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Inner Strength

Unit 8 / Lesson 2

Inner Strength

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Teacher's Prep

  • Games

    • Paper Bocce

      • Here are the rules if you’re unfamiliar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQVO2a9ZEI&ab_channel=MajorLeagueBocce

      • You will be playing a modified version of bocce. Instead of official bocce balls, you will have paper balls of two colors (white and another color). Instead of a target ball, you will have an improvised target, like a bowling pin. Any small target should do as long as it is highly visible. Even an “X” of tape on the ground would work.

      • Have two colors of paper, and enough paper so each child can have three or four paper balls. Note: each child will have only one of any color.

    • Charades

      • Have a list of words ready to show one at a time to an actor (write them on strips of paper to be drawn, or cover all the words but one to show them)

      • Easy, medium and hard word suggestions are below 

    • Three Legged Race

      • If unfamiliar with the game, watch this video to see what it is like:

      • Materials:

        • A roll of duct tape and a roll of toilet paper (the toilet paper can act as a barrier to prevent the duct tape from damaging clothing or skin)

        • Scissors to cut the duct tape at the end of the race

  • Alka Seltzer Balloons (Main Activity)

    • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp5gMnsDoqg

    • Materials (for each child)

      • 2 water bottles

      • 2 light-colored balloons (easier to decorate)

      • Black Sharpies to decorate the balloons.

      • Tape to attach inflated balloons to their bottles.

      • 3 Alka seltzer tablets

      • The first water bottle will use one Alka Seltzer tablet. The second water bottle will use two tablets. This is to see the comparison of one versus two tablets.

      • Turtle

      • Fish

      • Spider

      • Elephant

      • Frog

      • Chicken

      • Caterpillar

      • Gorilla

      • Rabbit

      • Giraffe

      • Starfish

      • Sheep

      • Tiger

      • Ant

    • Try the experiment yourself to get familiar with it, so you can demonstrate it to the class.


    Intro

    SLIDE 1

  • Gathering

    • How was your week?

    SLIDE 2

  • Intro Game: Paper Bocce

    • Instructions

      • Let’s start this point with a game.

      • Teacher: if your class has not played Paper Bocce before, play this video which explains the rules of Bocce

      • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmQVO2a9ZEI&ab_channel=MajorLeagueBocce

      • Teacher: After the video, pass out the paper so that one team gets one color and the other team gets the other color, and each child has one sheet of paper. Put the bowling pin or target in the middle of the room.

      • Let's go over the rules again. For this game, you'll all be standing at the edge of the room (let's all go to the edge of the room and touch the wall). 

      • You will all have a ball that is made out of paper (take a moment to scrunch up your paper into a nice tight ball), and you will be throwing your ball at this target.

      • Teacher: show them the target in the middle of the room

      • We'll all take turns tossing our balls. If your team has the closest ball, you get one point. If your team has the two closest balls, you get two points. If your team has the three closest balls, you get three points – and so on.

      • We’ll play a few rounds of this game.

      • Teacher: you may elect to give them more than one ball.

    • Debrief

      • In this game, there are a few throws that are really important for your team. One ball that is thrown in just the right place can mean the difference between your team winning and losing.

      • So, if you knew how to throw to just the right place, you could win it all for your team.

  • Relevance

    • In real life, a lot of people feel like they are lost and they don’t know what to do. But, if you know what you are doing, you can help a lot of people.

    SLIDE 3

  • Big Question

    • Our big question today is: How can we really know what we are doing?

  • Big Idea

    • Our Bible story is about a person who really knew what he was doing. His name was Elisha. There’s a lot we can learn from him, and today Elisha will teach us that:

      • 1. We need a strong mind, and

      • 2. We need a strong heart.

    SLIDE 4

  • Bible Reference


    Point 1

    SLIDE 5

  • Our first point is, we need a strong mind.

    SLIDE 6

  • Game: Charades

    • Instructions

      • Let's start this point with a game! The game is called Charades! We need a brave volunteer to do some acting for us, and we'll give them a minute and see if they can act out the word without any sounds or talking.

      • Teacher: Play several rounds of Charades, asking for a different volunteer each time. For each round, show the volunteer one of the words below.

      • Some possible words for the game:

        • Easy words

        • Turtle

        • Fish

        • Spider

        • Elephant

        • Frog

        • Chicken

        • Caterpillar

        • Gorilla

        • Rabbit

        • Giraffe

        • Starfish

        • Sheep

        • Tiger

        • Ant

        • Medium words

        • Caterpillar

        • Gorilla

        • Rabbit

        • Giraffe

        • Starfish

        • Sheep

        • Tiger

        • Ant

        • Hard words

        • Starfish

        • Sheep

        • Tiger

        • Ant

    • Debrief

      • In the game of Charades, we have to think fast, and think outside the box. We need to be creative sometimes, and our team depends on us to be able to come up with good ideas.

      • We see a bit of that in our story. Our hero Elisha really knew how to think. Let's read from the Bible.

    SLIDE 7

  • Bible Reference

    • 2 Kings 2:1-4 (International Children’s Bible)

      • 1 It was near the time for the Lord to take Elijah. He was going to take him by a whirlwind up into heaven. Elijah and Elisha were at Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here. The Lord has told me to go to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 A group of the prophets at Bethel came to Elisha. They said to him, “Do you know the Lord will take your master away from you today?” Elisha said, “Yes, I know. But don’t talk about it.” 4 Elijah said to him, “Stay here, because the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord lives, and as you live, I won’t leave you.” So they went to Jericho.

    SLIDE 8

  • Explanation

    • I’ll explain what we just read. Elisha was Elijah's helper. Elisha loved Elijah and respected him. But in our story, Elisha didn't just do whatever Elijah said. Elisha had his own ideas, and his own sense of what was right and wrong.

    • Elijah was the greatest prophet in the world, but Elisha knew God, and Elisha knew God's words. So, Elisha could be even wiser than his teacher.

    • When it was time for Elijah to go away and be with God, Elijah told Elisha to stay behind. But Elisha knew he needed to keep staying with Elijah.

    • As a result, Elisha was able to see Elijah go up to heaven, and continue on Elijah’s work.

    SLIDE 9

  • Application

    • We can learn from that. We all have people we love and respect. But, everyone makes mistakes. Teachers and pastors can say the wrong thing. So, you need to be able to think for yourself, in case someone says something that you question. 

    • If you know God and you know His word, you will have wisdom that even your teachers and pastors don't have.

    • You will know if your teachers and pastors are teaching you the wrong things, and you will follow God even when everyone tells you that you are wrong. That's what you can do if you have a strong mind.

    SLIDE 10

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's pause for a discussion question.

    • Do you have any ideas for how to know the Bible better?

      • Suggested answers: 

        • Ask questions! When things don't make sense, keep asking questions. If your teacher doesn't know, maye you can learn with them. 

        • Another suggestion: keep thinking about the Bible and keep working on your understanding of the Bible. Keep working on one verse and one Bible story at a time until you know it really well. It becomes part of you, and it changes the way you do things.


    SLIDE 11

    Point 2

  • Our second point is, we need a strong heart.

  • Game: Three Legged Race

    • Instructions

      • We'll start this point with the three-legged race!

      • All of you will have a partner, and one of your legs will be taped to your partner's leg. You’ll only be able to move forward if you work together. 

      • Your first job is to find a partner and then we'll tape your legs so you can walk together. You can practice a bit. Once we're all ready, we'll all try to walk across the room, and then we'll try to do another race where we go around the room.

      • Instructions for teacher:

        • Fasten legs together as seen in the video at the top of this lesson plan. In the absence of special velcro bands, you can use duct tape in multiple layers, and for sensitive clothing or skin, you can put tissue paper as a barrier to prevent damage. Give them some time to practice walking. 

        • Line everyone up and have them race from one wall to the other. 

        • Then, have them do a relay race around the room where they start off touching a chair, and their goal is to touch the three other chairs and come back to the chair where they started. For the relay race, you can start up to four pairs at a time in different corners, and they can all move in one direction around the room (clockwise, or counterclockwise)

        • At the end of the game, praise them for their efforts, cut up their duct tape bands and have them sit back in a circle.

    • Debrief

      • We played this game because it's simple to understand. You just need to walk with your partner. BUT, it takes courage to play, and you need to keep going when it's tough.

      • In other words, you need a strong heart. That's what Elisha had.

    SLIDE 12

  • Bible Reference

    • Let's read from our Bible story.

    • 2 Kings 2:9-10 (International Children’s Bible)

      • 9 After they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “What can I do for you before I am taken from you?” Elisha said, “Leave me a double share of your spirit.” 10 Elijah said, “You have asked a hard thing. But if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours. If you don’t, it won’t happen.”

  • Explanation

    SLIDE 13

    • In order to understand these verses, it helps to think about pizza. Suppose I baked a big, yummy pizza and I sliced it up into a lot of pieces. We all take a slice and start eating.

    • CLICK There's one more slice of pizza left on the table, so there's a lucky person who gets TWO slices of pizza. One person can get twice as much as everyone else. That's sort of what's going on in our Bible passage.

    SLIDE 14

    • Elijah had helped a lot of people because God had made him very special. And now, it was time for Elijah to go back to God, but he was going to leave behind the thing that made him so special: his spirit, which was like his heart.

    • Elisha knew how special Elijah's spirit was, so he asked for twice as much of Elijah's spirit as everyone else. 

    • Elijah said, "you have asked for a hard thing." See, Elisha wasn't asking for something fun like more slices of pizza. He was asking for double the work, and double the trouble., because that’s what it would take to make a difference. Elisha wanted to serve God more than everyone else, and he wanted to lead all the other people who served God, even if he went through a lot of trouble.

  • Application

    • It's like that for us too.

    SLIDE 15

    • If we want to really make a difference, we need to be ready to go through double the work and double the trouble that everyone else has to go through. Jesus said the greatest Christians will be servants to everyone. We will look after everyone, and it will be hard and uncomfortable. But Jesus also promised that He will make all the trouble worth it. If we give up something for Him, He will eventually give it back, and it will be a hundred times better.

    SLIDE 16

  • Discussion Question

    • Let's pause for a discussion question:

    • What's something that would be hard to give up for God?

    • Teacher: collect answers and remind the children that if God asks you for something, He will eventually give it back and it will be better.


    Conclusion

    SLIDE 17

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

    • Our big question today was: How can we really know what we are doing?

    • Our answer that we learned from the Bible was:

      • 1. We need a strong mind, and 

      • 2. We need a strong heart.

  • CLICK We need to know God and His word so well that we can tell when our teachers and our pastors have made a mistake. That's why we need to study the Bible for ourselves, so we can have a strong mind.

  • CLICK We also need a strong heart, which means we need to be ready to go through trouble for God. If we are ready to do whatever God tells us to do, He will do great things with us, and will give us back a hundred times what we have given to Him.


    SLIDE 18

    Main Activity: Alka Seltzer Balloons

  • Instructions

    • Now it’s time for our main activity. Today, we are going to do a science experiment! We are going to blow up a balloon without touching it!

    • Let's watch a video about how it works.

    • Teacher: show this whole video (3 minutes long):

    • I'll show you again how it works, and then you'll all get a chance to try it for yourselves.

    • Teacher: demonstrate how it the experiment works, explaining your steps as you perform them:

      • First you need to decorate your balloon.

      • Then you break up your Alka Seltzer tablet into little bits, and put the little bits into the balloon.

      • Then empty a water bottle so it’s only half full. 

        • (Maybe a leader can help you open the bottle if you have trouble)

      • Put the balloon over the top of the bottle.

      • Watch the bubbles fill up the balloon!

      • When it's filled up, we'll tape the balloon to the bottle really tightly so that it has a better chance of staying on.

    • Now it's your turn!

  • Teacher's Instructions:

    • First round:

      • Give each child one water bottle, one balloon, an Alka Seltzer tablet, and some pens.

      • Lead them through all the instructions above, step by step.

      • Mention that big chunks of Alka Seltzer will inflate a balloon more slowly, while little bits or powder will inflate a balloon much faster. This is because the gas bubbles are only created when the water is touching the Alka Seltzer. A fine powder makes it easier for the water to react with the Alka Seltzer.

      • After everyone has finished their experiment, use tape to attach the balloons securely to the bottles, wrapping the tape around the bottleneck several times.

    • Second round:

      • Repeat the experiment, but this time, give them two tablets instead of one, and see what happens.

      • Finish the experiment by wrapping tape around the bottleneck several times. Compare the different sizes of the balloons. Note that more Alka Seltzer means more gas for the balloon.

  • Debrief

    • We did this experiment because it helps us to have stronger minds. If we have a strong mind, we can understand lots of things, we can understand why things work, and what needs to be changed or fixed.

    • A strong mind isn't just good for science, it's good for all of life and for following Jesus. So let's keep learning all kinds of things, and eventually we will be able to use all of our knowledge to help a lot of people.


    Ending

  • Teacher: if you have extra time, you can end the class with a game or a filler activity, or just chatting.

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