Iona: a historic Christian pilgrimage
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe how and why Iona became an ancient centre of pilgrimage.
Key learning points
- Iona is an island off the west coast of Scotland.
- Celtic monks travelled to remote places to establish monasteries.
- Colomba travelled to Iona and founded a monastery there in 563 AD.
- The monastery and later abbey became a centre of pilgrimage for many centuries.
Keywords
Celtic - referring to an ancient people related to the Irish, Scots and Welsh
Monastery - a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows
Monk - a member of a religious order who has taken vows to dedicate themselves to God
Thin place - a Celtic idea of a place where the boundary between heaven and earth is almost not there
Common misconception
Christianity spread in a similar way across Europe.
Celtic people developed distinctive practices and artefacts such as Celtic crosses.
Teacher tip
Show a video clip of pilgrims visiting Iona. There are clips available on YouTube. Alternatively, the BBC also has a TV series called 'Pilgrimage'.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
5 Questions
Q1.For Sikhs and Hindus, the term 'sewa' means ' '.
Q2.The ultimate reality or God is known by many Hindus as ...
Q3.Humanism is a __________ worldview.
Q4.A pilgrimage is ...
Q5.The studying and interpreting of sacred texts is carried out mainly by ...
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.Someone who makes a pilgrimage is called a .
Q2.Monks usually live in a .
Q3.Iona is a small island off the coast of ...
Q4.Iona monastery was founded by ...
Q5.Iona is known as a ...
To help you plan your 6 religious education lesson on: Iona: a historic Christian pilgrimage, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 religious education lesson on: Iona: a historic Christian pilgrimage, 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 2 religious education lessons from the Pilgrimage: why are people still drawn to ancient places? unit, dive into the full primary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.