Aim

To explore children's understanding of right and wrong.
To agree upon a class definition of right and wrong.

Preparation

Before the lesson photocopy one worksheet for each child and one resource sheet for each group.
Prepare to share the Biblical account of the Fall of Man (Genesis ch. 2 and 3)

Lesson

Inform the children that this half term you are going to be exploring the theme Right and Wrong. What do they understand by these terms? Hopefully they should understand that you are not dealing with the responses to Maths problems here, but the area of morality.

Using the worksheet, invite the children to write / draw about a time they did right and a time they did wrong.

Invite individuals to share their experiences with the rest of the class.

Do all the children agree that the actions taken were right / wrong?

Do all right actions have something in common? Likewise for wrong actions.

Ask the children to attempt to define a right action and a wrong action, using the resource sheet. Encourage children to challenge all / any of the definitions suggested.

Can a definition be found which meets with the approval of the whole class?

Inform the children that for Christians, a right action is one which they believe will please God and a wrong action is one which they believe will not please God. According to the Bible, when God first created the world, everything in it, including the first human (Adam) was pleasing to Him. But then God decided it was not good for Adam to be alone...

Share the rest of the story from the creation of Eve to the expulsion from the garden, throwing in a reminder of God's one prohibition - not to eat from the tree which gives the knowledge of right and wrong.

What are the children's opinions of this story?

Conclusion

Conclude lesson by informing the children that over the coming weeks you shall be looking at each different part of the story; i.e. rules, temptation, doing wrong, and punishment.

Teachers' Notes

It is important for the children to understand that, while many Christians believe that Adam was an historical figure, many others consider him to be a representation of mankind's rejection of God.