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