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Being Ready

Unit 8 / Lesson 1

Being Ready

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Zone Soccer

      • This game is inspired by foosball, where each team has lines that control a part of the field.

      • In this game, each team controls parts of the room. See the graphic below:

      • Prepare a slide of the graphic above, so the children can see it before you play.

      • Have the floor marked with lines before the lesson starts.

      • Materials:

        • A very soft ball that can be kicked but would not hurt to be hit by, like a cotton centered or styrofoam ball.

        • Tape to mark the ground.

        • Note: masking tape or painter's tape should work well to make lines on the ground. However, it is sometimes troublesome to remove tape off the ground. You may want to make dashed lines of tape, or attach lines of yarn on the ground for easier clean up. Alternatively, you can make fences out of yarn, tied to chairs on either side.

    • Speed Sketching

      • One sheet of paper per child

      • Drawing utensils (pencil, pen, crayon, etc.)

    • Penne Noodle Pickup

      • Watch this YouTube video for the concept:

      • Materials:

        • Spaghetti

        • Penne pasta 

        • Trays for the penne pasta

        • One bowl per group of four.

      • Note: Have gluten free noodles available if needed

    • Lecture Part of Point 1

      • Bring a uniform, or a distinctive coat (a fur coat if you can acquire one). There will be a point halfway through the lecture that you will put this uniform on a volunteer to help them to think about the time Elijah put his coat on Elisha. The use of this prop will help the children pay attention, as the Bible teaching portion is longer than normal.

  • Main Activity Option 1: Musical Tubes

    • For a demonstration of the tubes, see this YouTube video:

    • For the pricey but time-saving option, buy tuned percussion tubes. See if your local music store has "Boomwhackers" tuned percussion tubes. If so, buy the "C Major Diatonic Scale Tube Set," which has eight tubes, suitable for a group of eight. If you have more than eight children, you will need more than one set. A set of Boomwhackers tubes costs about $25 at the store.

    • For a cost-saving option, you can make your own musical tubes for a much lower cost. This website below will show you how. Note, the exact lengths of the tubes are included in the article. Also, it is important that each tube is labeled with a letter so that it is obvious which note it is supposed to play.

    • Get familiar with the YouTube videos that they will be playing along to:

  • Main Activity Option 2: Hungry Fish Clothespin Craft

    • If you don’t want to do the Musical Tubes activity, please see this website for instructions for how to make the Hungry Fish clothespin craft:

    • Make your own craft before the lesson to be shown as a model.


    Intro 

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Game: Zone Soccer

    SLIDE 3

    • Just like in the game of Foosball, you can only move from side to side, but not forward and backwards. You’ll have to stay between the lines and not cross over them, and you’ll want to work together with everyone else on your team. 

    • You might be in the goalie zone, protecting your goal. You might be in the forward zone and trying to score goals. You might be in the middle zone and trying to do a bit of everything, but you'll have to work together as a team.

    • You can switch zones between points, but your feet can't cross the line when the ball is moving around. Any questions?

    • Teacher: play until one side has five points, or as time and interest allow. When the game is finished, praise them for their efforts and have them sit down.

    • Debrief

      • The game we just played actually helps us understand our Bible lesson. In the game you were stuck in one part of the room, which meant that sometimes you had to wait for the ball to come to you. Sometimes it might have felt like you were doing nothing. But, if you were ready when the ball came...

    SLIDE 4

    • you could make a big difference for your whole team.

  • Relevance 

    • It works like that in real life too! It's important to be ready. That way, when it's our turn to do something great, we'll be able to make a big difference.

    SLIDE 5

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: How can we be ready for great things?

  • Big Idea

    • Today's Bible story will teach us two things:

      • 1. We need to practice CHOOSING, and

      • 2. We need to practice DOING.

  • Bible Reference

    • Now let's watch our Bible story.

    SLIDE 6

    • It starts with a man named Elijah,

    SLIDE 7

    • who needed to find a man named Elisha. Elijah was a great prophet, which meant that God talked to him in a very special way, and Elijah was able to do great miracles for God. But Elijah needed to find Elisha, because Elisha was supposed to be the next great prophet.

    SLIDE 8

    • Now let's watch what happened.

    • Teacher: play this YouTube video:

    • What a strange story! We'll learn what this story means in a bit, and you'll see that we all have something really important to learn from it.


    Point 1

    SLIDE 9

  • Our first point is, we need to practice CHOOSING.

  • Game: Speed Sketching

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with a speed sketching game! You'll all get a sheet of paper, and fold it into quarters, and I'll tell you what to draw. We'll play four rounds. Each round we'll have one minute to draw something on one of the quarters. Draw each thing as nicely as you can.

      • Instructions for teacher:

        • Pass out pencils and paper to each person

        • For each round, give them a word and one minute to draw. At the end of the minute, have them share the pictures they drew.

        • Suggestions to sketch:

          • School bus

          • Elephant

          • Tractor

          • Solar system

    • Debrief

      • In the game we played, we only had a minute to draw, so we needed to figure out what was important really quickly. If we were going to draw a school bus, we had to draw a boxy thing with some tires, and maybe a door and some windows. If you did that, everyone would be able to tell that it was a school bus. Even if your lines were crooked, and even if you missed some details, it would still be a school bus.

      • But it would be a bit silly to spend all your time just drawing one thing. Like, if you just drew the door, and you spent a whole minute making the door look nice, it wouldn't be a school bus.

      • That's how life works sometimes. Sometimes we need to understand what is important and we can't get lost in the details.

    SLIDE 10

    • In our Bible story, Elisha knew what was important. 

    SLIDE 11

  • Bible Reference

    • 1 Kings 19:19-21 (International Children’s Bible)

      • 19 So Elijah left there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing a field with a team of oxen. There were 11 teams ahead of him. Elisha was plowing with the twelfth team of oxen. Elijah came up to Elisha. Elijah took off his coat and put it on Elisha. 20 Then Elisha left his oxen and ran to follow Elijah. Elisha said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye. Then I will go with you.” Elijah answered, “That is fine. Go back. I won’t stop you.” 21 So Elisha went back. He took his pair of oxen and killed them. He used the wooden yoke for the fire. Then he cooked the meat and gave it to the people. And they ate it. Then Elisha went and followed Elijah and became his helper.

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 12

    • Our Bible story tells us that Elisha worked on a really big farm. The farm was so big that it needed...

    SLIDE 13

    • twelve teams of oxen to work on it. Picture driving by a farm today, and seeing twelve tractors! A farm like that would grow a lot of food, and the food would sell for a lot of money.

    SLIDE 14

    • So, Elisha had food and money. He also had a lot of friends, and he loved his parents. He had a really good life!

    SLIDE 15

    • One day, Elisha was just doing his usual farm work, and Elijah came up to him. He knew it was Elijah because Elijah wore some very unusual clothing. Everyone knew that Elijah wore a fur coat that was very hairy, and he had a leather belt around his waist. It was like his uniform.

    SLIDE 16

    • Elijah threw his big hairy coat around Elisha. Kind of like this...

      • Teacher: throw a uniform or a heavy coat over a volunteer’s shoulders.

    • Elisha knew what it meant.

    • It’s like if a fireman went up to you, gave you a very serious look, and put all of his firefighting gear on you. You could imagine yourself being a fireman. It was like that in our Bible story.

    • When Elijah put the fur coat on Elisha, Elisha knew he was getting an invitation to take over Elijah's job. It was an invitation to be the next great prophet. It was an invitation to hear messages from God, and to do great miracles just like Elijah did.

    • And Elisha was ready to make that decision.

    SLIDE 17

    • He left behind the farm, the money, and his friends and family. He left it all behind because he knew God had a bigger and better plan for him, and Elisha was ready to do whatever God wanted.

    • Can you imagine leaving behind everything you know and everything you love? Imagine leaving behind your home, friends, family, and all your things. That would be really hard! Elisha was ready to leave it all behind, because he had an amazing heart and he really loved God, and that made him ready for anything.

  • Application

    SLIDE 18

    • How do we become like that? The Bible's answer is, we need to practice. Practice choosing the right things, helping others, and putting God first. If you keep choosing the right things every day, then sooner or later, when you need to make a huge decision, you will know what to do.

  • SLIDE 19

  • Discussion Questions

    • Let's pause for a couple of discussion questions:

      • What is something you really enjoy?

      • Could you think of something that is more important than the thing you really enjoy?


    Point 2

  • Our second point is, we need to practice DOING.

    SLIDE 20

  • Game: Penne Noodle Pickup.

    • Instructions

      • Teacher: set up trays of penne noodles and some bowls. Provide one tray for every four people, and one bowl for every two people. 

      • We'll start our point with a game! It's called the Penne Noodle Pickup. Let's watch how it works.

    SLIDE 21

    • YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x1sUc-lnZQ

    • Here are the rules: you'll all have a spaghetti noodle to put in your mouth, and your goal is to pick up the other pasta using the spaghetti and put it into a bowl. You'll do this as a team, so everyone around your bowl is one team. We'll do this for three minutes.

    SLIDE 22

  • Debrief

    • In this game we played, the idea is pretty simple. We just have to move the penne noodles into the other bowl. But when we actually try it, it’s harder than it sounds!

    • It’s like that in real life too. Sometimes we know what the right thing to do is. But, actually doing the right thing can be really hard. So we need to practice doing what is right.

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read what Elisha did after Elisha put his coat on him.

    SLIDE 23

    • 1 Kings 19:20-21 (International Children’s Bible)

      • 20 Then Elisha left his oxen and ran to follow Elijah. Elisha said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother good-bye. Then I will go with you.” Elijah answered, “That is fine. Go back. I won’t stop you.” 21 So Elisha went back. He took his pair of oxen and killed them. He used the wooden yoke for the fire. Then he cooked the meat and gave it to the people. And they ate it. Then Elisha went and followed Elijah and became his helper.

  • Explanation

    • We see in our story that Elisha started doing things the moment he knew what God wanted. Elisha kissed his father and mother good-bye. Then he invited everyone to a big barbecue party, so he could say good-bye to everyone. He invited so many friends that they could eat two whole cows together. Elisha used his farm equipment for the fire because he knew he was never going to be a farmer again. After that, he went off to do the work that God had given him to do.

  • Application

    • The lesson for us is, when we know the right thing to do, we need to start doing it. We can’t just stop at knowing. We need to take a step in the right direction.

    • For example, pretend you knew that someday you're supposed to be a teacher and teach children in a school. Once you know what God wants you to do, you can take one step at a time toward the goal. Every day you can learn things that you can teach someday. Or, maybe you can practice your skills like talking or planning. You can write down your plans and get advice about them as well.

    SLIDE 24

    • The key is to keep taking one step at a time in the right direction, and never stop taking steps toward the great thing that God wants you to do.

    • If you practice doing things like that, then someday God will ask you to do something really great, and you will be able to get it done one step at a time.

    SLIDE 25

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's pause for a discussion question.

    • What is something that's good for other people that you want to do more of?


    SLIDE 26

    Conclusion

  • Let’s wrap up this lesson by going over the big ideas again.

  • Our big question today was: How can we be ready for great things?

  • Our big ideas were: 

    • 1. We need to practice CHOOSING, and 

    • 2. We need to practice DOING.


    SLIDE 27

    Main Activity Option 1: Musical Tubes

  • That brings us to our main activity. Today we will be playing musical tubes! Let's watch a video of people playing those tubes:

  • Teacher: play the first minute of this YouTube video:

  • Today we're going to do a bit of that. We're all going to get one tube, and we'll follow some directions on the screen.It will almost be like a video game.

  • Before I pass you the tubes, I want to point out, this activity reminds us a bit about our lesson.

  • Our lesson was about how we need to practice choosing and doing. That’s something we can do with musical tubes! First we need to choose to play the tubes. We need to decide it’s better to try the tubes and not just run around and distract people.

  • Then we actually need to practice using the tubes. The more we practice, the easier it gets.

  • Now we'll pass everyone a tube.

  • Every tube is different. The point is, when we play a song, we're going to look for our letter and our color on the TV screen, and we only play when it's our letter and our color, and if we can all do that, we'll make great music together.

  • Teacher: pass out tubes. Note: the red tubes (for "C") are the easiest, so you can give them to the youngest ones.

  • Teacher: lead the children through some of these songs:


    Main Activity Option 2: Hungry Fish Clothespin Craft

  • Today is a craft day! We are making a hungry fish craft! It's one of the coolest crafts ever, because it moves.

  • Teacher: demonstrate your craft.

  • A craft like this helps us to practice what we learned in our lesson today.

  • Today we learned to practice choosing and practice doing.

  • First we have to choose to do the craft. We have to decide it's worth doing. In order to make the craft we need to decide that this is better than running around or sitting around.

  • Then we actually have to make the craft, slowly and step by step.

  • Teacher: prepare tables with craft materials, and lead step by step to construct the craft.



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