Friday, July 25, 2014

Genesis 6-9: Noah's ark

As a Teacher...

Noah's ark is one of the most popular stories in Bible. Hollywood even made a movie of it this year. Before I started to prepare for this story, I thought it would be easy to do so, but soon I found it's challenging. In my Hermeneutics class, our professor taught that the main purpose of Old Testament story is to understand who God is, and that is what I try to show kids through the lessons. But in Noah's story, God seemed very cruel to wipe out all men. What does this story teach us about God? Can I focus on just how God protects Noah's family and animals?
“So I went to the potter’s house, and sure enough, the potter was there, working away at his wheel. Whenever the pot the potter was working on turned out badly, as sometimes happens when you are working with clay, the potter would simply start over and use the same clay to make another pot.” Jeremiah 18:3-4
God is like potter, has right to reset what He has done. I think that's what Noah's story tells us about God. But it's too difficult for kids to understand. So this time I shifted focus to what "fear God" means through Noah's testimony.
“By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Hebrew 11:7
Noah chose to believe God and did what God told him to do. Building ark on a dry land must be an interesting news and would scatter around. People at that time knew what's going to happen, but they didn't believe. They displeased God because lack of faith. In contrast, Noah was the only one believed and did what God commanded. His faith pleased God.
All right, so here is the lesson plan.

Lesson Plan

Topic: Flood and Noah's ark
Scripture: Genesis 6:1-9:17
Objective: The children will demonstrate their understanding of fearing God by listing how they can obeying God in difficult situations.
Memory Verse: “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.” Hebrew 11:7

EEA:
  • Animal matching card game - I get this card game in a dollar store. The name of the game is "Noah's ark" 
1st Based: Attention getter
  • Write today's verse on paper, and cut into small pieces;  
  • hide the pieces different places and ask kids to find them out; 
  • after they found out all the pieces, ask kids to put together.
2nd Base: Content Deliver
  • Make an ark using coffee table
  • You can be the Noah, and ask students to be your families.
  • Bring some stuff animals and take them to the ark. 
3rd Base: Interactive activity - Measure the ark
  • Take them to a wide space (park, church parking lot).
  • Use a meter to measure how big the lot is, I use something like this:
     
  •  The ark is around 450 ft x 75 ft x 45 ft. Use the meter to show how big the ark should be.
Let me warn you: kids really like the wheel meter. They may be more interested in using that than knowing how big the ark is.
4th Base:
  • Ask them how they will obey God even He gives them a difficult task? (will you choose to be honest even other students cheat on tests?)
  • You can give example like Jeremy Lin to explain how you can obey God in difficult situations.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Genesis 2 & 3: Fall and Redemption

Following creation account is the Fall of Adam and Even. My objective for this lesson is that kids can understand what sin means, and how God sets up a redemption plan through Jesus Christ.

To keep them focused, I asked them to make a simple paper book. While I was telling the story, I asked them to draw 6 pictures on the book.

To explain how sin looked like, I borrowed the idea from Adventures in La La Land. I asked them to put their hands in dirt, and make them really dirty. They resisted and felt excited at the same time. After that I explained sin was like the dirt, and we needed Jesus to wash our sins away. So I labeled a hand soap with "Jesus", just like the blog suggests.
Here is the lesson plan:

Lesson Plan

Topic: Adam, Eve, and God’s Love
Objective:The children will demonstrate their understanding of God’s love and forgiveness by retelling the story to their parents.
EEA:
  • Use play dough to recall what God created in six days.
  • Use dice to review what God created in six days
1st Base: Attention getter
  • Place all the fruit and ask them to rank them from most appealing to least appealing.
  • You need: a variety of fruit
2nd Base: ContentDeliver
  • Make a book
  • As I told the story,draw different pictures
  • Use one of the fruits from 1st base as forbidden fruit (I used cherry).
  • You need: construction paper
3rd Base: Interactive activity
  • Put dirt on the play ground and ask students to put hands in dirt.
  • Sin is like dirt. You need Jesus to wash your sin. Let them wash with “Jesus soap”
  • You need: “X”, tape, dirt, hand soap
4thBase:
  • Share with their parents what they learned today using the story book they made.
Snack

  • Let’s enjoy the fruit from 1st base! (They really enjoy eating the fruits, except cherries =p) 

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Genesis 1: Creation Account

This week my topic is creation account. At school, my classmate had designed different crafts for each creation day. I borrow her ideas, and modify to be age appropriate. This lesson plan works pretty well.

Lesson Plan

Topic: The Beginning
Scripture: Genesis 1:1-31; 2:7-9
Objective: The children will demonstrate their understanding of God’s creation by recalling the order of creation.
Attention Getter: Experience darkness
Day 1:
  1. Explain to them that God creates light at the first day. Hide a chocolate in the bathroom and told them to find chocolate in a “dark” place.
  2. After they gather at bathroom. Turn the light down and let them experience darkness.
Content + Interactive activities:
  1. Start to explain the creation on rest of the days. Give each of them a construction paper.
  2. Teacher has a large white paper on the wall. Draw the creation as you teach.
  3. Have six boxes on the table and mark Day1-Day6. Put the props inside the boxes.
Day 2: Sky (Atmosphere)
  1. God creates atmosphere to separate water. Atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth. It protects life on Earth by absorbing ultraviolet solar radiation
  2. Ask them to come forward to get cotton ball as cloud and put in the sky. Ask them to draw ocean as well.
  3. Control time of each task.
  4. You need: Prop: cotton ball
Day 3: Land, Ocean, plants
  1. On the third day, God gather water under sky together and call it ocean. The dry part is called land. God also creates all kinds of plants and trees on the land.
  2. Ask them to draw land and plants.
  3. After they finish, ask them to come forward and get a cup, soil and a green bean to plan.
  4. You need: green bean, soil, cup. 
Day 4: Stars
  1. On the fourth day, God creates starts to mark the day and night. He made two big lights. The larger to take charge of Day, and the smaller to be in charge of Night.
  2. Ask them to come forward. Get play dough to make sun, moon and star.
  3. You need: play dough
Day 5 Fish and Birds
  1. On the fifth day, God creates animals in sky and in water.
  2. Use origami paper to make bird and whale, and stick on the construction paper.
  3. You need: Origami paper
Day 6: Animals and Man
  1. On the sixth day, God creates land animals and man.
  2. Use pipe cleaner to make a man.
  3. You need: pipe cleaner
Day 7: God rested

Game: print out creation card and ask them to put in order.