The story of the Blind Men and the Elephant
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can retell the story of the blind men and the elephant.
Key learning points
- The story of the Blind Men and the Elephant comes from ancient India.
- The story is a fable; a story with a deeper meaning.
- The story describes a group of blind men who each disagreed what an elephant should look like.
- Many people in India follow a Hindu worldview.
Keywords
Hindu - someone who follows the teachings and practices of Hindu Dharma
Blind - someone who is unable to see clearly
India - a country in the continent of Asia
Fable - a story that contains a deeper meaning
Common misconception
One of the blind men was correct and the others were wrong about the elephant.
All the blind men touched a different part of the elephant and so did not fully understand what an elephant was like.
Teacher tip
Have a toy elephant or maybe a picture of an elephant and get the children to look at the different parts.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.A story told by Jesus with a hidden meaning is known as a ...
Q2.What word describes a promise between God and humans?
Q3.What do many Hindus throw during Holi celebrations?
Q4.What is the name of the Christian festival that celebrates the bringing in of crops?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Match the keywords to the correct definitions.
someone who follows the teachings and practices from Hindu dharma
someone who is unable to see clearly
a country in the continent of Asia
a story with a hidden meaning
Q2.Where in the world are there Hindus?
Q3.How old is Hindu Dharma?
Q4.Which of the following statements about what Hindus believe is true?
Q5.What can Hindus learn from the fable of the Blind Men and the Elephant?
To help you plan your 2 religious education lesson on: The story of the Blind Men and the Elephant, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 2 religious education lesson on: The story of the Blind Men and the Elephant, 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 Hindus: what do Hindu stories teach about life and the world? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.