The story of Joseph
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain what Christians learn from the story of Joseph.
Key learning points
- Joseph had dreams and interpreted them.
- The story teaches that God remained faithful to Joseph even when Joseph faced difficulties.
- Joseph became an important adviser to the Egyptian Pharaoh through interpreting dreams.
- Eventually Joseph was reunited with his family in Egypt.
- Many Christians interpret this story in terms of the importance of faithfulness.
Keywords
Pharaoh - a ruler in Ancient Egypt
Interpret - to explain the meaning of something
Faithfulness - being reliable and trustworthy
Common misconception
The Bible says that things always go well when you believe in God.
Joseph, and many other Bible characters, faced great difficulties even though they had faith.
Teacher tip
The story of Joseph lends itself to dramatic re-telling, including hot-seating characters to show how they feel at various points. The songs from the musical ‘Joseph and his Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat’ give a lively way to aid memory of this long story.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Depiction or discussion of upsetting content
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.God made a with Abraham, which was a special promise.
Q2.Why did Sarah laugh when she heard God’s promise?
Q3.Sarah and Abraham’s son was called ...
Q4.Why did Abraham move to a new land?
Q5.Abraham showed by trusting God, even when he didn’t know what would happen.
Q6.What did God promise Abraham?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Who was Pharaoh?
Q2.Joseph could dreams and explain what they meant.
Q3.What did Joseph’s brothers do to him?
Q4.Even when Joseph had hard times, he showed by trusting God.
Q5.What happened at the end of Joseph’s story?
Q6.Joseph forgave his even after they treated him badly.
To help you plan your 2 religious education lesson on: The story of Joseph, 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 Joseph, 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 The Bible: what does it say about God's promises? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.