PHOTOPHILIC

This page presents training in method selection to fill in the Lesson Plan Form, which you will need to print.

The seven partitions for juniors and children are:

OPENING...attention grabber

PRESENTING...introducing the subject

EXPLORING...investigating the scripture

RESPONDING...creative involvement

REPETITION...recalling, completing, some aspect of the opening or presentation partition.

REPETITION...recalling or completing some aspect of the exploring partition.

CONCLUDING...closing the lesson with easily remembered principles.


Always try to choose three methods for each partition because if one choice seems to be failing, you will have a back-up plan! Also, it is better to have more material than you can use than to not have enough! These are not difficult methods.

Make a copy of the LESSON PLAN FORM to use with your activity selection!

acrostic writing

Use a key word to the lesson, such as JESUS. Ask your students to supply words describing Jesus that start with the letters in His name.

J = joyful

E = encouraging

S = Savior

U = unselfish

S = sincere



advertisement brochure

After you describe a Biblical location, have your students create an advertisement brochure that attempts to lure tourists to the scene...such as a desert oasis, or the royal inauguration of King David...or see how well they do trying to lure tourists into the Den of Lions where Daniel spent a night! Have them draw pictures, mention "surrounding attractions" and such.

Another advertisement idea is to promote the sale of some artifact mentioned in your Bible lesson that plays a key role in your lesson objective. Describe it and its use to your students, and have them try to "sell" it to the public...such as chariot wheels that came off in the Red Sea when Egypt pursued Moses in the Exodus...or Elijah's coat that he left behind with Elisha.



assignment/project

Good closing method..."Based on the lesson taught today, what can you do this week to..." (show Jesus you love Him by showing love to others) Give students something precise to accomplish before next sunday and ask them to be prepared to show and tell.



bean bag toss

Very adaptable "fast thinking" game. Students form a circle and toss the bean bag randomly to various students. All students must respond to a single question as soon as they catch the bean bag without repeating another's answer. One word answers are best, so plan your question to be answered that way. For instance, "Jesus is my...." (Friend, Savior, Guide, Joy...) or "Things that make me happy are..." or Things that make me angry are..."  I heard one teen say,” Things that make me angry are people who toss me a bean bag before I can think of anything.”  It’s alright to have some fun with this.  Just be sure to pin your theme into their minds.



Bible character interview

Give students pointers about interviewing people in the news. Show how reporters will show, as the "man at the scene" what just happened and what did they see. After presenting the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus, have a visiting adult or another student pose as one of the disciples that did NOT get out of the boat onto the water. Have your "reporter" interview him about the event, what he thought of it, would he do it, what does this mean for other followers of Jesus...etc. Perhaps provide rain gear or bring a boat paddle for props. 



Bible drama

Have students create a skit to portray the scripture story you are teaching. Keep them focused on your declared objective. What principle to you want them to learn and convey by their skit? Not all passages lend themselves well to this activity. However, many of Jesus' parables and many historical accounts in the Old and New Testaments are well suited to this method. Use props and costumes from common articles, such as towels for turbans, broom for shepherd's staff. 

     We recently had students take off their shoes and socks, and used markers to draw faces on the bottoms of their feet.  Their feet became the puppet-characters in the story of the Samaritan woman in John 4.  I was not a boring lesson!  The questions I asked about the woman, Jesus, the disciples, and the townspeople were responded to very well.



Bible Scrabble

Various ways to play this game. I bring my scrabble game from home, divide ALL the tiles among four players and instruct them that they can only build words from the "key words" list I provide from the lesson of the day.



Bible Story Picture Book

Each student receives several sheets of paper and crayons. They use these to draw and color pictures in a sequential manner to retell the story you just taught from the Bible. As in the first picture shows lots of hungry people sitting to hear Jesus teach, next frame is a boy with a sack lunch offered to Jesus, next frame is Jesus praying, giving portions to disciples, next frame...and so on.



Bible Verse Rebus

Use pictures instead of words to teach the main Bible verse for this lesson. Picture a net for the word "net". Picture an eye for the word "I". A good board game for ideas is "Whatzit?" Try this site for other ideas:


The Bible Worm
This is good for teaching a memory verse to your students. Make a segmented worm from construction paper. Write the verse, one word per segment of the "worm". Hang the "worm" on clothesline one word at a time, starting with the first word of the verse.
Explain the verse one word at a time. OR
Say the first word, having students repeat it. Then say the first two words, having students repeat. Then say the first three words, having students repeat. Continue to end.

The Book Center
Create a small library in your class room. Collect resource and reference books, such as Bible Dictionaries, Concordances, Bible Lands Maps, Bible Customs, Picture Bibles, etc...  Find ways to have students use these in class.  A word or phrase may not be familiar to them.  Finding other places in the Bible where these are used can be very interesting.  Finding other mentions of a key place in your lesson may bring fresh understanding.

Brainstorming
Present a clearly defined problem and goal. Example: People sometimes treat others badly. Compare Jesus' responses to these two injustices and decide how we should deal with injustice. John 8:3...& Luke 23:34

Buzz Groups
Divide your class into at least two groups if you have a minimum of six students. Keep your groups small so they can work quickly on their projects. For insight assignments each group attempts to discover and later describe their insights into a particular verse of scripture or situation found in the Bible. For solution assignments each group tries to solve a problem presented in a Bible story. Each group can be given differing assignments. It is helpful to give each group a specific list of questions to answer. SAMPLES: How do people show anger? How should christians deal with anger? Ephesians 4:26

Recorded Interviews
Getting kids to respond to questions in class can be almost impossible. So, take a recorder with you on a visit with your students at their homes. Make a list of questions related to your next lesson. Replay these in class as a discussion starter.

Cartooning
Provide examples of comic strips from a local news paper. Explain how each series of pictures tells a short story. Have your students draw cartoon strips to illustrate your lesson theme.

Chain Reaction Story
Fun and fictional re-telling of an event. Each student finishes a statement started by the person before them. For instance: Acts 27:41 is about a shipwreck. "The waves were really....wet and...salty and...smelly and...everyone on the ship was really...scared and...wet and...smelly..." You get the idea!

Charades
Students are secretly told to wordlessly act out a person or event in the Bible while others try to guess who they are or what they are doing. For instance: Jonah being swallowed by a whale and then spit out on a beach.

Choral Reading
Everyone must be reading the same Bible version or article for this to work. Assign parts of the passage to be read, divided by gender or birth month, and parts to be read in unison. This is a simple involvement tool. It avoids spot-lighting poor readers.

Circle Response
All are seated in a circle. Each person responds to a statement such as. "If I had a hug, I would give it to...", as part of a lesson on comforting others. Another good one is, "People I love more than myself are...", as part of a lesson on how much God loves us.

Class Newspaper
This class project requires a lot of work. Students interview people from your church, asking about where they were born and when they were born again, about why they are involved in ministry or support of ministry, etc... Short articles can be written about special ministries in your church. Include photos (black and white photos show up better on photocopiers). This project builds a snese of community and belonging.

Clay Play
Students make playdough representations of events in the Bible story. Even teenagers sometimes enjoy this while a long reading is being given. For old kids and teens I like to play a recording of an appropriate contemporary christian song while students make something that portrays it theme. That keeps the time consumption down.

Class Projects
Where lessons have centered on service, create a service project. Do the planning in class. Meet during the week to gather supplies and do the work. Smaller projects, like making shelves and storage for a toddler's class, can be done in class.

Clothespin Bible Verse
Hang a clothes line within reach of your students in the class room. Write your key verse, one word per page, to be hung on the line in a scrambled fashion. Have students unscramble it from memory, one word at a time, one student at a time.

Coat of Arms
Show a picture of a real Coat Of Arms. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms  gives good information on the parts and their meanings. Have students design one, based on their understanding of the main person in your lesson.

Collage
Bring old magazines and scissors. Students are to cut and paste pictures and some key words that express the main idea of your lesson.

Craft Box
Have students decorate shoe boxes or other small sized boxes as treasure chests or as hearts to go with a lesson on Luke 12:34 or similar concepts. Design as "Praise Boxes" for collecting examples of things for which students are thankful, to show and tell at the next lesson. Make it an organizer for students to store their devotional and journal.

"Did you know?" Folder
Emotion Masks
Felt Memory Verses
File Folder Activities
File Folder: Put In Order
File Folder: Story Pictures
Finger Painting
Finish The Story

Very adaptable method because you can use real Bible stories, actual recent events in the news, or hypothetical situations that can have several alternate endings.  Your teaching goal is what decides which to use.  The first two are asking, “What did happen next?”  The last one is asking, “What should happen next?” 

Fish Bowl Review
Flash Card Review

Flash Card Review is a memory building exercise.  Build a list of single word items that answer the questions, “Who used this?” in the David vs Goliath encounter; such as Spear, Sling, Armor…  Who said this?...   Other Bible stories yield longer flash lists.

 
Flip-A-Verse

Flip-A-Verse is a memory building exercise.  Put the verse on one side of each card and the reference on the other side.  Flip the reference side to have students quote the verse.  Flip the verse side to have students quote the reference.

   You can put incomplete verses on the cards for a Finish-The-Verse exercise also, and do the same for the reference. 

Group Writing
In-Class Research
Lesson Mural
Letter Writing
Life Scripture
"Like Me" Comparisons
Listening Teams
Magazine/Newspaper tear
Masked Skits
Match Word
Matching

News, Live Reporting

Bring pictures related to your lesson that are large enough for the whole class to see.  You will need three or four students: a reporter who must not see the picture and the ‘in-studio’ news team who will question the ‘reporter’.  You may hang the picture or project the picture behind the ‘reporter’.  You can really play this up to build interest by having one or more students provide sound effects, such as wind and splash for a stormy sea, or sheep for nativity or shepherd scenes.  The in-studio team may say something about the picture without giving it away, like, “I see a lot of water. Where is it coming from?” 

Object Lesson
Overhead Quizzing
Panel Discussion
Pantomime
Parallel Story
Pastoral Visit
Personalized Flannel graph
Picture/Statement Response
Picture Posing
Picture Research
Picture Study
Play Reading
Pocket Board
Pupil Dictation
Pupil Involvement
Puppet Plays
Puzzle Wheel Review
Question/Answer Wheel
Quiz Writing
Racetrack
Recorded Music
Role play
Recorded Moods
Sandbox
Scramble Verse
Secret Message
Spin and Go
Story Objects
Story Sequencing
String The Answer
Statement Completion
Surprise Box
Recorded Sound Effects
Testing
Verse Wheel
Voting
"Why?" Questions
Word Association
Word Poster
Written Prayers
"YOU Are There" Stories