Lesson Objective:
Look at different types of family
Think about how sibling relationships can be challenging
Lesson Outcome:
By the end of the lesson, the children will have learnt about how all families are different and thought about how to resolve conflicts.
Resources:
Brothers and Sisters game
Introduction
- Brainstorm: What is a family? – Children to think about what a family is, how a family is made up and how every family is different. List on the whiteboard different thoughts and opinions.
Main Teaching
- Share family make up – Ask children to share their family make up by stating who they live with, relationships, perhaps how old they, whether they have non-Jewish parents or relatives, where some of their relatives are from. Share own family make up too. Continue discussion to show that all families are different.
- Family relationships – Explain that in this lesson we are thinking about family relationships and that we will particularly be thinking about brothers and sisters. Ask the children if they can name any sets of siblings in the Torah? (Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau, Moses, Miriam and Aaron). Did they always get on with their brothers and sisters?
- Play Brothers and Sisters game – Label three corners of the room A, B, and C and then ask the questions giving 3 options. The children go to the answer that suits them best. You can have a brief discussion about each question in between or ask one or two children to explain why they chose that corner.
Activity
- Drama – Organise the children into pairs or groups of three. Ask them to tell each other one thing that their brother or sister (s) does that really annoys them. If they have no siblings then they can tell their partner something that their parents do that annoys them. Then ask the pairs or groups to practise a drama sketch to show one of the ‘annoying’ things.
- Resolve the Conflict – At the end of each one ask the class to suggest ways in which the problem can be resolved. What is each character feeling? How can they consider each other’s feelings more? If appropriate you can ask the actors to freeze at a point in their sketch and then invite another member of the class to take one of the actor’s places in the drama. They must then continue in role and try to resolve the problem.
Plenary
- List good points about your family – Following our discussions about conflicts, we will now turn to the positive and make a list of the good points about your family. Children can share if they wish.