Kinetic Learning: Moses

Theory

I am currently teaching a unit on Judaism to year 8 which is looking at the stories behind the major festivals. It is a great unit, which prepares the students with knowledge about the past customs of Judaism that they wouldn't otherwise get. However, constantly studying stories can make range of lesson activities rather small.

Students often get bored constantly drawing storyboards, rewriting stories, looking for similarities and differences and reading the original text and it is a shame, especially when they are studying a religion in which active remembrance is the heart and the soul of festivities.

This led me to propose a radical (for our school) lesson: there would be no writing, no story telling, in fact, there would be no imparting of facts at all. Instead, the students would experience the story of Moses themselves.

Method

The lesson began with my entering the room. I teach the students in their own room and I have to walk to them so they are often noisy when I reach them. This worked to my advantage.
I was looking to mirror the idea that the Jews were unfairly enslaved and were suffering through no fault of their own.
I entered the room and acted as if I was angry with them: I had talked to their form tutor I told them, and they had not been listening. As a result I was enacting their punishment now rather than having RS. They would be writing an essay, in silence, about why they should listen to their teacher.
I made an excuse to leave the room for a couple of minutes in order that 'Moses' (played by another teacher) could come in and 'rescue' my students.

At this point the ruse was up to an extent, the students met me in the hole where I explained they were reliving the story of Moses.
The first 4 students that arrived in the hall were given the privilege of becoming Egyptians and they decorated themselves in stickers to look like boils from the plague. They then chased the Israelites around the hall until they were spontaneously drowned.

At this point the students were told that as the Israelites had wondered the desert, they would do the same: walking in circles for one minute per year. This meant they walked in circles for 40 minutes.
At first the students loved this and responded well to the change in lesson, however, before long they started moaning. They were tired, thirsty and hungry. As odd as this seems, this is what I was going for.
Too often as RS teachers we overlook the 40 years in the desert, making it a simple sentence, but it was hard. The Israelites moaned, they got tired, hungry and thirsty. The students were never in danger, but it helped them empathise with the situation.

5-10 minutes in, the students were hungry and so 'manna' was provided (manna actually exists, it is the secretion of an insect that lives in the Sinai desert and it apparently tastes like frosted flakes, which was our manna for the day). Only a small amount was provided and those who hoarded found that God was displeased with them.

15-20 minutes in, the students were allowed a drink ( representing when Moses tapped the rock with his stick and water appeared), and then 30 minutes in, more manna was provided.
Throughout, the students were moaning but those who were 'disobedient' were noted.

At the end of the lesson jigsaws of the golden calf appeared: those who had behaved well were allowed to rest and eat immediately, those who had misbehaved a bit were given an easy puzzle to complete as a 'ticket' to rest, and the disobedient students were given a hard puzzle. This reflected the different levels at which the Israelites helped with the golden calf and God's anger with them.

Finally the 10 commandments were given.

Evaluation

The lesson worked really well to pique the students interest and the added plenary where they summed up the story of Moses served to reinforce this.

The students enjoyed experiencing a story and it was great for kinaesthetic learners. It helped to teach them empathy as well facts. Definitely worth doing!