Siddhartha: early life
I can recount how Siddartha became disturbed by suffering and tried to find its cause.
Siddhartha: early life
I can recount how Siddartha became disturbed by suffering and tried to find its cause.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Siddhartha was born as a wealthy prince.
- When Siddhartha was born, a prophecy was told that predicted Siddhartha would be a great ruler or a holy man.
- Although he was privileged, he was disturbed by the four sights: an old man, a sick person, a corpse and a holy man.
- He decided to leave the palace and become an ascetic.
Keywords
Ascetic - a person who practices self-discipline and the denial of luxury
Lumbini - birthplace of Siddhartha, in what is now Nepal
Prophecy - a prediction of what will happen in the future
Dukkha - the fact that all life involves suffering
Common misconception
Siddhartha was poor.
Siddhartha was born into a wealthy family and lived in a palace.
To help you plan your year 5 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha: early life, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 religious education lesson on: Siddhartha: early life, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 religious education lessons from the Buddhists: who was the Buddha and what does he mean for Buddhists? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions
Jesus
Siddhartha Gautama
Muhammad