Wednesday's Explorer Journal Activity for Rahab

This Wednesday the children will be doing the review of the lesson on Rahab and they will do the activity for the Explorer Journal. We had a wonderful class period on Sunday. We had all my students there plus a visitor. I am glad the are all healthy. Hopefully, with the end of winter approaching the children will all stay well.

The kiddos were really into the lesson...I think they love the idea of being a spy! :-) They seem to really get into the fact that the Canaanites feared the Israelites!! They understand with God on our side we will always WIN!!!

The Explorer Journal Activity is a house with a flip top roof....under the roof is the spies....they will add the "flax" to hide the spies. I know they will LOVE this activity.










The kiddos will also be adding a piece to their Memory Verse Map. I know they will all have it memorized by Wednesday.







They loved the "Spies Escape" game... So, they will play it again. They will answer questions from the lesson in order to get to move the spies down the wall.

Hope you are having a wonderful week.

Blessings,

Ronda

Rahab Hides the Spies

This is Lesson 2 in Joshua and the Quest of Canaan, from the EXPLORING BIBLE HISTORY curriculum that I am writing. Last week we learned how Joshua became the new leader of the Hebrews. We learned how he was strong and brave.


This week we are learning about Rahab and the spies. The children will learn about how a Canaanite woman BELIEVED in GOD and helped the Hebrew spies.


The "Take Home" activity for this week is a "Wall of Jericho" with the spies escaping. I change this "Take Home" activity since making the prototype. The children's activity is not a box...but, it is more of a flat wall. However, it is a very sturdy activity...I ended up placing a piece of cardboard (from cereal boxes) between the 2 pieces of cardstock. This makes the project very sturdy. Then I punched a hole in the middle and added a "scarlet" (red yarn) cord . The spies are from a clip art program...I just punched holes in several places and the children will weave the "scarlet" cord through the spies hands and feet...this way it will look like they are holding on to the cord. The spies will then be able to move down the cord by pulling on the back of the project. Sounds kinda complicated...but it really was very easy. That is why I post pics....Pictures are worth a 1000 words. :-)




Our Memory Verse this week is Joshua 2:11. The children will color their Memory Verse Card during class on Sunday morning. We will sing the song that goes with this MV. Most of them will have it memorized before leaving class on Sunday. That is why I always put their MV to a tune. BTW, there is a young boy in my class that has every memory verse I have ever passed out for them to learn. I LOVE IT!!!







Our review game this week is called "The Spies Escape." The kiddos will answer questions from today's lesson...for every correct answer the spies are moved down the wall. I am sure those spies will safely escape Jericho...I teach a really great group of kiddos. This was made by printing an enlarged picture of my "Take Home." Then attatched it to a foam core style board...(this board is actually corregated plastic. I bought it at a local Good Will for a $1.00...I bought several for future projects.) I then attatched a "Scarlet Cord" using red yarn...and velcro dots. The spies have the opposite velcro dot on the back of them...that way they will stick to the wall as they "escape down the wall."


I am looking forward to this Sunday...I know the childre will LOVE this story...especially the boys. Anytime there is "danger," "spies." "escaping." etc. The boys get soooo excited! My girls will love it too....because a "GIRL" helped the spies. God needs both men and women.....Boys and Girls.

Blessings,

Ronda

Joshua the NEW Leader for the Hebrews

Wednesday Evenings are used as a review night. The children review the lesson they learned on Sunday Morning. We have found this to be a great teaching method. It allows us to make sure the children really understand what they learned on Sunday.

The children projects for Wednesday are placed in their Explorer Journal. Their Explorer Journal is kept in the classroom until the end of the quarter. We put every Wednesday Evening Activity in their Journal. We have found that when we collect the children's activities into a book...they become a family treasure.



The first Explorer Journal Activity for this quarter was Joshua the Leader. The children glued on clothing for Joshua....He is standing with the green, lush, and rich "Promised Land" in the background.
The children enjoyed gluing on Joshua's outfit.











Memory Verse are to be memorized and said on Wednesday nights....This quarter the children will be "filling" in a map as they say their Memory Verses. They will want their map complete which will encourage them to memorize their Memory Verses.






Our first MV for this quarter is Joshua 1:9. The children received their MV card on Sunday. They color it during class. We also have a song that we sing with each MV. This helps the children memorize the verses with ease. BTW, I never expect perfection with memorization...if they can tell me what the verse is saying...then I am HAPPY!!!






I think this will be a fun and exciting quarter....we have a whole lot to learn from Joshua and the Judges!!!!


Blessings,

Ronda

Joshua and The Judges

NEW QUARTER -- More EXPLORING!!!!

This past Sunday we began our new quarter in our Exploring Bible History Curriculum. I have been soooo busy writing and producing materials for this new quarter that I have NOT had much time to blog. But, now that the quarter has begun, I will try to let you all know what we are doing in class. Our new Explorer Journals are RED. Each quarter had a different color Explorer Journal. Genesis was blue. Exodus Green and Joshua and Judges will be red. The color match a unique TIME LINE that we have hanging in the hallway of the church building. The children love being able to look at the boards and locate the stories we are learning in class.

This was our first lesson about Joshua. We were truly sad to learn about Moses's death on Mount Nebo. The children really learned a lot from Moses. However, we are excited about Joshua becoming the new leader of the Hebrews.

We focused on the history of the Hebrews...we talked about their LONG journey from Egypt. We then went on to talk about how BRAVE Joshua was...and that God had promised to be with him, as HE had been with Moses.



Our "Take Home" activity was a PLAQUE with Joshua 1:9 on it. The children colored the plaques with crayon and then glued on the laminated verse. They were thrilled with their PLAQUES. They were very excited and began telling me where they were going to hang them. One boy told me he wanted to hang his in his bedroom...to remind him to be brave every day. (Statements like that from children just make this Bible Class Teacher SMILE!)






Our Memory Verse is a portion of Joshua 1:9. We sang (I always put their memory verses to a tune) the memory verse several times in class. We will be filling in an "Explorer's Map" with a sticker, every time they have their Memory Verse memorized.





The Memory Verse "Explorer Maps" are hanging right below their attendance charts. I have found if I hang personal charts together they are more likely to find their own w/o asking me over and over again, "Which one is mine?" Please remember I am teaching the Preschool-1st graders.


Our review game was a very simple game this week. We played a version of "Follow the Leader." I was the first leader....they children had to follow me and do what I did. Then the children had to answer a question from the lesson to get to be the next leader. While they were leading the class around the room we sang a song from the lesson. "Joshua The New Leader." But, for the game we replaced Joshua with the students name that was leading the class. They really enjoyed it!!!!



We are very excited about this new quarter. I will be very busy and hope to bring you some wonderful teaching ideas.

Blessings,
Ronda

Review What We Have Learned During the Quarter

We have finished all the lessons in Book 2 of the Exploring Bible History Curriculum I am writing. We have had so much fun learning about Moses's life. On the table sits a visual reminder of some of the stories we have learned during this past quarter.

The kiddos EXPLORER JOURNALS are ready for the parents to pick up during "conference" time. I have the parents come to the classroom and let their child "PRESENT" their EXPLORER JOURNAL to their mom and dad. I am so please with the parents support and how excited they are to receive these Journals. These EXPLORER JOURNALS will immediately be family treasures.

The children have amazed me. The are doing a great job at remembering the stories, and lessons learned. They have also done a great job at remember where in the Bible we find the stories.



So, for the next few weeks we are going to be doing a fun review. I made up some "boards" and labeled them "Genesis" and "Exodus-Numbers." I attached velcro stips to the boards and velcro dots to the backs of each picture.

The children will pick a picture out of a box, tell me which Bible story the picture represents, and we may sing a song that goes with that story...and then they will tell me which Book of the Bible the story is found in. Then they will add the picture to the correct board.





I feel this is a unique and fun way to review what they
have learned...I believe in reviewing
(WE WANT THEM TO REMEMBER WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED!!!!) often. Make reviewing fun!!





Blessings,

Ronda

Wednesday's Explorer Journal Activity Balaam and the Talking Donkey

Our Wednesday night review is taught by another teacher...I am currently teaching a YOUNG LADIES Bible Class on Wednesday Nights. However, I want to keep you updated on what we do in our Wednesday Night Review Nights.


This past Wednesday night the teacher reviewed the story of Balaam and the Talking Donkey. Again, the children LOVED this story. My co-teacher uses all the same visuals, games, etc. as I do on Sunday Morning.

However, on Wednesday Evening the activity the children make is kept in the classroom, in a book we call their Explorer Journal. This has been a great way to preserve all the kiddos HARD WORK...I BELIEVE THEY WORK VERY HARD IN CLASS!! The parents get to take home the Explorer Journal at the end of a quarter. The parents have been thrilled with these JOURNALS. It is wonderful to go back an look through them and see what all the children have learned.



Well this past Wednesday's Explorer Journal activity was a "moving" picture of Balaam and the Talking Donkey. The Donkey can move towards the angel. I decided to do this by using yarn and a straw...kids colored their donkey, Balaam, angel, and background. The yarn and straw were already attatched to the paper...they just colored around it. After gluing on the angel they TAPED the straw to the back of the DONKEY and walla, a movable, walking, "talking" donkey.






This takes a little more time than most of our activities, but the end product is great...they loved moving their donkey along the road.






They all said their MEMORY VERSE and placed a sticker on the Explorer Journal Backpack. (I will take/post a picture of their "Backpacks" soon.

They also had just a few minutes to play the "PIN THE MOUTH ON THE DONKEY" game. We may have to play that game again on review SUNDAYS.

Blessings,

Ronda

Balaam and the Talking Donkey

This is our LAST lesson in the second book of my Exploring Bible History Curriculum.

The children have really enjoyed these lessons...and we will shortly be going on into book THREE...however we have a few weeks of REVIEWING FUN COMING UP FIRST. I will post about our review days.


This lesson was about Balaam and the Talking Donkey. The Children LOVED!!! this lesson. It is amazing how excited they get over the Donkey Talking. The focus of the lesson, of course, was we MUST LISTEN TO GOD!!! Because, I do NOT have a talking Donkey....I ended up using a donkey that I had found at Micheal's Craft store for $1.00. I LOVE this sturdy little donkey. To make a Balaam, I cut one of my makingfriends.com Bible Friends, that I had made and laminated years ago, to fit on the donkey. I think it turned out cute.




For the kiddos "Take Home" activity, we made a Paper Bag Donkey Puppet....I loved hearing them sing "Balaam Rode a Donkey" with the Donkey Puppet on their hands. They are soooo cute!!! I had planned on adding YARN hair to the donkey, but do to the snow and ice we were having I was unable to make it to the craft store. The kids were OK without the yarn...however, I think it would have made them a little cuter.

Again, due to the weather...I had to take home the supplies to make the puppets (remember I think crafts should NOT take up too much time in Bible Class...So, I do 90% of the work before class.) Here they are drying on my kitchen table. :-)

Our Memory Verse was a good verse to help remind us to LISTEN TO GOD! We sang the Memory Verse to the tune: "Ten Little Indians."










Our review game was soooo much fun. We played 'PIN the MOUTH ON BALAAM"S DONKEY." Some of the kids did not want to wear the mask...however, most of them LOVED wearing the mask. For a turn they had to answer a question about today's story.




I will post about Wednesday Nights Activities Shortly.

Blessings,

Ronda