Inside you ll find a Large Group Opening, Children s Message ideas, and Worship Bulletins DIRECTOR GUIDE SAMPLER

Inside you ll find a Large Group Opening, Children s Message ideas, and Worship Bulletins DIRECTOR GUIDE SAMPLER

Where are we? I think we re in the Director Guide, Otto. I m not sure we should be here. Don t we need a permission slip to be in the Director Guide? What if we get in trouble?

Welcome to the Director Guide Sampler! This Sampler provides you with all the content you ll need on the Second Sunday in Easter during Year B to lead a Large Group Opening, offer a Children s Message, and provide Worship Bulletins for Pre-Readers and Readers. You ll also find some helpful information about the Director Guide, Songbook, and CD, along with an introduction to the characters in the Whirl videos. The video is the best part! It s pretty good. CONTENTS About Whirl.......................................................................................4 About the Director Guide and Sample Lesson...5 About Whirl Music...6 Large Group Opening...7 8 Children s Message...9 10 Worship Bulletin: Pre-Reader...11 12 Worship Bulletin: Reader...13 14 Meet the Whirl Kids!...15 Behold, Monty! The power center of the Director Guide: the Table of Contents! Great! A table! When do we eat? Actually you re looking at an abbreviated Table of Contents for the Director Guide Sampler. Were this an actual Director Guide, you d see dates and page numbers for all the content of the quarter.

About Whirl Welcome to Whirl, a lectionary Sunday school from sparkhouse! Whirl helps kids experience readings from the Revised Common Lectionary. Through exploring church seasons and diving into one of the Sunday s lectionary readings, kids will begin to understand the rhythms of the church year and the three-year cycle of Bible readings. The video is the awesomest thing ever! Don t oversell us, Mimi. Family. Here are the four parts of each Whirl lesson: WELCOME (15 MINUTES) Teachers welcome kids to their Sunday school class with a brief, optional activity. The talk turns to the season as PreK K kids sit around their circular Whirl Floor Mat and first through sixth graders look at a Wall Chart. Kids do a brief ritual together and try the activity on the front panel of their leaflets. Then kids watch an animated video introducing them to the day s theme. HEAR (15 MINUTES) After watching the video, kids open their Bibles. Younger kids (pre-kindergarten through second grade) hear and see the story in their Whirl Story Bibles. Then they play together in an activity to get them moving. Older kids in third through sixth grade open their Whirl NRSV Bibles to the day s reading. They do a Preview Activity, then explore the Bible story together in an engaging way. RESPOND (10 MINUTES) Kids use their leaflet square for the Respond activity, a way to see how the Bible story is connected to a broader theme that applies to their own lives. Each week s Respond activity offers something different for each grade level! LAUNCH (10 MINUTES) During this closing time, kids review the lesson and try an activity on the back panel of their leaflets. After they do a brief ritual and pray together, kids are sent with their Family Page. FAMILY PAGE The back of each leaflet square has a Family Page kids take home. Families can try one or more of the seven suggestions to bring the Bible story and church season into their daily lives. 4 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR GUIDE A new Director Guide is available each quarter for Whirl so that you ll have upto-date seasonal content for the kids in your congregation. Each Director Guide is reproducible and contains this content based on weekly lectionary readings: Large Group Openings: Content for each week to gather kids of all ages before Sunday school time. Each Opening provides ideas for kids to sing together, make connections to the season and each other, and introduce the day s theme. Children s Messages: Several ideas for worship leaders to present a lively, engaging children s message for kids during worship. The variety of choices allows leaders to pick the option that works best for their style, the kids in their congregation, and the church s building and traditions. Worship Bulletins: Reproducible bulletins to copy and fold for kids. Each double-sided Pre-Reader and Reader Worship Bulletin offers content to help kids connect to the season, the Bible story, and their church. Whirl in the summer! A Director Guide is available for the summer quarter so that your congregation can plan Whirl Large Group Openings, Children s Messages, and Worship Bulletins all year long. Additionally, each Director Guide will contain this content: a detailed schedule of lesson titles, Bible texts, and themes for the quarter reproducible pages describing Whirl features, perfect for distributing to Whirl teachers and other leaders lesson supply lists by grade level to help leaders organize materials for the whole quarter ABOUT THE SAMPLE LESSON Wow. That s a mouthful. Whirl Sampler resources provide what you need to preview a full lesson experience for kids and leaders. The specific story chosen is for the second Sunday in Easter during Year B. The lesson of Early Believers Share is from Acts 4:32-35. One thing to note: The Floor Mat and Wall Chart are not included in the Sampler resources provided. However, the Sampler Leader Guide refers to these resources to show how they are used in each lesson. Get used to it, Gabe. This is the lectionary we re talking about. Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 5

ABOUT WHIRL MUSIC Music is an important part of a congregation s life together as they worship, learn, serve, and grow in faith together. Music is an important part of Whirl too! Whirl music resources help connect kids to one another, the church seasons, and the Bible stories in the lectionary. Every Large Group Opening uses the Whirl Gathering Song to greet kids. Additionally, three songs are recommended to connect with the season, theme, and story each week. The Whirl CD is packed with 20 songs recorded with lively vocals and catchy arrangements. The instrumental tracks let kids perform the songs with their own voices. The Whirl Songbook contains simple piano scores and guitar chords for every song on the CD, along with tips and ideas for songleading, motions, and more. Take a look at the songs included in these two Whirl music resources. ADVENT TELLS US CHRIST IS NEAR COME NOW AND PRAISE THE LORD DO, LORD, REMEMBER ME DOXOLOGY (PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW) HASHIVENU I M GONNA LIVE SO GOD IT S ME, IT S ME, O LORD (STANDIN IN THE NEED OF PRAYER) I VE GOT PEACE LIKE A RIVER JESUS IN THE MORNING JOY TO THE WORLD LORD, I WANT TO BE A CHRISTIAN LOVE GOD AND YOUR NEIGHBOR LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! MANY AND GREAT RISE UP SHEPHERD/THERE S A STAR THIS IS MY COMMANDMENT WERE YOU THERE WHIRL GATHERING SONG WHIRL SEASONS OF THE CHURCH YEAR SONG WHIRL THEME SONG 6 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

APRIL 12, 2015 Large Group Opening SHARING EASTER 2 YEAR B TODAY S READINGS Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 133 1 John 1:1 2:2 John 20:19-31 WELCOME Sing the Whirl Welcome Song together as kids arrive. Invite them to add thumbprint bugs to a long piece of mural paper to create part of an Easter Garden. After kids ink thumbs on an inkpad and press them carefully on the Easter Garden, they can add wings, legs, and faces to the bugs. It s still Easter, the most important church season for Christians everywhere. Remind kids that Easter is 50 days long. Today we added bugs to our Easter Garden because we share the earth with all kinds of creatures even bugs! HEAR Today our story comes from the book of Acts. It is in the New Testament. What kinds of stories do you imagine are in a book with the title Acts? Acts tells stories of action. Jesus disciples became action disciples for Jesus after he rose from the dead. They wanted the whole world to know about him! Let kids explore the globe as you brainstorm a list of actions Jesus disciples might have done to tell the whole world about him. (Share things, give hugs, tell stories about Jesus, baptize people, heal people, etc.) RESPOND Suggest that kids work in groups of two or three to create an imaginary disciple action figure together. Choose a name for your disciple, and decide what one action he or she will be known for. (Examples: Sharing Shauna shares everything she has with her friends; Tyler the Baptizer baptizes new Christians; Praying Petunia prays for anyone needing prayers, etc.) After a minute or two, ask each small group to introduce their disciple and action to the whole group. SUPPLY CHECKLIST Whirl NRSV Bible Sampler Whirl Story Bible Sampler Mural paper Washable ink pads Markers Baby wipes World map or globe BEFORE KIDS ARRIVE Display the Easter Garden banner from Easter Sunday or begin creating one today. Kids will add to it throughout the Easter season. Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 7

LAUNCH Stand together around a world map or globe as you pray together. Active God, We are your disciples of action! (strike an active pose) Be with us as we act with love for people everywhere. Amen! Send kids to their classrooms. Each week, the Large Group Opening includes three song references, including some from the Whirl Song CD and Songbook. MUSIC RECOMMENDATIONS SONG 1: I M GONNA LIVE SO GOD CAN USE ME (tracks 8 and 28, page 36 in Songbook) This is a perfect song for disciples of action to sing! Before singing it, work together to create actions for these words: live, work, pray, sing. Use those actions at the appropriate times in the song. SONG 2: SHAKE ANOTHER HAND Jesus disciples shared everything and welcomed everyone. Sing Shake Another Hand together and add a verse or two about being a disciple of action. Pantomime the actions to all verses. Share a loaf of bread with a friend next to you. Share a loaf of bread as we sing this song! Baptize with a splash the friend next to you. Baptize with a splash as we sing this song! Share your coat and hat with a friend next to you. Share your coat and hat as we sing this song! SONG 3: JESUS IN THE MORNING (tracks 11 and 31, page 44 in Songbook) Sing this song each Sunday of the Easter season to celebrate that the risen Jesus is with us always! Consider singing it together as kids add to the Easter Garden each week. 8 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

APRIL 12, 2015 Children s Message SHARING EASTER 2 YEAR B TODAY S READINGS Acts 4:32-35 Psalm 133 1 John 1:1 2:2 John 20:19-31 Select one of these options to create a children s message to fit kids interests and gifts and your congregation s size and sanctuary features. You can finish your time together with the prayer. READ THE STORY Place a bookmark on page 4 in the Whirl Story Bible Sampler. Read the story Share Everything. Count the people in the first picture. Remind the kids that the church started with just a few people and grew bigger and bigger and bigger. Look at all the things that are shared notice the expressions on the givers and receivers faces. ENTER THE GOSPEL Read John 20:19-31 from the Whirl NRSV Sampler or another Bible. Ask everyone to show the disciples emotions on their own faces as you read shock, relief, confusion, doubt, fear, concentration. What might it have felt like to see Jesus for the first time after he rose from the dead? WONDER ABOUT THE STORY What would it be like to share everything? Have a conversation about this. Acts tells us the first Christians shared everything with one another. What might be hard to share? What would be easy to share? Why might sharing everything be good for a new community of new Christians? WITNESS THE STORY If your congregation has a clothes closet or food pantry that serves those in need, interview one of the people who works in this important ministry. How are these necessary things shared with those who need them? What do the people who receive this sharing think of it? How can kids participate? Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 9

WONDER ABOUT THE SEASON What s new in the Easter Garden this week? A new plant or flower? A butterfly, perhaps? Maybe this week s Whirl theme, sharing, can be spotted in the garden somewhere. Wonder why the Easter symbol you find in the garden is a good one for Easter. Wonder how we could continue to celebrate Easter at home. SEE THE SEASON Easter is a season, not just one day. Are there any changes to the decorations in the worship space this week? Is there a new white or gold decoration that could be added or discovered by the kids? This could be a great time to pull out service ware that is gold but seldom used candlesticks, a communion chalice, or paten. PRAYER Gather in and around the Easter Garden. Thank you, God, for the season of Easter. Thank you for signs of spring and for the privilege of sharing what we have with others. Thank you for this place and all the ministry we do here. Amen. Throughout the season of Easter, Whirl resources include references to an Easter Garden that kids add to each week. (See the Large Group Opening for another use of the Easter Garden.) 10 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

Pre-Reader Fold here Fold here Sharing is an important part of being in church! Circle the things that your church shares. Do I have to share EVERYTHING? Easter 2 YEAR B APRIL 12, 2015 IT S STILL EASTER! White and gold are colors of Easter. Circle all the things that can be WHITE. Easter lasts more than one day? For some churches, the color of the Easter season is GOLD, but for others it s WHITE. But you can t color in what is WHITE because it s already WHITE! Color in what s NOT WHITE. Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 11

4 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Acts 4:32 That means they all loved each other and believed the same thing. They didn t share a heart! Today our church family prays for 2 1 2 4 3 2 3 4 3 3 2 1 1 1 4 Color all the: 1 hearts RED 2 hearts GREEN 3 hearts YELLOW 4 hearts BLUE 1 12 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

Reader April 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Easter! 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Easter 2 Mom's birthday 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Easter 3 Earth Day 26 27 28 29 30 May 1 2 Easter 4 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Easter 5 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Easter 6 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Easter 7 Pentecost Ascension Day 24 Fold here Fold here Sharing Crossword Complete the crossword to find all the things your church could donate or share with people in need. Across 1. look at a clock to check the 3. infants wear these on their heads 6. big blankets with lots of squares 8. when you're thirsty you drink 10. found in a library 11. During winter, people wear these to stay warm outside. 13. given at Christmas or birthdays 14. babies need to wear 15. these help some people see better 17. when you're hungry you eat Down 2. bills and coins 4. kids like to play with these 5. sweaters for your hands 7. kids carry their school books in these 9. what you wear 11. eat this in a bowl for breakfast 12. use this to wash your hands 16. what you wear on your feet 1 2 3 4 6 8 7 5 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Our church women make quilts for people in Africa! And we collect peanut butter for the food bank, and glasses, and toys, and. Easter 2 YEAR B APRIL 12, 2015 IT'S STILL EASTER! How many days is EASTER? Count Easter Sunday as 1. Easter lasts more than one day? To Pentecost?! We re gonna need more jelly beans! Easter starts on Easter Sunday and goes through Pentecost Sunday! Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 13

Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Acts 4:32 What do you think the people of the first church were like? Draw some of the members of the first church in their frame. Write a description of what they were like below. Peter James Thomas Mary Who else? Today our church family prays for 14 Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org.

MEET THE WHIRL KIDS! Each week, kids in Whirl Lectionary Sunday school watch a three-minute video featuring animated characters who encounter fun, adventure, and surprises as they meet up at their church and in their community. Each episode is rooted in the day s theme and shows the kids living out faith in a wide range of situations. No matter what the challenge, the kids in the Whirl videos are ready to show kids that a life in the church is a great place to meet friends, explore the Bible, and grow in faith! Videos for PreK-Grade 2 feature Ada, Otto, Tot, Victor, Monty, Jax, and Clara. Hi! I m Ada, and this is my twin brother, Otto. We re twins. And this is our little sister, Tot. Hi! I already said that, Otto. Right. Hello. I m Victor. We met earlier at the Table of Contents. I m a bright young man who s going places. I m Monty! I ve gone places! But I m still looking for that table... I m Jax. I m Clara. Jax, do you have a permission slip to appear in the Director Guide? Videos for Grades 3-6 feature Gabe, Mimi, Leo, and Ruby. I m Gabe! Ummm... I have no idea what else to say. Just say that Whirl is the greatest Sunday school in the whole world! Pleased to meet you! I am Leo. And while Mimi may be exaggerating, as there is no agreed-upon criterion for the greatest Sunday school in the whole world, we do hope you find Whirl to be a suitable curriculum for kids in PreK through sixth grade so that they may explore all the wonders of the Revised Common Lectionary and church year seasons. I m Ruby. Your kids are gonna love us. Especially me! Whirl Lectionary Sunday School Director Guide Sampler. 2015 sparkhouse. www.wearesparkhouse.org. 15

This Director Guide was pretty fun. Yeah, I think that went really well. We can only hope, Ada. We can only hope. Wait, no one asked for my permission slip. wearesparkhouse.org I still don t see any tables... ITEM002784