EFFECTIVE TEACHING SEMINAR [4] TEACHING TEENAGERS EFFECTIVE METHODS FOR JUNIOR HIGH BIBLE CLASSES How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. Psalm 119:9
WHAT JUNIOR HIGH STUDENTS NEED IN A CLASS From your experience, describe the typical Junior High student in a Bible class. The Negative: The Positive: What do we do with him? 1
METHODS FOR CHANNELING THEIR ENERGY [1] HANDS-ON, STUDENT-INVOLVED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT I like to give the students things to handle and touch. I like to give them the chance to get out of their chairs and move around. Its better than forcing them to sit still. If they can move and learn, we can kill two birds with one stone. [a] Tabernacle Class With this lesson, we had a working model of the Tabernacle that we used to illustrate each part of the lesson. The students were able to handle the items of furniture and place them in their appropriate spots. We actually tore down the model to explain how it fit together and how it was moved. We allowed the students to help and handle the pieces. Note: I tried teaching this same material to high school students using a lesson like this one and various pictures to make it real. It did not go over very well. I taught this same material to Junior High students using the model and had one of the most memorable classes ever. Every student (even a visitor who had never been to a class before) could name every item and where it went. 2
Lesson The Old Testament God Unfolds His Great Plan Construction of the Tabernacle Many important things happened while Israel was camped at Mt. Sinai. They were given the Ten Commandments and other laws which would govern them as a nation. They were given religious laws which taught them how to worship the one, true God. In addition to these things, God also instructed Israel to do another very important thing while camped at Mt. Sinai. They were to build a place of worship. What was to be the purpose of this place of worship? See Exodus 25:8, 21-22. Now, keep in mind that this could not be just any place of worship. Israel is in the middle of a journey. At some point they would leave Mt. Sinai and head for the promised land. They would not want to build a permanent structure and leave it there. What would they have to be able to do with this place of worship they were to construct? God s solution to this problem was the tabernacle. It would serve as the center of Israelite worship during their journeys and their early years in the promised land. Now, what was this Tabernacle like? Let s take a closer look... Note to teacher: This class is far more effective if you can use some kind of model of the tabernacle. You may want to construct one with your class. Abraham s Family Time Line Events at Mount Sinai Slavery In Egypt Moses Up Out Of Egypt Journey To Mount Sinai Israel Receives The Law Sin With The Golden Calf Tabernacle Constructed Priesthood Established 3
T a b e r n a c l e The What Was It Like? THE BASIC LAYOUT The Tabernacle was a tent-like building that Israel used for worship. It had two basic parts. First, there was an Outer Courtyard. It was 150 ft. long and 75 ft. wide, about 1/2 the size of a football field. It was surrounded by a fence made of curtains. This fence was 7 1/2 feet high. Locate the Outer Courtyard on the drawing below. This court would be entered through the gate or screen at one end. Locate this gate. In addition to the Outer Courtyard, there was also an Inner Court. It was 45 ft. long, 15 ft. wide and enclosed on three sides by walls made of wood overlaid with gold. The fourth side provided the entrance into this court. Five gold pillars stood at this entrance and a screen made of blue, purple and N scarlet material covered it. Locate the Inner Court and its entrance. The Inner Court also had two chambers. The larger chamber was the Holy Place and the smaller was the Most Holy Place. Locate W E the Holy Place and Most Holy Place. The Inner Court was covered by a series of curtains which protected it from the weather. S 75 Feet Wide 15 Feet Wide Most Holy Place Inner Court Holy Place 45 Feet Long 150 Feet Long Outer Courtyard Entrance 4
In addition to the structure itself, the Tabernacle also included several important pieces of furniture. The Ark of the Covenant was a small chest, 3 3/4 ft. long and 2 1/4 ft. wide and high. It was made of wood and overlaid with gold. On top was the Mercy Seat with two angels facing each other. Within the Ark were the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were written, a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. It was the most sacred piece of furniture and was the only piece inside the Most Holy Place. The Altar of Incense was a small table, only 1 1/2 ft. square and 3 ft. high. It was made of wood and overlaid with gold. Every morning and evening the priests would burn incense here as they offered prayers for the people. It stood in the Holy Place, right in front of the veil which led into the Most Holy Place. The Table of Shewbread was a small table, 3ft. long, 1 1/2 ft. wide, and 2 1/4 ft. high. It was made of wood and overlaid with gold. Each Sabbath day 12 loaves of bread were placed on this table, each one representing one of the 12 tribes of Israel. The old loaves were then eaten by the priests. This table was located in the Holy Place. The Lampstand resembled a tree with a main trunk and six branches, three coming out of each side. Its seven lights were not candles, but small lamps filled with oil. The priests would light these each evening at sunset and the lamps would burn until morning. The lampstand stood in the Holy Place and served to give light to this chamber. In addition to the pieces of furniture within the Inner Court of the Tabernacle, there were two other important pieces of furniture outside in the Outer Courtyard. The Laver was a large brass basin filled with water and mounted upon a pedestal. Before the priests could take part in the sacrifices and enter the Inner Court, they had to first cleanse themselves. The Laver enabled them to do that. The Altar of Burnt Offerings was large, measuring 7ft. square and 4 1/2 ft. high. It was made of wood and overlaid with brass. It was here that the animal sacrifices were offered to God, in keeping with His law. The fire of this altar was originally kindled by God Himself and was never allowed to go out. When the Israelites traveled, they would take live coals from the fire which would be used to kindle the next fire. on the inside... Inner Court Ark of the Covenant Altar of Incense Table of Shewbread Lampstand The Laver 5 Outer Courtyard The Altar of Burnt Offerings Entrance
METHODS FOR CHANNELING THEIR ENERGY [1] HANDS-ON, STUDENT-INVOLVED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT. [b] Conquest Class How do you teach military history to Junior High students? We taught the conquest of Canaan as an actual, military operation. These two lessons were handed out to the class before in a sealed envelop labeled "Top Secret". The material inside was laid out as actual (?) military documents, giving the students various assignments to prepare for the mission on the next Sunday (i.e. Mission Information; Geography Research; Plan for Operation River Crossing, etc.) When the students arrived in class, the room was laid out like a war room. Two large tables were pushed together with map of Canaan on it. Each student would contribute as we told the story of the conquest. We had figures to represent the opposing armies and allowed the students to move them, reflecting the troop movements during the conquest. Note: These are our success stories. Not every plan went so well. Being effective requires experimentation and failure. DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL! 6
TOP SECRET Classified Military Documents Enclosed 7
THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL OPERATION PROFILE TOP SECRET All Officers (students) need to complete this sheet before the first class. Operation Code Name: Secure Promised Land Mission Overview: This lesson is classified because it contains the battle plans the Armies of Israel will use to conquer the promised land. When we last left Israel, they had finally reached Canaan and were camped at Shittim on the east side of the Jordan River. They are ready to go up and take the land God promised to them. In this lesson we will learn exactly how they did that. We will treat our study of Israel s conquest as an actual military operation. Each student will be enrolled in Israel s army and assigned a task to help with the operation. It s important that each of you complete your work so that no part of the mission is missed. Mission Commander: We will have a new commanding officer for this operation. Moses led the nation from Egypt to the border of the promised land. But, because of sin, he was not allowed to cross the Jordan into Canaan. Our new commanding officer will be (Numbers 27:12-23): Experience And Qualifications: Does this new commanding officer bring any experience or special qualifications to this assignment? Review Exodus 17:8-13 to find out. Make some notes on this question below. 8
Department THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL of Battle Plans For this class you will be playing the role of a soldier in the Israelite army which is involved in a battle to take the land of Canaan. You are assigned to the Department of Battle Plans. Your job is to explain the operation for taking the northern part of the promised land. After hearing about the victories in the south, the northern kings joined together to fight against us. Read Joshua 11 and be ready to explain in detail how the north was won. Tell us what happened in this battle. Your report should include a list of kings who teamed up against Israel and cities conquered in this battle. Operation: Secure Promised Land TOP SECRET Map adapted from a map by Manna, used by permission W c 1999 MANNA Ai Gigal Gibeon Gezer Jericho Makkedah Libnah Lachish Eglon N S E Waters of Merom Dor Shimron Hebron Debir Hazor Madon Achshaph Shittim 9
METHODS FOR CHANNELING THEIR ENERGY [2] BIBLE LABS [a] What are Bible labs? Bible labs are work centers where students work in pairs on their own. Our Old Testament class offers a good illustration of the concept. Each Sunday we would study a lesson, i.e. Tabernacle Lesson; Conquest Lesson, etc. Then on Wednesday, we would reinforce the lesson and cover other points of the OT using Bible labs. [b] How Bible labs work The class is divided into five or six stations. We would use a series of bulletin boards on the walls. You can also use tri-fold panels. Each station would have a different theme. Some connect with the class from the week before; others are simply general OT knowledge, or general Bible knowledge. Our study of the Old Testament included these four stations: OT Geography OT People OT History Bible Facts When students arrived in class, they would divide into teams of two and work through the various stations. Teachers would supervise and be sure that learning was taking place and goofing off was kept to a minimum. 10
SAMPLE BIBLE LAB OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY STATION [1] Students were given a worksheet which listed 5 Old Testament events in chronological order. The first thing they would do is learn OLD TESTAMENT HISTORY Learn these five events in their correct order. Then, put away this sheet and, using the cards provided, put these events in their correct order on the board. 1] God creates the world. 2] Adam and Eve enjoy the garden. [2] We created cards with different Old Testament events on them. After studying the worksheet, the students were to put these events in chronological order on the board. 3] Adam and Eve sin 4] The Flood 5] The Tower of Babel GOD CREATES THE WORLD [3] We set up a bulletin board with a road way and pictures of Old Testament events we were studying. The students put the cards in the correct order on this bulletin board. While this may sound easy at first, keep in mind that we added five new events each week. By the end of the quarter, the students were putting 40-50 events on this board. We followed a similar procedure with: [1] Geography (located places on the map and matching them with key events at each location) [2] People (matching names with descriptions) [3] Bible Facts (matching each book with a theme.) 11