The story of Esther and Haman
I can explain why the story of Esther is important for Jews.
The story of Esther and Haman
I can explain why the story of Esther is important for Jews.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- The Jewish festival of Purim remembers Esther, queen of Persia, who was secretly Jewish.
- Haman, the king's chief minister, hated Jews and plotted to have all the Jews killed.
- Esther bravely told the king that she was Jewish and pleaded with him.
- The story symbolises the survival of Jews in the face of adversity.
- Interpretations of the Purim story helps us to understand Jewish identity.
Keywords
Antisemitism - prejudice, discrimination, or hostility toward Jews
Purim - a festival that commemorates the saving of the ancient Jewish community in Persia
Identity - qualities and characteristics that make up an individual or group
Persecution - cruel treatment of a person or group by another person or group over a long period of time
Common misconception
Antisemitism is a modern experience.
This story shows that antisemitism goes back at least 3,000 years.
To help you plan your year 5 religious education lesson on: The story of Esther and Haman, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 5 religious education lesson on: The story of Esther and Haman, 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 Jews: how does remembering maintain Jewish identity? unit, dive into the full secondary religious education curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
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