Celebrating Christmas and Easter
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can explain how Christians celebrate the festivals of Christmas and Easter and why they are significant.
Key learning points
- A festival is a period of celebration, usually for religious reasons; Christmas and Easter are Christian festivals.
- Most Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day and prepare for this during the period of Advent.
- Christmas celebrations often include going to church, taking part in Nativity plays, singing carols, and giving gifts.
- Easter is when most Christians celebrate Jesus rising again after his death; Lent is the preparation for this.
- Many Christians celebrate Easter by going to church and reflecting on beliefs about Jesus' resurrection.
Keywords
Christmas - a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus
Easter - a Christian festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus
Festival - a day or period of celebration, typically for religious reasons
Resurrection - the belief that Jesus rose from the dead on Easter Sunday, conquering death
Common misconception
All Christians celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.
Some Christians, such as many Eastern Orthodox Christians, celebrate Christmas on the 7th of January.
Teacher tip
You may wish to remind students of the story of Jesus' birth (the Nativity) and Christian beliefs about Jesus as the incarnation of God prior to beginning this lesson.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of serious crime
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Match each key word to its description.
ancient peoples of Europe and their culture
a building lived in by a community of monks who follow religious vows
a religious journey to a holy site or sacred place
Q2.The Celtic is a traditional Christian symbol found on Iona with a ring around its arms.
Q3.St Columba was a who founded a monastery on Iona in 563 AD.
Q4.Where is Iona located?
Q5.What is a “thin place”?
Q6.Only Christians visit Iona.
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Many Christians prepare for Christmas during the season of ...
Q2.Lent is a day season when Christians prepare for Easter.
Q3.Christians say “He is ” to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.
Q4.What does the festival of Christmas celebrate?
Q5.What do many Christians celebrate on Easter Sunday?
Q6.All Christians celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December.
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Celebrating Christmas and Easter, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 10 religious education lesson on: Celebrating Christmas and Easter, 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 4 religious education lessons from the Christianity: Practices unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.