Erasmus+ KA229

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Lesson Plan based on LTT activities in Italy

Title: “The Prodigal Son” Subject: Religion
Age: 8 and 11 Teachers’ names: Marilena Solea & Maria Hadjipieri Country: Cyprus
Objectives Students should be able to:

 Narrate the main events of the parable of “The Prodigal Son”.

 Recognize the 4 stages of forgiveness and express their feelings.

Materials and Worksheet for the Parable (including the story), colored cardboards, speech
equipment bubbles, discussion cards.

Procedure

Step 1: Introduction:
The students sit in 6 groups consisting of pairs (5th grader and 2nd
grader). The teacher mentions that they are going to talk about a
parable and asks them if they know what a parable is. After the
students mention this, the teacher reveals that the parable they are
going to talk about is “The Prodigal Son”, which is already familiar to the
5th graders.

Step 2: The parable is unknown to the 2nd graders so the teacher asks from the
5th graders to take the worksheet which contains the story of “The
Prodigal Son” and read it to the younger students. Therefore, they work
in pairs and the 5th graders read the story to the 2nd graders and give
various explanations if needed.

Step 3: When the reading is done, there is a discussion in the classroom about
the parable. The teacher asks various questions to see if the 2nd graders
understood what happened, while at the same time the 5th graders are
asked to give further explanations on the topic. The teacher asks
questions such as:

"What did the younger son do?"

“What did the younger son do when he went abroad?”
“How did he feel when he became a shepherd and realized his
mistake?”
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"What did his father do when he came back?"

“Was his brother’s reaction the same with his father’s?”
“What did his father explain to the older brother?”
“What would you comment on the father’s happiness? Should he not
forgive his younger son?
“Is it important to realize our mistakes and forgive?”

Then the students again work in pairs (5th grader and 2nd grader) and
put the story timeline in the correct order (worksheet). Then, there is a
check with the whole classroom.

Afterwards, the teacher focuses on the importance of forgiveness and

tells the students that they are going to find the 4 stages of forgiveness.
Step 4: In order to do this they need to work in their pairs again, having to use 4
speech bubbles with the 4 stages of forgiveness and a colorful
cardboard. Thus, they create the continuum of forgiveness on their
cardboards (I recognize that I was wrong. I think about my mistake. I
find a way to say I’m sorry. I change my lifestyle.)
Step 5:
Then there is a short discussion about the 4 stages of forgiveness and
their importance.

For the last part of the lesson, the teacher gives to each pair 2 cards to
discuss about their experiences and their feelings surrounding the topic
of forgiveness, which is a short evaluation about their attitude towards
forgiveness. The teacher asks from the students to take notes on their
Step 6:
cards while talking. The cards contain the following questions:
Do you say sorry to someone you hurt?
To whom do you usually say sorry?
Step 7: In what ways do you apologize?
How do you feel when you apologize?

Step 8: With the conclusion of this, the students mention various answers in
front of the rest of the children and there is a deliberate focus on the
part of emotions since they need to explain what feelings they
experience while apologizing.