GOD'S AWESOME PLAN FOR MAN---BOX 4 Joshua and Judges

 We are continuing our TOUR of our GOD'S AWESOME PLAN FOR MAN Boxes....They really are a wonderful teaching tool.  

This is the Joshua and Judges Box.  

JUST a quick peek....before, I pour it all out!!  LOL

 In this box we have several TOYS that help the KIDDOS remember the LESSONS from the life of Joshua and the time period of the Judges.  

We have a HORN.    The KIDDOS made these horns when we learned about the taking of Jericho.  

We have a DEBORAH (formally MARY from a Fisher Price Little People set.----I got it for FREE at a Garage Sale.)  and a Palm Tree.  Balaam's Donkey.  Samson the Judge.    We have RUTH--notice the wheat...GRAPES for the SPIES to carry back, young Samuel and Hannah.   

A SUN---for when the sun stood still. A WOODEN house with, "As for Me and My House, we will serve the LORD." written on it.  And a sand toy---it is our Jericho!!  

As you can see---I use a variety of items from a variety of places.   The grapes were formally attached to a bottle of grape smelling bubbles.  The wooden house came from one of those sets of wooden houses most of us had back in the early 90's.  Each house has a letter on it---WELCOME.  

The sand toy came from Dollar Tree.  The PALM tree came from a KIDS MEAL that my daughters got when they were little---they now 18, 24 and 25 years old.  :-)

Blessings,

Ronda

LAP BOOKS ARE AMAZING

First off let me explain---THESE ARE NOT FROM MY CLASS!!!! 

This is an activity that is done in our 2nd-4th grade class.  They are using the Discovering God's Way curriculum  that can be purchased through CEI bookstore.  

This Lap Book activity is NOT part of the curriculum, ...but, it is our TEACHERS taking their curriculum and expanding it with an activity.  

I love it when teachers take a CURRICULUM and ADD activities to really EXCITE the KIDDOS LEARNING. 

These are made from FILE FOLDERS.  They are TAPED together and FOLDED back and forth....The Teacher prepares all the items that will attached...BUT, the KIDDOS do all the Coloring, cutting, gluing, etc. 

I think they are BEAUTIFUL!   My son, who moved out of my class this passed promotion period, made one and he is THRILLED!!!!!  He is able to tell me EVERY STORY that they covered during this passed quarter.  

I thought that those of you that teach older KIDDOS might appreciate me sharing this idea!!!  

Since they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words"  ---I will share a LOT of pictures.   You are welcomed to ask me questions and I will try to answer them. 

We are BLESSED to have dedicated Teachers  ....And, the KIDDOS are so Richly Blessed!!! 

 This is what their Lap Book looks like--when it is all folded up!

Lap Book All STRETCHED out.   Side 1

Lap Book All STRETCHED out. Side 2

As you can tell, this past quarter the KIDDOS in our 2nd-4th grade classes learned about the Judges- the United Kingdom.  Their knowledge of this important period of our Bible HISTORY is AMAZING.  Thanks to the effort of the TEACHERS that PUT IN SOME EXTRA TIME AND EFFORT. 

I LOVE the fact that some of the pages of their Lap Book have Flaps that Have to be LIFTED/MOVED so that you can read MORE information!!!  Some of the Pages even have Moving Pieces or 3D items.  

I cannot say it enough ---The KIDDOS LOVED making these!!!!  And, as a MOM of one of the KIDDOS----I will TREASURE going over this with my son for years to come!!!

 Blessings,




Ronda

Eli, Hannah and Samuel.....Exploring Bible History

We have JUST begun our NEW UNIT!!!!!!  We are going to be EXPLORING  and  learning about Eli, Samuel, Saul, David and Solomon.  We are going to be VERY BUSY over the next quarter.

This is the way I "CONTAIN" my teaching materials....I use a BIG BINDER and plastic sleeves----LOTS OF PLASTIC SLEEVES!!!!!!  

I am PRAYING fervently about this undertaking.  It is a little more challenging to come up with activities, review games, etc. for the material we are about to EXPLORE......so, I am STRETCHING my brain as I work on these lessons.  :-)

This is what my classroom looks like!!!  I am blessed to have a LARGE ROOM....with plenty of room for the kiddos activities!!!

We have

'TABLE TIME" 

&  

"CIRCLE TIME." 

Our EAA, which stands for EARLY ARRIVAL ACTIVITY is a PUZZLE and then a DRAWING activity. 

I made this puzzle using frames from the Dollar Tree!!!  I call the puzzle "GOD'S AMAZING PLAN!" It is truly a puzzle with each TIME PERIOD OF THE BIBLE in each puzzle piece.  The kiddos worked together to get the puzzle in the correct chronological order!!!

After they completed the puzzle I allowed them to draw in "white boards."  These boards are cut from wall board that I purchased at LOWES..  $11.96 gave me 32 white boards!!!!  I have shared them with ALL the other Bible Classes!!!!   I had coded the white boards with various BIBLE characters and events.  The kiddos had to draw me a picture of what they could remember about the character of event.  THEY LOVED IT!!!!!  All kiddos love to draw on the white/chalk board so, I decided to use this to MY ADVANTAGE!!!!  I will post some pics of what they drew----They amazed me!!!!!

We have NEW cards to add to our WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? and HOW? WALL!!!!  

We have a  "NEW" map up on the wall.  

 

We have already added two locations!!!!  

 

The kiddos LOVE to add new locations to the map.

This is our NEW bulletin board.

BTW, I just use the WALL!!!

We have 3 CROWNS and 3 MEN that would be KING.  

We will write (with a sharpie) information about each KING  on each crow.  BTW, the pictures came from DOLLAR TREE...I bought them last year....I sure hope they come out with MORE BIBLE related visuals!

Hannah Praying

Hannah's Answered Prayer!

Our first lesson was about Hannah.  Hannah prayed fervently for a baby boy.  The kiddos were very engaged with this story.  I explained how Hannah went to GOD through prayer.  I let them know that GOD really wants us to let HIM know our wants and needs.  They seemed to really get IT!!!!  YAY!!!!!

This was the kiddos "TAKE HOME." 

 

Our Memory Verse was Psalm 38:15.  "For in YOU, O LORD, I hope.  You will hear, O Lord my GOD."     I  felt this was an appropriate verse for the subject we were EXPLORING.  We sang the verse to the tune:  "One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indians."

Our REVIEW Game was called "PIN THE BOTTLE ON SAMUEL"  Each bottle had a question about the lesson written on it.  If the kiddo answer correctly (which they ALL did) they had to opportunity to "pin" (we used double stick tape) the bottle to Samuel.  They really enjoyed this!!!!!

On Wednesday Evening the kiddos colored  a picture of Samuel...added a "real" rattle and 3D blocks that spell SAMUEL.    They all turned our soooo sweet.  The kiddos added this to their NEW EXPLORER JOURNAL.    (The rattles came from the DOLLAR TREE   and we made the BLOCKS using little square wooden pieces and foamy  3D letters.)

I told you we are going to be busy....  :-)     And, I would NOT have it any other way!!!!!  I feel soooo blessed to be a BIBLE CLASS teacher!!!!  I am looking forward to sharing our EXPLORATIONS with you over the next few months!!!! 

Blessings,

 

 

Ronda

Devoted Ruth

We recently learned the story of Ruth in Bible Class.  This story is such an encouraging story.  It teaches great lessons of love, devotion, dedication, selflessness, and strength in times of hardship.  I also love to teach the concept of being a hard worker when teaching the story of Ruth.  

The story of Ruth should be taught when teaching through the Judges.  I will give one word of warning....my kiddos struggled with her name.  They continually called her "Rahab."   I would have to constantly remind them her name was RUTH.  We had to go over all the names of the people in this lesson several times.   Since they seemed to struggle...we focused mainly on Naomi, Ruth, Orpah, Boaz, and Obed.  I figured if they could get these names down and what part they had to do with the story and who was in the family line of Jesus then I would be happy.  

We had success after reviewing several times and in several methods.  Don't give up...and if you realize your students are confused....don't be afraid to slow down and reteach a lesson.  I would rather "fall behind a week" than  for the kiddos NOT to understand something.

The song you see in the picture above was a great help with teaching this story.  The kids got the song down rather quickly....We enjoyed singing it together.

For the "Take Home" project the  children made a Ruth paper doll and glued on wheat to her basket.  Her arm is attached with a brad so that it can move. 

Our memory verse was Ruth 1:16.  This was a very fun memory verse.  We sang it several times and the kids had it memorized before leaving class on Sunday.  I did have some word to explain.  Like the word "wither" and "lodge."   

We did a map review today.  The kids amazed me...they remembered where MOAB was.  They recalled the story of King Eglon and Ehud.  I was very impressed.  I love being impressed by 4 and 5 year olds.  It just makes me smile.

Our Review Activity was a "Gleaning Wheat" game.  Each student answered a question from the lesson.  If they got the answer correct they would take my basket and glean in the "Field of Boaz."  Our classroom floor served as Boaz's field.  :-)    The kiddos LOVED playing this game.  I love getting them out of their chairs and learning as we 'play."

The Wednesday "Explorer Journal" Activity was a picture of Ruth to color and then they glued on Wheat...Looks like she is in a wheat field.


This was a fun lesson to teach.  Even with the name struggles.  The kiddos loved the "REAL" wheat and learned so much about being devoted, helpful and hard workers.




Blessings.

Samson the Strong Judge

The children LOVED the lesson about Samson.  It is amazing how excited they get when learning about Samson and his AMAZING STRENGTH.  

For their "Take Home" activity the kiddos made a Samson Puppet.  It was made by coloring a face and MUSCLED arms and gluing them to a tongue depressor.  They then glued on 7 braids of LONG hair. (My daughter had crocheted the "hair" for me prior to class.)  We just cut the crocheted chain to length and knotted it at the bottom.  Check out the pic.  :-)  

I loved the finished product....The children would hold their "puppet" and talk in their strongest Samson voice.  It was sooo cute.  I loved hearing my youngest student say, "I am Samson, I am the strongest man and I had long hair and I was a Nazarite."  Imagine it said by a little girl in a deep style voice. 

I felt Psalm 18:32 was an appropriate memory verse for this lesson.  We talked about how we can be STRONG if we OBEY God. 

We also had a little song that we sang to help the kiddos memorize the verse.  Most of them had it memorized before leaving Bible Class on Sunday AM.

The kiddos "Explorer Journal" activity for Wednesday was a lacing/sewing style project.  We had the children "lace" Samson's hair.  The kids did an AMAZING job on this project.  We had threaded the yarn through the first hole and taped the end of the yarn to make for easy threading.  I think they turned out cute.

Our Review Activity Game was a TEST OF STRENGTH.    The kiddos were sooooo funny...they all wanted to lift the heaviest weights first....however, they quickly learned the biggest weights were NOT the heaviest.   I decided to make the questions a little more "fun" to choose....I made them to look like barbells.  They were made from small styrofoam balls and drinking straws.  I then glued the questions on....the kiddos reaction to the question "card" was fun....They would pic a question and then "struggle" (as if they were lifting a real heavy weight) to lift the question up off the table.  After answering the question correctly they had the opportunity to see how strong they were by lifting real weights.  They LOVED this!!!!!! 

Teaching the story of Samson was so enjoyable.  I love it when the kids enjoy their lessons!!!!!

Blessings