Table of Contents:
1. Teacher’s background information.
The Bible is the world’s best-selling book – it does not appear in the ‘book charts’ because the other books do not stand a chance!
20 million Bibles sold each year, that’s 54,945 Bibles sold every day (as at the time of writing).
Take a look at the figures for book sales since the first editions: estimated at:
- Bible: 5 billion, that is 5,000,000,000 copies sold and distributed.
- Qur’an: 800 million, that is 800,000,000
- A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens 200 million
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling 120 million
Some people see the Bible just as a religious history book written by many different people over thousands of years.
But there is something powerful about the Bible’s words.
Many see the Bible as having lots of errors and contradictions, but this is not true. Teachers note see: ‘What Errors Are In The Bible? Scientific Inaccuracies‘
The children will be shown the difference between the two Covenants, and will see the teachings of right and wrong, and what their main theme is.
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2. Lesson plans and resources for: What is the Bible?
[a] What is the Bible in more detail? The lesson plan is a downloadable PDF document to present to the children. (Opens in a new tab.)
[b] What is the Bible in more detail lesson plan, a PowerPoint presentation viewable or downloadable for teachers to show the children. (Opens in a new tab on www.slideshare.net) (Same material as the PDF above).
[c] What is the Bible in more detail? A free lesson plan video based on a PowerPoint presentation. Created with 5-second slides, so pause the video to enable the children to study each slide: (Same material as the PDF above).
3. A free children’s song about the Bible.
The Bible is no ordinary book. It’s all about God and how much he loves us.
Now, you might think the Bible is a big, long list of rules and names, but it’s not! You might also think it’s about a bunch of perfect people who always followed God’s rules.
The Bible is a bunch of stories, poems, letters, and even songs — that are all telling one big story.
‘God’s Story: The Bible’ by Crossroads Kids’ Club.
4. How to fulfil the locally agreed syllabus on ‘What is the Bible in more detail lesson plan.’
Hopefully, you will be able to match your local agreed syllabus with what is here.
This lesson plan is based on the UK RE Attainment Targets.
Here is the Mapping Grid for the Attainment Target Categories:
- Sacred Texts – stories, scriptures, parables, teachings
- Beliefs – ideas about God, truth, meaning, purpose
- Practices – worship, prayer, festivals, rituals, lifestyle
- Identity – belonging, community, worldview, personal reflection
- Values – moral ideas, attitudes, virtues
- Living – how beliefs affect actions and everyday life
🎯 Why This Grid Works for UK Schools
✔ Matches Agreed Syllabus expectations
✔ Supports progression from KS1 to KS2
✔ Aligns with Ofsted language (knowledge, understanding, impact)
✔ Works for lesson planning, assessment, and inspection evidence
✔ Non-political, non-denominational, UK-appropriate
For many local syllabi, in KS1, Christianity plus at least one other major religion is studied.
Effective RE should combine:
- knowledge (stories, beliefs, practices)
- understanding (why people believe/do what they do)
- reflection (personal response, values, empathy).
Typical Key Questions for KS1
Here are common “core/enquiry” questions or themes that appear in most KS1 agreed syllabi:
- “Who am I?” (Identity).
- “What does it mean to belong?” (Belonging).
- “What makes some people so important?” (Important people).
- “Where did we come from / how did the world begin?” (Simple beliefs).
- “What makes some stories so important to different people?” (Sacred books).
- “Why are festivals, symbols or special stories important?” (Stories & moral values).
- “Why are some places so important?” (Important places).
These then required merging within the Assessment Aims, but as can be seen, there had to be some overlapping of the themes/core questions:
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 1. SACRED TEXTS (Stories, Scriptures, parables & teachings) – [SACRED TEXTS & WHO AM I?]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 2. BELIEFS (Ideas about God, truth, meaning & purpose) – CREATION & IMPORTANT PEOPLE]
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 3. PRACTICES (worship, prayer, festivals, rituals & lifestyle) – [FESTIVALS & PLACES]
- ASSESSMENT AIM: 4. IDENTITY (belonging, community, worldview & personal reflection) – [BELONGING & IDENTITY]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 5. VALUES (moral ideas, attitudes, virtues, right & wrong) – [FESTIVALS & BELONGING]
- ASSESSMENT AIMS: 6. LIVING (how beliefs affect actions and everyday life) – [IMPORTANT PEOPLE & FESTIVALS]
Each assessment had its own set of questions to answer. These are included in each lesson plan, which is suitable for that particular subject.