Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 4 JOY

I can hardly believe we are already on Lesson 4 of our Fruit of the Spirit  lesson material.  The children seem to really be enjoying this material.  Lesson four was all about the attribute: JOY.  So, I decided that I needed to find a story in the Bible that showed someone that went from being unhappy, worried, concerned, etc. to being happy, thrilled, and filled with JOY.  So, I decided to use the Parable of the Lost Sheep to illustrate one who became JOYFUL.  

I told the children the story (put into my own words) from Luke 15:1-7.  We learned that a Shepherd is one that takes care of sheep.  We learned that this shepherd had 100 sheep, but sadly one had become lost.  The shepherd loved his little lost sheep and went to look for him.  He looked, and looked and looked until he FOUND his little lost sheep.  He was sooo, happy that he found his sheep that he carried the sheep home and then threw a big party.  I asked each of the children if they had ever lost and then found something....I asked them how they felt when they found what they had lost.  Then I went on and explained that GOD loves us and never want us to wander away from HIM.  

Our TAKE HOME activity was a DIORAMA.  This was a simple FOLDED PAPER project...We added a PUFF ball sheep and a shepherd.  The children also enjoyed adding paper "grass."  The kiddos really liked their Dioramas....They were soo excited to show them to their parents.  I think they turned out really cute.

Our memory verse this week was John 10:14.  We had a little tune that we sang this Memory Verse too.  The children had it memorized before leaving class...Matter-Of-Fact, they enjoyed singing the Memory Verse song so much that they were singing their Memory Verse going down the hallway.  It made me SMILE!!!!  :-)

One of our sheep is missing!!

We searched until we FOUND IT!!

Our Game/Activity was based on our Memory Verse...  I printed one word of our memory verse onto some sheep.  I had them all set up in a row on the table, but made sure to HIDE one sheep before class time.  We started the game by saying the memory verse to see which little sheep was missing.  The kiddos had SOOOOO much fun searching for the lost sheep,,,,that we ended up playing it several times...I let each student have an opportunity to hide the sheep...and the one that found the sheep had to carry it all the way back to the table on their shoulders.  It was soooo cute!!!!

One of the students carried it home and placed it safely on the table.

 

 

 

I wanted to show you something NEW we have started in Bible Class....It is a BIBLE WORD WALL....I am sure you have seen Word Walls in school classrooms.  I decided that the children were learning so many NEW words that I needed an easy way to REVIEW the words that they have learned.  The kiddos are sooo thrilled about learning "BIG PEOPLE" words.  I let them know that it is important to use these words correctly and to share these words with their Parents.  We will be adding to this WALL each week.  I will refer to this WALL each week...so, I thought it might be a useful thing for others.  When we teach kiddos words that they need to remember I think it is important for them to SEE those WORDS in the classroom.  So, this is a quick and easy way to have those words within the children's  eyesight.   

On Wednesday Evening the children will be making these Very Puffy,and Fluffy Sheep for their Explorer Journal.  They are made out of card stock and cotton.  I love the way they POP UP OFF the page.  I know the kiddos will enjoy making these little sheep. I think they are cute.

I am enjoying teaching this UNIT of the Fruit of the Spirit.  It has allowed the children to lean VARIOUS stories from the Bible.  Since I normally teach in a CHRONOLOGICAL fashion, this is a nice break from MY norm.  It is challenging me to think of Biblical Example that go along with each attribute of the Fruit of the Spirit.  So far, so good.  

Blessings, 

Ronda

 

Fruit of the Spirit Lesson 3 LOVE

Lesson three of our Fruit of the Spirit unit was a lesson on LOVE.  I used the verse John 3:16 as our main text.  We learned how God LOVES us soooo much that HE sent HIS Son JESUS to die for our sins.  

For our  "story time" I used a small story book that showed the basic life of Christ.  It started with his humble birth.  The book then showed a few highlights from HIS life...and then HIS death, burial and resurrection.  The book ended with a GIANT HEART that has the words, "BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU" on it.  It was a nice way to give a short chronological account of the life of Christ.

As our TAKE HOME project we made a type of mobile.  The kiddos LOVED the 3D earth that they got to glue to their mobile. They also got to stick on 3D foamy heart stickers.  The pictures really help you see what we made during class. 

The little globes came from a pencil sharpener that I had purchased a while back at Target.   I think they turned our darling!

Our memory verse was JOHN 3:16....We sang the verse to a little tune to help the kiddos get it memorized.  They ALL had it memorized before leaving the classroom!!!

The kiddos loved coloring the heart with the earth in the middle of it.  I explained that GOD'S love for the world...Is really GOD'S love for mankind

For our Activity/Review Game we play "Put the LIFE of CHRIST in order."  I had added a small picture ,that matched the pictures in the book we read during "story time," to Popsicle sticks.  Then used an old piece of Styrofoam placed each piece in order of events in the LIFE of CHRIST.  Then took them all our and mixed them up.  The kiddos had to answer a question from the lesson to pick a piece and place it in the styrofoam in the correct order.  They did a really good job getting them in the right order.  It was a challenge for the younger students and a BREEZE for my older student.  So, I had the older student "HELP" the younger ones...It was great fun!!!  It was also a very effective yet inexpensive way to review the lesson.

I wanted to encourage the kiddos to memorize the memory verses.  I decided that a basket would be perfect. If they can say the memory verse on Sunday, they get to add a new FRUIT to their basket.  They are so excited about "FILLING" their basket with the fruit stickers.  

Simple things make kids happy. 

On Wednesday Evening the kiddos had a puzzle with pizazz to make.  This project goes into their "Explorer Journal."  To make this the kiddos had to put the puzzle  (we had already cut each puzzle out) together first...then colored it however they wanted.  Then for a SPECIAL SURPRISE... or the PIZAZZ, as I like to call it....they got to glue on a wooden globe to the center of the heart!!!!  This gives this puzzle a SPECIAL touch. 

The children LOVED this...they all thought the GLOBE was really COOL.  I love it when something so simple makes them excited about their projects...and helps make the lesson more memorable for them.

I bought something NEW for my classroom...We do a lot of on the carpet activities...I had wanted to buy a large rug that had colored squares for each student....however, I could NOT afford to do this at the moment.  So, I decided to keep my eyes opened for ANYTHING that would accomplish the same desired effect at a much lower cost....Well, while shopping at ROSS recentely I noticed these great FOAM puzzle pieces....A light bulb went off and well...NOW, each of my students has their OWN SPOT to sit during our CARPET TIME activities.  :-) 

Blessings,

Ronda