Sikhism Encounter Unit

People RE, Geography, Literacy and Art co-ordinators. Sikh visitors Curriculum Links Geography Art PSHE/Citizenship Literacy Music Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Rules and values for living Special people Festivals Special books Places of worship 5 Ks Skills, Attitudes and Knowledge RE – investigation, interpretation, communication, respect, self awareness, open- mindedness, appreciation and wonder Time/Place 1 day or several lessons over a half term period. Resources Websites DVD/Video materials

Curriculum Links RE – Sikhism Geography – India Art – Indian artwork, Sikh artwork, retelling stories through art PSHE/Citizenship – values/rules for living Literacy- retelling stories through drama/newspaper/etc. Poetry

Resources Background information for Sikhism Religion of the Sikhs. Founded in the Punjab in NW India in About 2 million believers mostly still in the Punjab. Founded by Guru Nanak following a revelation in which he saw that everyone is the child of God and that all religions lead to the same God. 9 more gurus followed Nanak but current Guru is the holy book the Guru Granth Sahib Websites DVD/Video materials video extracts – Pathways of Belief, Believe it or Not, Quest – animated world faiths.

Skills, Attitudes and Knowledge RE Investigation – asking questions, gathering evidence, suggesting answers Interpretation – suggest and explain meanings, see implications Communication – share my thoughts, ideas, beliefs and values Synthesis – know that people can share common values and ideas Respect – valuing diversity, being sensitive to the feelings of others Self awareness – confident in own beliefs and identity and recognising own uniqueness Open-mindedness – learning and gaining new understanding Appreciation and wonder – developing imagination and curiosity S,A and K for other subjects need to be added here.

Skills, Attitudes and Knowledge RE levels AT1 L2 - Retell Sikh stories and identify and look for meaning in some of the beliefs and teachings of Sikhism. Identify some religious practices and characters of Sikhism. AT2 L2 - Respond sensitively to experiences and feelings of others AT1 L3 - Describe some of the beliefs and teachings of Sikhism and how these are exemplified in festivals and practices. Make links between the symbols, stories and language of Sikhism and the beliefs that underlie them. AT2 L3 - compare aspects of their own experiences. AT1 L4 - Describe key beliefs of Sikhism and connect these with features from other religions studied. Show understanding of what is involved in being a Sikh and belief can be expressed in a variety of ways. AT2 L4 - Ask questions about experiences of key figures in Sikhism and begin to suggest answers.

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Rules and values for living Tell the story of Lalo and Malik Bhago or the story of Bhai Kanaya. These highlight the qualities valued by Sikhs to help the poor and needy and to serve others no matter what their religion. Talk about the other values held by Sikhs ( respect all religions, believe that everyone is equal, believe in one God, work hard, be honest, respect the Guru Granth Sahib, serve others, give money to help others, always wear the 5 K’s and share with those less fortunate.) These values could be typed out onto separate pieces of paper and could be used as a ‘put in order of importance’ (pyramid) exercise with a partner. Pairs should be able to give reasons for their What sorts of things could Sikhs do to demonstrate these qualities/values?

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Special people Tell the story of Guru Nanak. Children to retell the story in words and pictures picking out the 6/8 important parts (story grid). Retell the story through drama or puppets. Each child to paint a picture of Guru Nanak in a scene from the story – put all the pictures together with some captions.

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Festivals Diwali – festival of light – tell the story of Guru Hargobind. Baisakhih – new year/harvest festival Birthday of Guru Nanak Children retell the story in pictures/writing/drama Make a card Give a jumbled version of the story to re-order. Find out what Sikhs do to celebrate?

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Special books Explain that there is now no human Guru and that the holy book called the Guru Granth Sahib is the written equivalent. With some reference materials the children should be able to find out that it contains 5894 religious songs written in Punjabi. These are the combined writings of the first 5 Gurus, plus writings from Hindu and Muslim holy writings which are similar to the Sikh beliefs. It is highly respected and is kept on a special, canopy covered platform (manji) in the Gurdwara (holy building) and is kept covered by silk cloths. It is read by the Granthi as well as by members of the congregation. Research could be then be presented as a poster complete with illustrations/photos, a piece of written work, a power point presentation etc. ( It could form part of a programme of work where groups of children each research a different element of the religion and feed back to the rest of the class).

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners Places of worship Sikhs worship in a temple called the Gurdwara. Contains a prayer hall and a langar (food hall/kitchen). Pictures of Gurus may be on the walls but no statues, bells or incense. Platform with holy book on. Everyone sits on the floor. Children are taught about Sikhism in classrooms. Langar is part of the service as people take food along to be shared out. May also have a library and offices. Look for pictures of a gurdwara to label/colour. Find out about the Temple at Amritsar – the most famous gurdwara. Research about the service in the gurdwara – what does the Granthi do? What is a chauri, What is a manji? What do the Ragi do? What happens at the Langar? Research could be then be presented as a poster complete with illustrations/photos, a piece of written work, a power point presentation etc. (It could form part of a programme of work where groups of children each research a different element of the religion and feed back to the rest of the class).

Teaching and Learning responsible citizens, confident individuals, successful learners 5 Ks These are the symbols of the Sikh faith and remind Sikhs of their religious duties. They were chosen by Guru Gobind Singh. As they all begin with the letter K they are known collectively as the 5 K’s. Children could draw around a child and dress them accordingly. Give the children pictures of the 5 K’s and get them to write a few sentences for each one. Match a description with a picture.

Curriculum Links Geography India Link with geographical study of India (eg Chembakoli) Look at where India is on a map/globe. Look at where the Punjab is. Look at geographical features of the area using websites. Investigate what happens in the Punjab – industry/jobs, leisure, schools etc

Curriculum Links Art Indian artwork rangoli patterns, mehndi patterns, paisley (mango) patterns – printing – onto paper/fabric Sikh artwork Retelling stories through art – in pairs paint a section of the story of Guru Nanak. Put these together as a whole story at the end. Use Sikh symbol to create repeating patterns. What symbol could children choose to represent themselves –prepare this a pattern.

Curriculum Links PSHE/Citizenship – values/rules for living SEAL – New Beginnings, Going for Goals, Good to be Me Link to school rules/classroom rules/rules in our country Tell the story of Lalo and Malik Bhago or the story of Bhai Kanaya. These highlight the qualities valued by Sikhs to help the poor and needy and to serve others no matter what their religion. Talk about the other values held by Sikhs (respect all religions, believe that everyone is equal, believe in one God, work hard, be honest, respect the Guru Granth Sahib, serve others, give money to help others, always wear the 5 K’s and share with those less fortunate.) These values could be typed out onto separate pieces of paper and could be used as a ‘put in order of importance’ (pyramid) exercise with a partner. Pairs should be able to give reasons for their What sorts of things could Sikhs do to demonstrate these qualities/values?

Curriculum Links Literacy Retelling stories through drama Newspaper writing Poetry – acrostic or haiku poems about an aspect of Sikhism Research about Sikhism and give a presentation – orally, poster, powerpoint /textease presenter