the dry land, B: animals and humans, or C: the sun and moon? You might like to pause this video to give you a chance to think about your answer or to talk about it with a partner.

Come back to me when you have your answer.

Welcome back.

So was it A, B, or C? What do you think? It was B.

What did God create on the sixth day of creation? It was animals and humans, and He was very pleased, He said it was very good.

So I have a task for you.

Can you retell the story of creation from the Bible by ordering the pictures and adding captions? You might like to do this task on your own, with a partner, or in a group.

Come back to me when you've got the task completed.

Welcome back.

So let's have a look at what your answer could look like.

So first of all, we've put the image in the beginning, God created the whole universe.

He said, "Let there be light." So that was the start of our story, darkness and light.

Don't worry if your words aren't exactly these ones.

If you've got that image and you've got some words, or you've said some words about it, then that's brilliant.

Then I've put the third day image that God created the sea and the dry land, and that He created plants and trees.

And finally, I've put the sixth day image where God created animals and human beings.

Well done if you got those in the right order, and that you remembered the sequence of what was created in this beginning story that Jews and Christians share.

Very well done.

So let's think about what we've learned today in this lesson.

We've learned that the creation story is at the beginning of the Bible and the Torah, and it's in a book called Genesis.

It's an important story that's shared by Christians and Jews.

The story reminds Christians and Jews that God is powerful, that He created the world at the very beginning.

The story speaks of six days of creation followed by a day of rest.

Thank you very much for doing this lesson with me.

I hope you've really enjoyed the story and hearing from Victoria and Fergus about why this story is so special to them.

I'll say goodbye now, and I hope I see you for our next lesson, goodbye.