Year 3 Spirituality: How do music and silence express beliefs? worksheet

“Different Styles of Christian Music” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 religious education unit “Spirituality: How do music and silence express beliefs?”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 31 to 36 of the year, 5 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Different Styles of Christian Music

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · Religious education · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can understand that Christians use many different styles of music in worship.

A Look back3 min

1.
Which building do Christians worship in? Circle your answer.
churchmosquesynagoguegurdwara
2.
Which holy book do Christians read? Circle your answer.
BibleQur'anTorah
3.
Think of a whole church singing one hymn together. Which one word might describe how it feels?

B Watch me, then you4 min

Christians have used music in worship for many hundreds of years. Look at how the sound has changed.

Watch me

At first, worshippers sang with only their voices.

Later, the organ joined in to lead the singing.

Then people wrote lively hymns for everyone to sing.

Today some churches have a worship band with guitars.

Now you

1.
Look at the chain. How is church music today different from the first style? Write one difference.

C Your turn7 min

Louise's Methodist church sings from a hymnbook with an organ. Asher's free church has a worship band with guitars and drums, and words on a big screen. Fiona's Anglican church has a choir.

A pipe organ with tall silver pipes inside a stone church

1.
Draw a line from each church to its music.
Louise's Methodist churchAsher's free churchFiona's Anglican church
a choirguitars and drumsan organ and hymnbook
2.
Write each card in the correct church column.
hymnbookworship bandorganwords on a big screen
Louise's church Asher's church
3.
Which church has a choir? Circle your answer.
Louise's churchAsher's churchFiona's church
4.
Which of the three churches would you most like to visit? Write one sentence saying why.

Say it out loud: What changes from church to church? What stays the same?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A pipe organ and a drum kit side by side in a church

Kit says: “Every church sings the same kind of music.”

1.
Is Kit right? Write one reason.

E Think deeper3 min

Wooden choir stalls with tall carved backs and open books on their ledges.

1.
Why might one church choose a worship band and another choose a choir? Give one reason for each.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Different Styles of Christian Music · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. church If your child circles another building, ask which faith worships in a mosque, a synagogue or a gurdwara.

2. Bible If your child circles the Qur'an or the Torah, ask which faiths read those books.

3. Look for: A single feeling word that fits singing together in church, such as happy, calm, joyful or peaceful.

B

1. Look for: Names one difference between singing with voices only and a worship band today, such as instruments like guitars.

C

1. Louise's Methodist church → an organ and hymnbook; Asher's free church → guitars and drums; Fiona's Anglican church → a choir

2. Asher's church: worship band, words on a big screen · Louise's church: hymnbook, organ

3. Fiona's church If your child circles Louise's church, they may be thinking of the hymnbook. Ask them who sings as a group in a choir.

4. Look for: One sentence that names one of the three churches and gives a reason linked to its music.

D

1. Look for: Says Kit is wrong and gives a reason, such as churches use different styles like organ hymns, choirs or worship bands. If your child only says no, ask them to name two styles from today's lesson.

E

1. Look for: Two reasons, one for a worship band and one for a choir, such as a modern sound, a lively feel, traditional harmony or a group singing together.

Words to use

Say“Which church would sound most like a band, and which most like a choir? How do you know?”

Instead of“Tell them that church music is always the same everywhere.”

After the sheet

Hum a tune you know, then clap it to a drum beat. Ask which way feels more like church to them, and why.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

4 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Praying the Psalms(with a plan)
Music in Sikh worship(with a plan)
The voice in worship(with a plan)
Stillness and silence(with a plan)

Every Year 3 religious education worksheet

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