The story of Christmas
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain why Jesus' birth stories are special to Christians.
Key learning points
- The Christmas story is known as the Nativity and is a good news story.
- The angel Gabriel appeared to tell Mary she would give birth to a baby called Jesus. He would be God’s son.
- Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Shepherds attended his birth and wise men from the east visited him some time later.
- The story of Christmas helps many Christians understand who Jesus is.
Keywords
Nativity - the birth stories of Jesus
Good news - someone or something that is positive, encouraging and uplifting
Jesus - seen by Christians as God's son and the person they follow as an example
Bethlehem - a small town in Palestine where Jesus was born
Common misconception
The wise men and shepherds all visited Jesus at the same time.
The wise men visited at a later time after the birth of Jesus.
Teacher tip
Invite some local Christians into your lesson to talk about what they learn about Jesus from the Nativity story.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
4 Questions
Q1.What do celebrations often include?
Q2.Why do we tell stories?
Q3.Most Christians believe that Jesus was God's ...
Q4.When is Christmas celebrated?
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Who appeared to Mary to tell her the good news?
Q2.What was the name of the man Mary was going to marry?
Q3.What gifts did the clever people bring for Jesus?
Q4.What special name was Mary told to give her baby?
Q5.When did the clever men visit Jesus?
To help you plan your 1 religious education lesson on: The story of Christmas, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 1 religious education lesson on: The story of Christmas, 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 Jesus: why is he so important to Christians? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.