Year 5 Forgiveness: Is reconciliation possible? worksheet

“Keeping the Ruins” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 religious education unit “Forgiveness: Is reconciliation possible?”, for children aged 9 to 10, and takes about 21 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 13 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Keeping the Ruins

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Religious education · about 21 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain why Coventry Cathedral keeps its ruins and chooses forgiveness.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the holy book that Christians read.
BibleTorahQur'an
2.
Circle the building where Christians worship.
mosquechurchsynagogue
3.
Circle the holy book that Muslims read.
Qur'anTorahBible

B Watch me, then you4 min

On 14 November 1940, bombs destroyed Coventry Cathedral. Only the outer walls and the tower were left standing. How did the cathedral's priest respond?

Watch me

Provost Howard, the cathedral's priest, could have called for revenge.

Instead he had the words Father Forgive written on the wall behind the old altar.

He chose forgiveness because Jesus taught Christians to forgive, even their enemies.

Now you

1.
A classmate knocks over Sam's model. Sam is upset, but lets it go, and they rebuild it together. Circle the choice Sam is making, like Provost Howard.
ForgivenessRevengeBlame

C Your turn7 min

In 1962 a new cathedral, with bright modern glass and art, opened right next to the ruins. Use this, the Watch me story and the timeline to answer each question.

1.
Join each word to its meaning.
forgivenessreconciliationpeacehope
Living alongside others with no fighting or harmChoosing not to hold a hurt against someoneBelieving good things can still happen in hard timesMending a broken friendship after an argument
2.
The new cathedral was built the ruins. Circle one.
besidefar fromunder
3.
Write each card under the right heading.
Blackened stone wallsBright modern glassOpen sky where the roof wasA huge modern tapestry
Old ruins New cathedral
4.
Number these Coventry steps from first to last.
1. A new cathedral opens in 1962.
2. Bombs fall on Coventry in the night.
3. Only burnt walls and the tower are left.

Say it out loud: Which part of the Coventry story shows forgiveness most clearly, and why?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Lou says: “After the bombing, the cathedral's priest called for revenge.”

1.
Circle the words the priest really wrote.
Father, forgiveGet them backPeace now

E Think deeper4 min

1.
Why might the people of Coventry have chosen to keep the ruins beside the new cathedral? Write two sentences.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Keeping the Ruins · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. Bible

2. church

3. Qur'an

B

1. Forgiveness If your child circles Revenge, ask: does Sam try to get the classmate back, or let the hurt go?

C

1. forgiveness → Choosing not to hold a hurt against someone; reconciliation → Mending a broken friendship after an argument; peace → Living alongside others with no fighting or harm; hope → Believing good things can still happen in hard times If your child joins peace to forgiveness, read both meanings aloud and ask which one is about living calmly with others.

2. beside If your child circles under, ask where the new building stands compared with the ruins.

3. Old ruins: Blackened stone walls, Open sky where the roof was · New cathedral: Bright modern glass, A huge modern tapestry If your child puts the open sky under New cathedral, ask: which building lost its roof in the bombing?

4. 1 Bombs fall on Coventry in the night. · 2 Only burnt walls and the tower are left. · 3 A new cathedral opens in 1962. If your child puts the new cathedral first, point to 1962 on the timeline and ask what had to happen before a new one was needed.

D

1. Father, forgive If your child circles Get them back, ask what Provost Howard chose to write and why that matters for the cathedral.

E

1. Look for: Gives a reason such as remembering the bombing, showing forgiveness, peace or hope, in the child's own words.

Words to use

Say“What did the people of Coventry choose to keep, and why do you think they chose it?”

Instead of“Tell them forgiveness is always the right answer, without letting them look at the evidence.”

After the sheet

Talk together about a time someone in your family forgave someone else. Ask: what made it hard to forgive, and what changed afterwards?

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

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

Jesus and forgiveness(with a plan)
Coventry's symbols and peace(with a plan)
Reconciliation in South Africa(with a plan)
Desmond Tutu and reconciliation(with a plan)
Quakers and the inner light(with a plan)

Every Year 5 religious education worksheet

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