Download RE Year 5: Investigating the Bible?

In partnership with
RE Year 5: Investigating the Bible?
Introduction
Here children investigate the meaning of some biblical passages by looking at several different
versions. The activity makes use of a wide range of internet resources.
What will the children learn?
The children will learn that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew and the New Testament in
Greek.
The children will learn about the different meanings that some passages take on because of
different words chosen by translators.
What prior experience do the children need?
Children would benefit from having knowledge of the Bible and being able to find biblical
references.
Equipment
 Multimedia projector, interactive whiteboard or large screen.
 Computers with internet access.
 Different versions of the Bible.
 Before the lesson starts download these two sound files
MAT01G.mp3 from http://www.helding.net/greeklatinaudio/greek/matthew/
Gen01h.mp3 from http://www.helding.net/greeklatinaudio/hebrew/genesis/
(NB: These are both big files and took nearly 11 minutes on a broadband connection)
The Lesson
Show the children a Bible. Tell them that the Bible was written over many years. Ask the children if
they know in what languages the Bible was originally written. Show the pictures from this
webpage which show how snippets of the Bible have been found.
http://website.lineone.net/~ntgreek/f03-newt.html
Tell the children that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Show the children what the Bible
looks like in Hebrew. This is the first chapter of the Old Testament:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/tools/printerfriendly.pl?book=Gen&chapter=1&version=heb&Go.x=29&Go.y=8
Play an extract from the Gen01h.mp3. Discuss how listening to it makes you feel.
© Becta, 2005
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk
‘Direct2U’ Service
Week 24: Strand RE
In partnership with
You may like to show the children the following website which has the Hebrew and English
alongside each other.
http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0101.htm
Tell the children that the New Testament was written in Greek. Show the children what the Bible
looks like in Greek. This is the first chapter of the New Testament:
http://website.lineone.net/~nt.in.greek/greeknt/f01-matt.html
Play an extract from the MAT01G.mp3. Ask the children how hearing it in its original language
makes them feel.
Tell the children that over the years there have been a number of different translations of the bible
made into English. Translators have chosen different words and these can change the meaning of
the passages. Select Item 8: ‘The Lord Is My shepherd’ from the comparisons section at
http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/bible/versions/neb.htm. This shows twenty-nine different
versions of this psalm. Read a couple such as the King James Version and the New English Bible
and note the differences and similarities. Which version do you and the children prefer and why?
In pairs or small groups, remind the children about safe use of the internet and ask them to
connect to an online Bible such as http://bible.gospelcom.net/ and look at some verses of the
Bible in different translations. What do they say and what do they mean?
Verses to investigate can include:






Psalms 18 v2 - 3
1 Corinthians 13 v4 - 8
Matthew 5 v3
Luke 1 v46 - 55
John 1 v1
Revelation 21 v4
The children could cut and paste different versions into a word processing document and highlight
the differences/similarities and write about what they think the passages mean.
Why are we using ICT?
ICT provides effective pictures and sound clips to support this lesson. You can find Biblical verses
really quickly online and the opportunity to compare with so many versions supports the lesson
objective very well.
© Becta, 2005
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk
‘Direct2U’ Service
Week 24: Strand RE
In partnership with
References
QCA Schemes of Work ICT Unit 6D: Using the internet to search large databases and to interpret
information
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/it/?view=get
QCA Schemes of Work RE Unit 5C Where did the Christian Bible come from?
http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/religion/?view=get
5-14 National Guidelines for the Curriculum in Scotland: *Religious Education 5-14 Roman
Catholic Schools, Christianity – Sacred Writings, Stories and Key Figures , Level D – D3.1 ad
D3.2
ICT, Searching and researching; Creating and presenting,
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/guidelines/index.asp
* RC guidelines were selected because they contain more detail than the guidelines for nondenominational schools.
Where do we go next?
Arrange a talk from a visitor about the Bible as the ‘word of God’ and why Christians continue to
read the Bible. Discuss the children’s findings about the verses in the different translations and
ask what these passages mean to this person today.
Differentiating the activity
Some children could be given specific translations of the Bible to use. Others could be allowed
free choice.
Reflecting on their work
Discuss the children’s findings and opinions. Which translations do they like best and why? Are
any of the translations difficult to understand, why? Why do the children think some of the
versions are so different to others?
© Becta, 2005
http://www.ictadvice.org.uk
‘Direct2U’ Service
Week 24: Strand RE