Assemblies that Count
Tithing

Mathematical concepts

Ordinal numbers; fractions; percentages; decimals; equivalence of fractions, percentages and decimals

Numeracy Document links

Counting and recognising numbers

·        Reception: count reliably up to ten everyday objects

·        Reception: begin to understand and use ordinal numbers and the number system

·        Year 1: ordinal numbers

·        Year 1,2,3: understand and use the vocabulary of comparing and ordering numbers

·        Year 3: recognise unit fractions such as … 1/10

·        Year 4: begin to use ideas of simple proportion: …one in every…; understand decimal notation and place value for tenths…, and use it in context

·        Year 5: use decimal notation for tenths…; relate fractions to decimal representations

·        Year 6: express simple fractions such as…tenths…as percentages

Key Christian belief

Giving to God/others

From the Bible

Deuteronomy 14:22 (NIV) – Be sure to set aside a tenth (Give God 1 item in every 10) of all that your fields produce each year

You will need

Groups of 10 things: apples, sweets, pens etc

10 coins, either 1p coins or £1 coins

Sticky tack

Introduction

Note: italics = Instructions for teachers

Mix up the groups of ten items. Younger pupils can sort the mixed up items into groups of ten. These items can be held up by pupils standing in lines. Pupils can count how many there are of each item (ten). As they stand in a line, ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc) can be used to label each item. Ask who has the tenth item of each group.

Older pupils can sort the mixed items into groups of ten and arrange themselves as above but different questions can be asked of each group. 

How many people would have to sit down if 1/10 of your group had to be seated?

How many people would have to sit down if 0.1 of your group had to be seated?

How many people would have to sit down if 10% of your group had to be seated?

If a whole class stood up, how many would have to sit down if 1/10 (10%, 0.1) had to be seated?

Core material

Read the material from the Bible. In the Bible, one tenth (1 in 10) of everything a person earned or produced was ‘given to God’. That means it was used to help those who had no means of supporting themselves and were in need. In Bible times, it was given to the priests and to the poor because the priests had no land to grow their own food. Later, it was given to support the local church and the poor.

These gifts had a special name: they were called TITHES.

Farmers gave their corn and fruit. Families gave their money and what they grew. For example, if a family had ten pence the tenth penny went ‘to God’. If a family had ten bags of corn, the tenth bag went ‘to God’. The people would take their gifts to the local place of worship (it would be like taking it to church today).

Younger pupils can demonstrate this with the sweets/apples/pens/coins. If ten sweets are held up by pupils, nine can be kept but the tenth would have to be ‘given to God’ (for those in need). Repeat this with the other items as necessary. Older pupils can work out the tithe as above but also work out the tithe on various modern incomes using decimals, fractions or percentages.

This Law about giving was part of British law for many years. If you look at maps today you can often find places with the word ‘tithe’ (or the older spelling ‘tythe’) in them.

Show the place names. These are places where the tithe barns (show picture) were built to collect the tithes from the people. There are many tithe barns still in existence. Giving one-tenth ‘to God’/ the poor is no longer law but many Christians carry on this practice.

Note: This assembly can be used at Harvest time or it could be linked to an appeal (Blue Peter, etc). Matthew 6:21 could also be used as extra biblical material.

Prayer/Reflection

Ask pupils to count to ten before you say each line, then think quietly about it. Alternative: think about ways in which we make giving to others (not just in money) part of daily life rather than something we do when we feel moved.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

One penny in every ten for love 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

One penny in every ten for justice

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

One penny in every ten for the poor

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

One penny in every ten for God

Music suggestions

I’m giving’ Children’s Praise complied by P.Burt, P Horrobin and G Leavers (Marshall Pickering 1991

Jesus you gave everything for me’ Kidsource compiled by A. Price (Kevin Mayhew, 1999)