Music in RE

Christianity ‘Mary had a baby’ More frequently nowadays, school neglect to put on a ‘Nativity’ at Christmas time. In KS1, narrative songs like ‘Mary had a baby’ and ‘Little Donkey’ allows the children to learn the religious story in an active way. Learning the songs will help them to remember the Christmas story and often the songs are remembered into adulthood. After singing the songs, they can be asked: What happened at this part of the story? What else do we need to know? How do you think Mary/Joseph/the donkey felt? (reflection/PSHE links) Can you write your own song to narrate the whole story? http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/songs/mary_had_a_baby.mp3

Buddhism At the beginning of any RE lesson, I like to have 5 minutes of circle time to quietly reflect. I researched buddhist music and have come across Buddhist meditation and chant. At the beginning of a Buddhist topic, the children could use their music lesson to create a piece of peaceful music that incorporates chimes and/or their voices. This could be recorded and played during their reflection time, and gives them the chance to feel a little bit like a practising Buddhist!