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Unit 17 / Lesson 1
Attitudes For School
Teacher's Prep
Games
Charades
You will want to be familiar with the game instructions for Charades, provided in the lesson plan below.
No materials are needed.
Donut On A String Challenge
Watch this video to see what this game is like
Materials:
One donut per child
Note: If you don't want to give each child a full donut, mini donuts from Safeway, or even Timbits are optins, though Timbits would require some skill in order to attach them to strings.
One length of string per child (approximately 1 metre long should be sufficient)
One chair per two children
When donuts drop on the floor, you will want the floor covered with something relatively clean, so food will not be dropping directly on the floor. A roll of kraft paper, or garbage bags, or a disposable plastic tablecloth would work.
Assign a volunteer to tie each donut with a metre-long string before the lesson.
In the video, donuts are tied to a high-up bar. In your class, you will have someone to hold on to the top end of the string.
Please be prepared to play two rounds of the game so that children can take turns eating the donut and holding the string.
**Note** please be aware of allergies, and have an alternative available if needed
The Zoom Out Game
Review these two videos which will be played during the lesson:
Guess the Picture | Ep. 9
Guess the Picture | Ep. 10
Note: a large screen TV or projector is ideal for this game. In the absence of a large screen that everyone can see, a laptop might do for a small group, or maybe you can use several smartphones in the case that there are lots of helpers present and they can all start the video at the same time.
Painting (Main Activity):
Materials:
A small canvas for each student (these can typically be found at the dollar store). If you are on a tight budget, heavy white paper should work.
Paints in primary colors, as well as black and white
Trays of some sort to hold paints and mix them
Paintbrushes
Tables on which students can paint
Intro
SLIDE 1
Gathering
How was your week?
SLIDE 2
Intro Game: Charades
Instructions
We'll start our lesson with a game of Charades!
For those who haven't played before it's a really simple game. We need one volunteer to come up in front of everyone. I'll tell them a word to act, and then everyone will try to guess the word. The tricky thing is if you're acting you have to try not to say anything. Just use your body and try to make some shapes, or pretend you're doing something.
And then, the rest of us will shout out what we think the word is. And if they're right, we all win!
Can we have a volunteer to be our first actor?
Instructions for the teacher:
Try to pick an experienced student for your first actor, as that will help everyone get the gist of the game.
When actors go in front of the group, pick a word from the lists below to act out. There are easy words, medium words, and hard words -- so you will want to use your judgment in giving words that suit a child's ability.
You can either whisper the word to the student, or show them the word on a piece of paper (or on a mobile phone). Just make sure they only see one word, and not all the words.
You don't need to use every word in the lists! The point of the game is to have some fun and to engage the children so that the game can effectively launch the remainder of the lesson.
Suggested Words:
Easy Words
Bike / bicycle
Frog
Butterfly
Computer
Monster
Medium Words
Helicopter
Whale
Ocean
Crab
Rope
Hard Words
Zoo
Space
School
Debrief
We played this game because it's a little bit like school. At school, there's a teacher who stands up in front of the class, and they say a bunch of stuff. Sometimes it makes sense, and sometimes it doesn't make sense.
But, if you do your best at school, you can normally finish all your schoolwork. And, along the way, you can learn something and make some friends too!
Relevance
School is a big part of all of our lives. But, some people really hate school. They say it's boring, and sometimes the other kids are mean.
SLIDE 3
But, if we have the right attitude, school can be one of the greatest things ever. School can help us to become super awesome people. And, when we finish school we can do super awesome things. But, we need the right attitude while we're at school.
And, we can learn the right attitude from the Bible.
SLIDE 4
Big Question
So, our big question today is:
What is the best attitude for school?
Big Idea
Our big idea is: we need to go to school to find treasure. And, that treasure is not gold or money or things you can hold in your hand. But, the treasure is called wisdom.
Sometimes we will find wisdom and knowledge in classrooms and homework.
And sometimes we will find wisdom and knowledge when people give us advice.
Bible Reference
We'll see this idea in a bunch of places in the Bible, in the book of Proverbs. Let's read our first Bible verse for today.
SLIDE 5
Proverbs 18:15 (ICB).
The mind of a smart person is ready to get knowledge. The wise person listens to learn more.
Point 1
Our first point is: we can find wisdom in classrooms and homework.
SLIDE 6
Game: Donut On A String Challenge
Instructions
We'll start this point with a fun game.
It's the Donut on a String challenge!
Let's watch a video to see what it's like:
Teacher: play this YouTube video:
Today we don't have a bar to hold up the donuts, but that's alright, because we have chairs, and we have each other.
We will form pairs, and we will take turns. Half of us will try to eat the donut with no hands, and the other half will stand on a chair and hold the top of the string. Then we'll switch.
We'll have something to cover the ground in case the donut falls down.
Teacher's instructions:
Provide each team with one chair.
Provide materials to cover the ground in case the donut falls down.
Run two rounds of the game so that each child has a chance to hold the string on one round and eat the donut on the other round.
Debrief
We played this game because it makes us work. It can be challenging to eat a donut that's hanging on a string! But, the donut is so delicious that we don't mind doing the work.
SLIDE 7
That's what school can be like, if we have the right attitude. School makes us work. Sometimes it can feel like a lot of work, and it can be really tiring. So, you need to know you are getting something awesome. Schoolwork might not taste good like a donut, but it's really good for you, because you learn things.
The Bible tells us, the best thing we can learn is something called wisdom. Let's read what the Bible says:
Bible Reference
SLIDE 8
Proverbs 3:13-18 (CEV)
God blesses everyone who has wisdom and common sense. Wisdom is worth more than silver; (continue)
SLIDE 9
it makes you much richer than gold.
SLIDE 10
Wisdom is more valuable than precious jewels; nothing you want compares with her.
SLIDE 11
In her right hand Wisdom holds a long life, and in her left hand are wealth and honor. Wisdom makes life pleasant and leads us safely along.
SLIDE 12
Wisdom is a life-giving tree, the source of happiness for all who hold on to her.
Explanation
By the way, what is wisdom? Well, in the book of Proverbs, wisdom means knowing what to do and how to do it. A wise person knows what to do, and they know how to do it.
SLIDE 13
But, we aren't born with wisdom! So, we need to learn it. And, the Bible tells us, it's a really good idea to learn it. Even if it takes you a lot of work, we need to learn it, because wisdom is an amazing treasure.
SLIDE 14
The Bible says wisdom is better than all the money in the world because it will give you things money can't buy. It will give you a long life, wealth, and honor. It will give you a comfortable life. It will keep you safe. It will make you happy. And it will be like a tree of life -- which will allow you to live forever. If you get the kind of wisdom that brings you to Jesus, then every good thing will be yours someday.
Application
SLIDE 15
The greatest thing about school is that it's a place to learn wisdom. It's a place where you can learn what to do and how to do it.
SLIDE 16
Your school might not teach you everything you need to know. They might not teach you about Jesus. And sometimes, they might even teach some wrong ideas that are the opposite of what the Bible teaches.
SLIDE 17
But, that's okay! We can still learn a lot from school, and then we can come to church and learn what the Bible says, and we'll see where the school taught you the wrong thing.
Just try to learn wisdom from all kinds of places, and check the wisdom with the Bible. Then, you'll end up with a lot of wisdom.
SLIDE 18
All of that wisdom will help you, and it will make you strong and powerful, and happy in the end.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 19
Now let's pause for a discussion question.
What is something you would love to learn? (Maybe there's a special skill you'd love to have. Or, maybe you're just really curious about something!)
Point 2
Moving on, our second point is: We can find treasure in advice.
By the way, what is advice?
Advice is when people tell you how to do things!
Let's play a game that helps us to think about advice.
SLIDE 20
Game: The Zoom Out Game
Instructions
We'll start off this point with the Zoom Out Game!
It's a picture guessing game on the TV. We'll be looking at a whole bunch of things that are zoomed in, and then it will slowly zoom out.
If you think you know what you’re looking at, let us know!
But there's only one rule: you only get one guess for every picture. So, if you guess wrong, you'll need to wait for someone else to guess the right answer.
Teacher: play these YouTube videos for the students:
SLIDE 21
Guess the Picture | Ep. 9
SLIDE 22
Guess the Picture | Ep. 10
Debrief
In this game we played, sometimes other people know things that we don't know. And, sometimes they see things that we can't see. Sometimes we guess wrong, and someone else has to help us to get the right answer. And it's like that in real life too!
SLIDE 23
That's why we need advice. Sometimes other people know things that we need to know, and we need them to tell us what we should do. In other words, we need their advice.
Bible Reference
SLIDE 24
Proverbs 13:13 (NLT)
People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.
Explanation
This Bible verse tells us there are people who hate advice. That’s because sometimes advice doesn’t feel very good. When someone gives us advice, it can feel like they are telling us we are wrong and they are right. But, the Bible tells us to listen to advice.
SLIDE 25
The Bible tells us, if we hate advice, we're asking for trouble. But, if we can respect people when they give us instructions, we will succeed.
Application
SLIDE 26
So when people give advice, you might not like it at first, but a lot of the time it's really good for you. So, try to listen carefully and thank them for telling you things. Then, they’ll want to give you more advice next time, and they will help you to become awesome.
Discussion Question
SLIDE 27
Let's pause for a discussion question.
Who gives you advice?
Conclusion
SLIDE 28
Let’s wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again.
Our big question today was: What is the best attitude for school?
Our big idea is: we need to go to school to find treasure. There's a very precious treasure at school called wisdom. We can find wisdom in classrooms and homework. And we can find wisdom when people give advice.
If you have the right attitude, you can look forward to going to school, because every day you will get more wisdom. And, wisdom will help you to be amazing.
Main Activity: Painting
Now it's time for our main activity. Today we'll be painting!
Painting is an activity that needs wisdom.
We need to know what to do, and how to do it.
There are some amazing painters who make beautiful works of art, and their artwork makes the world a better place.
But, every great painter starts as a beginner, not knowing anything. What makes them great is that they keep trying, and they keep learning, and they get advice. And, that's something you can do too!
Teacher: distribute painting supplies.
Teacher: as the students are painting, visit the students individually to see their paintings and to encourage them. Also, consider playing music in the background for a more enjoyable experience.
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