Life of Jesus...Let Your Light Shine

Our continuing Exploration through the Life of Jesus Has brought us to the time when Jesus is Preaching the Sermon on the Mount. 

We did a previous lesson on the Beatitudes and with lesson we will focus on Letting Our Light Shine. 

We added NEW CARDS to our DO You Know? Wall.  My Expectation is for the KIDDOS to be able to answer each of these by the end of the lesson. 

We Added a NEW Card to our GOD'S AWESOME PLAN FOR MAN Timeline!!  We chose to use a CANDLE to represent the LESSON that JESUS taught regarding LETTING ONE'S LIGHT SHINE!

 

This is one of our lessons that has two  SONGS  to learn.  

The  song, "LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE BEFORE MEN"  BY, RONDA DUVALL,  is simple and  it the same tune as our memory verse, which helped with learning the song and memory verse, too.  

The song, "IS YOUR LIGHT SHINING FOR THE LORD?"  BY, RONDA DUVALL  is a fun song to sing with a flashlight....we actually turned the lights out in the room and each KIDDO had a flashlight to use as we sang the song...the KIDDOS LOVED it!!!!

Our MEMORY VERSE  was Matthew 5:15    I explained that we are to let our light shine in front of friends, family and strangers.  We do this so that they will see our good work and give GOD glory!!  We are NOT supposed to be doing good works to get self PRAISE.  Good lesson for all of us to WATCH our MOTIVES!!

To hear the MEMORY VERSE song click on this link.  Matthew 5:16

We had three new words to add to our WORD WALL.  I chose TRUSTWORTHY, HONEST AND ANGER.  

Those are important words for the KIDDOS to understand for this lesson to make more sense to them.  

The KIDDOS TAKE-HOME project was a candle that the KIDDOS could actually turn on!!   Because, I do not want crafts to take up a ton of my teaching time....these  were pretty much completely assembled prior to class...but, the KIDDOS got to pick out their candle, turn it on and add it to their Candle top.

These candles were made from tissue tubes, plastic milk caps, glitter, glue, cardstock, aluminium foil, bottom of tomato cage, plastic napkin rings, and a battery powered tea light candle.   

The picture on the left shows the glued in MILK Cap...It worked perfectly to hold the Tea Light!!  I'm pleased with how these little candles turned out.  

Our REVIEW game for this lesson was a LOT of fun!!!  




This is a CLASS BOARD GAME. We play it with ONE playing piece...The KIDDOS in my class are in PK through FIRST GRADE.  I have learned that "Competition" games are not always the best choice for this age group.  So, we often play BOARD GAMES with ONE movable piece that belongs to all the KIDDOS and we all work together to move around the board.  

This game was made on the BACK of an old Board Game. This was played by the KIDDOS drawing a FLASHLIGHT card and learning if their light was shining bright or not....then the KIDDOS followed the direction on the card.  

 

As you recall, the second week of the LESSON is when we REVIEW.  It gives me opportunity to correct any misunderstandings.  It gives opportunities to the KIDDOS who missed class the first week to "CATCH UP."  This is the Week we SAY our MEMORY VERSE from MEMORY and we do an ACTIVITY that we add to our EXPLORER JOURNAL.  

This LESSONS EXPLORER JOURNAL ACTIVITY was fun.    The KIDDOS colored a candle and then added some red foil to the back and it made the flame look really cool....the foil paper had some texture, which gave the candle a really neat look!!  

I am thoroughly enjoying teaching the KIDDOS through the LIFE of CHRIST.  It is exciting to see them get excited about LEARNING more and more about JESUS!!!  

BLESSINGS, 

RONDA

Coffee Can Turned Tower of Babel

We had several coffee can donated to us....So, we decided to make a TOWER OF BABEL Building Set.   












We did this for the 2 year old to 4 year old class.  They were easy peasy to make.  We simply wrapped each can with Stone Pattern Bulletin Board Boarder Paper and Taped it on with CLEAR Packing Tape.  We used Silver Sharpie Paint Pens to color the Red part of the can. 

As I said, easy peasy!!!  The KIDDOS will LOVE Building the Tower of Babel...and who knows, if we get enough maybe they can use them as the Walls Of Jericho.  
















Remember, Before Throwing ANYTHING away....ASK, "Can I possibly use this some way to teach a Bible Lesson." 

Free Visuals are WONDERFUL!

Blessings,

Ronda

Dollar Tree Match Boxes---Mini Books of the Bible

 My KIDDOS have been learning all about THE BIBLE.  We will continue this study until October.  It has been a fun and exciting undertaking to get the KIDDOS to Memorize the Books of the Bible, The Sections of the Bible and a simple Synopsis of each book of the Bible.  

To help with this adventure, I decided to make some SMALL BIBLE BOOKS out of Match Boxes.  I purchased the Match Boxes at the Dollar Tree.  ---The Matches will be used when lighting our outdoor fireplace.  :-)    

Once the matches were removed from each box--remember we needed 66 boxes---one for each book of the Bible.  I wrapped each box with various colors of scrap paper.  I then glued the paper onto the 3 sides of the box and TA-DA they began to look like little BOOKS!!!!  

I then delivered the little books to my classroom helper.  She has the ability to write small and neat.  I have very BIG handwriting with lots of loops and curls.      She neatly wrote the name of each book of the Bible on all 66 Match Box Books.  

I decided I wanted to have the KIDDOS use these as a REVIEW GAME.   So, I made up some DIVISIONS of the BIBLE HEADER CARDS and printed and laminated them.  I attached them to milk caps---y'all know I save those caps!!!---I then made circles with the NUMBER of each books for each SECTION of the BIBLE.  EXAMPLE:  GOSPEL--4,   LAW---5,  HISTORY--12, NT HISTORY--1!  I'm sure you understand.  

First we would start by getting the categories in order.  Then the  KIDDOS would DRAW out a BOOK of the BIBLE from that GREEN BUCKET and then place it in the correct place.  Then we would work together to get the books in the correct order!!  It was so much fun!!!!!  The KIDDOS really enjoy the hands-on experience!!!  

I also decided to make a small "bookcase" for the KIDDOS to place the BOOKS of the BIBLE in order on.  This was a great way to store the "books" from week to week.    It was a cracker box and foam core.  It would not be something to keep LOOOONG term.  But, it worked for the KIDDOS while we were practicing memorizing our books of the BIBLE.

These now reside in that GREEN BUCKET---we call them REVIEW BUCKETS!!!  The KIDDOS can get them out prior to class time and REVIEW concepts that they have already learned. Sometimes, we have BUCKET REVIEW SUNDAY.  The KIDDOS move from BUCKET TO BUCKET working on PASSED LEARNED CONCEPTS!!!  They seem to enjoy doing this from time to time and it allows me to make sure they REMEMBER things they have LEARNED!!!

Blessings, 

Ronda

HOBT

Twelve Sons of Jacob Visual Made from Gerber Puff Containers

Recently, I was in GREAT need of an EXCITING VISUAL for teaching an upcoming lesson on the Twelve SONS of JACOB.    

Although I have several style of visuals for the Sons of Jacob, I wanted something that would GRAB the KIDDOS attention and that they would find EXCITING to look at and touch.

So, WHAT was I to do???  

I began looking around my classroom and noticed I have a BUNCH of these Puff Containers. Several of our young mommies have donated these to me and I knew I would put them to use, ONE DAY!!

So, I gathered my COLORED SHARPIES and began making a set of Jacob's 12 Sons.    I peeled the wrappers off the containers and began drawing faces, hair,  then robes and sandals.  I wanted them to have a veil of some kind....so, I grabbed some scrap material and yarn. I shaped the material scraps over the top of the containers and tied them on with yarn. 

I think they turned out cute. My KIDDOS LOVED THEM.  They were great for using while telling the story and we used them to REVIEW the SONS names, mother, birth order, and importance in history.  

The cards in front of each of the sons list their NAME, MOTHER AND BIRTH ORDER.   There is a picture on the other side that has their name.  

The Pictures are random "bible men" clipart pictures from phillipmartin.com.  I just printed and cut out the men to represent the sons.

The pictures and information helped the KIDDOS know more about each son....the cards also, make reviewing the sons of Jacob a type of match game.  

We had the KIDDOS match via the names and we matched via the name MEANING and Birth Order.  

The Review Games were challenging and yet fun.  It amazes me HOW fast KIDDOS can memorize and recall information.

When teaching about the 12 sons of Jacob, I do a LOT of focusing on JUDAH, LEVI and JOSEPH. We talk about Jesus coming through Judah. Levi being the priestly tribe and Joseph  saving his family.    I LOVE seeing the KIDDOS understanding expand and broaden as we keep on EXPLORING BIBLE HISTORY!!!  

By the way....REMEMBER, before you toss it in the trash can ask yourself, "COULD I USE THIS TO TEACH A BIBLE STORY?" 

Blessings,

Ronda