Lesson Objective:
Learn about the stories of Elijah and Elisha
Identify acts of loving kindness in the stories
Lesson Outcome:
By the end of the lesson, the children will have learnt about Elijah and Elisha and how acts of loving kindness can go a long way.
Resources:
The Story of Elijah and Elisha
Question Sheet
Storyboard template
Introduction
- Brainstorm – What is Gemilut Chasadim? – Children to identify acts of loving kindness, what they think it means, how acts of loving kindness can be performed and why it is important.
Main Teaching
- Elijah – Introduce Eliyahu Ha-Navi, Elijah the prophet, who is an expected guest at the Seder table. The lesson will focus on one of his miracles and a similar one performed by his follower Elisha. In both stories we will find out about the kindness that two women showed to the prophets and how Elisha and Elijah helped the women.
- The Stories of Elijah and Elisha– Read the stories of Elijah and Elisha and the women. Think about the acts of loving kindness that the women showed to both men and the miracles that were performed to help them. Discuss what the story tells us.
(If you are not completing activity option 1, then use the Question Sheet to discuss with the children)
Activity
- Option 1: Text Study – Hand out copies of Elijah’s story and Elisha’s story. Working in pairs, the children should read the two stories and complete the question sheet. Discuss answers as a class and think about how the stories are important in our lives today.
- Option 2: Cartoon – In pairs, the children will create two cartoons – one of each story. One child should create a cartoon character for Elijah and the other for Elisha but they should work together so that the cartoons reflect the similarities and show the differences of the stories. Where there is an act of loving kindness this should be indicated in a special way (perhaps by a big arrow, setting the event in a circle or even a cartoon style bubble). Use Storyboardtemplate for younger children, but encourage the older children to create their own magazine style cartoon.
Plenary
- A Gemilut Chasadim Pledge – Children to make a pledge (this can be written down) to do one act of loving kindness in the following week. Think about why this act will benefit others and why they feel they should do this.