The festival of trees
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how Jews celebrate the festival of trees.
Key learning points
- The festival of trees (Tu B'Shevat) marks the gift of trees as part of creation.
- Some Jews celebrate this with a special seder, including different kinds of fruits.
- The story of Honi and the tree reminds Jews of having a long-term perspective on caring for the environment.
Keywords
Tu B'Shevat - Jewish festival of trees
Seder - a meal that follows a pattern or order
Steward - someone who looks after something carefully
Common misconception
The festival of trees is only about looking after trees.
It is more widely concerned with caring for the world.
Teacher tip
Make the most of outdoor areas, local nature parks etc to look at and appreciate the importance of trees for life and health. Pupils could taste different kinds of fruit or create their own fruit 'seder'. Look online for pronunciation of Tu B'Shevat.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.Which Christian festival does this show?
Q2.Which Jewish festival does this photo come from?
Q3.The festival of Harvest celebrates God's gift of ...
Q4.When Jews make a sukkah, what must it be like?
Assessment exit quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What activity do many Jews do to mark Tu B’Shevat?
Q2.What is this special meal eaten at Tu B’Shevat by some Jews?
Q3.Can you put the story of Honi and the trees in order?
Q4.For many Jews, caring for the world means being a good of creation.
To help you plan your 2 religious education lesson on: The festival of trees, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 religious education lesson on: The festival of trees, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 1 religious education lessons from the Festivals: How do they celebrate the natural world? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.