Primary Teacher Guide February 2018 Table of Contents
Lesson Warm Up Story Activity Page February 4 Actions Speak Louder Than Words (based on James 2: 14-26) Play the Matching Game Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 10: Akeem Welcomes a New Make a faith poster 3 February 11 Watch Your Tongue (based on James 3: 1-12) February 18 Doing for Others (based on Acts 9: 36-43) February 25 The Way to Go (based on 1 Timothy 6: 11-21) Act out scenarios when fire is useful and when fire is destructive Watch the All About Kindness video Sing Jesus Loves Me Neighbor Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 11: God Hears Everything We Say Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 12: A Visit with Taj s Grandma Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 13: The Best Play Date Ever Make a tongue filled with blessings Make a kindness rock Make Be Like Jesus bracelets 5 7 10 Appendices Title Page Appendix A Matching Game Flashcards 12 Appendix B Tongue Pattern 13 Appendix C Lesson 12 Key Verse Stickers 14 2 P a g e
Lesson 10 February 4, 2018 James 2:14-26 Actions Speak Louder than Words Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Play the Matching Game. Print three copies of the Matching Game Flashcards in Appendix B on cardstock paper and cut them out. Divide the class into three groups. Give each group one set of shuffled cards. Ask the groups to match the cards. Ask each group to select a pair and share how one item is useless without the other item. Emphasize how faith and works are paired together in the same way. (Correct matches: laptop pairs with girl programmers, surfboards pair with ocean wave, cars pair with gas pump.) Scripture Summary A servant of God named James wrote a letter to all of God s people. In this part of the letter he explained how faith is shown in words and actions. It is not enough to say you have faith in God. You must also show faith by doing good things for others. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. Faith without works is dead. (James 2:26) Tell students to circle the tablet that has the correct scripture reference for the verse to remember. James 2:26 Psalm 23:1 John 3:16 Ephesians 4:11 3 P a g e
Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 10 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 10: Taj Welcomes a New Neighbor Today was Saturday but Taj woke up early like it was a school day because this is the day his father promised to take him and the rest of the Faithful Five to the indoor water park. Even though Taj knew he should be doing this, he could not resist jumping on his bed because he was so excited. While he jumped to a cool rhythm he chanted, Oh yeah it s Saturday! Oh yeah it s Saturday! Gonna have some fun! Gonna have some fun! Taj s mother heard the bounce of the bedsprings and in a firm motherly voice said, Taj please stop jumping on your bed. Taj stopped immediately and replied, Okay mom. Sorry. Just then, Taj heard the sound of a truck so he ran to his window to see what kind of truck it was. The truck was a moving truck. A new family was moving into the house next door. Taj noticed the family had a little boy that seemed to be close to his age. Taj also suspected the family was from a country in Africa. He saw a flag sticking out the corner of a box and he knew the flag was for Ghana. key words rhythm a regular repeated pattern of movement or sound immediately right away suspected had an idea about the truth of something without certain proof hunch a feeling or guess based on a sense rather than known facts Taj ran down the hall to knock on his parents bedroom door. After getting permission to enter the room, he told his parents about the new neighbors and asked if he could introduce himself to the new boy and invite him to go to the indoor water park. Taj s mother said, Taj that is a very nice thing to do. Taj s father agreed by saying, We have space in the van to fit one more person. After we get dressed and eat breakfast, I will go with you to ask his parents if he can spend the day with us. Taj replied, Thanks mom. Thanks dad. I ll go get ready. After breakfast, Taj and his father went next door to introduce themselves. They found out the family was from Ghana. Taj s hunch was right! The little boy s name was Kofi. Kofi s parents allowed him to go with Taj to the indoor water park. Taj introduced Kofi to the rest of the Faithful Five when they arrived at Taj s house. They all played together while Taj s parents were packing snacks for the ride to the indoor water park. It was going to be a two-hour ride. Kofi said to the Faithful Five, I am having so much fun. Thanks for being nice to me. The Faithful Five looked at each other, then smiled at Kofi and said, Welcome to the neighborhood! Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What are the two ways faith is shown? words and actions Which action of Taj showed faith? Taj was friendly to his new neighbor and invited him to have fun with the Faithful Five. 4 P a g e
Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five need helpful hints to know when it is the right time to think about something, the right time to say something, and the right time to do something. Write your suggestions in the table provided in your bifold. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make a Faith Poster. Materials needed: Large white paper (one for each group); paint, markers or crayons; glitter glue; newspaper (if paint is used or markers will bleed through the paper) Instructions: Watch Faith Through the Eyes of a Child (https://youtu.be/csxdywe0tje). Divide the class into groups of 3. Give each group a set of materials. Ask students to design a poster about faith and works. Encourage students to be creative. Display the posters in the classroom. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, help me to show my faith by doing good things for others. Amen. Lesson 11 February 11, 2018 James 3: 1-12 Watch Your Tongue! Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Play Charades. Come up with a few scenarios when fire is useful (like for cooking) and when fire is destructive (like a forest fire). Select students to act out the scenario so the class can guess whether the fire in the situation is useful or destructive. Emphasize how the tongue can be like a fire. Scripture Summary A servant of God named James wrote a letter to all of God s people. In this part of the letter he explained how we should control the things we say. Once words are said, they cannot be called back. We often let nice things and hurtful things come from the same mouth. Christians should watch their mouths. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. No one can tame the tongue. (James 3:8) 5 P a g e
Tell students to decode the verse to remember. N O O N E C A N T A M E 14 15 15 14 5 3 1 14 20 1 13 5 T H E T O N G U E. 20 8 5 20 15 14 7 21 5 Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 11 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 11: God Hears Everything We Say Aaliyah and Tori were having a good time at Sophia s birthday party. Sophia invited them because they were in her class at school. Everyone, well almost everyone, was waiting patiently in line to hit the piñata. Two girls, Peyton and Desirae were impatient so they decided to bust the line. Peyton and Desirae were always starting trouble at school but Sophia still invited them to her party because she did not want them to feel left out. Tori shouted out, Why can t you wait your turn like everyone else? We re all going to get a chance! Aaliyah added, You re not playing fairly. Peyton teased Aaliyah by mocking what she said. You re not playing fairly. You always try to sound like the teacher. Why don t you just mind your business. We don t feel like waiting. Aaliyah responded, My mind is my business! key words patiently with calmness or without complaint mocking making fun of someone or something in a cruel way conflict a disagreement or argument Before Peyton and Aaliyah made another exchange of words, Sophia s mother walked over to the two of them and said, One of my house rules is to use kind words. I don t like the way the two of you are speaking to each other. Peyton and Desirae please go to the back of the line and wait your turn. Peyton and Desirae were obedient and went to the back of the line. Tori and Aaliyah apologized to Sophia s mother for not showing their best behavior. Sophia s mother explained, Tori and Aaliyah you were not wrong for asking Peyton and Desirae to do the right thing. But you can still speak kindly and respectfully even in situations of conflict. Tori and Aaliyah know God hears everything we say so they shook their heads in agreement to show they understood what Sophia s mother was saying. Then they ran to the middle of the floor because Sophia broke open the piñata that was full of toys and treats. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What did James explain in this part of his letter to God s people? James explained how we should control the things we say. Did Sophia s mother think Aaliyah and Tori were wrong for their actions? No, but she told them they should still speak kindly and respectfully even in situations of conflict. 6 P a g e
Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five know sometimes people misuse the first amendment right of free speech to say whatever they want, whenever they want. Help the Faithful Five come up with boundaries for their freedom of speech so they remember to speak with kind and respectful words in all situations. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make a Tongue Filled with Blessings. Materials needed: Copies of Tongue Pattern in Appendix B, pens or pencils Instructions: Tell students to write kind words in the tongue on the emoji. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, I know you hear everything I say. Help me control my tongue. Amen. Lesson 12 February 18, 2018 Acts 9: 36-43 Doing for Others Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Watch All About Kindness. Watch the All About Kindness video on YouTube (https://youtu.be/1ylg1npua0k). Then ask students to share how they show kindness. Limit the discussion to 3 minutes. Scripture Summary There was a follower of Jesus named Dorcas who was always doing good and helping the poor. Dorcas became sick and died. Paul was in the city Lydda that was near the city of Joppa where Dorcas lived. Peter was asked to come to Joppa because the people believed he could raise Dorcas from the dead. When Peter arrived in Joppa, he asked everyone to leave the room where Dorcas body was laid. Then he kneeled and prayed and asked Dorcas to stand up. She opened her eyes and sat up. Then many people in Joppa believed in the Lord. 7 P a g e
Key Verse Exercise Read the verses to remember aloud. [Dorcas] was devoted to good works and acts of charity. (Acts 9:36) Print and cut out copies of the Lesson 12 stickers in Appendix C on self-adhesive paper. Distribute one pair of stickers to each student and tell them to use the stickers to fill in the blanks for the verse to remember. [Dorcas] was devoted to and acts of. Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 12 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 12: A Visit with Israel s Grandma Israel s grandmother lives at Serenity Gardens. Serenity Gardens is a nice place for seniors that need special care. Israel goes to visit his grandmother every Sunday after church. He likes to give her the church bulletin and tell her everything that happened in the worship service. That always made her happy because she cannot attend church that much anymore. This week at choir rehearsal, Miss Grace, the choir director, asked the children to come up with ideas for things they could do for seniors in the church. Israel raised his hand right away to ask a question. Miss Grace can the senior be someone on the sick and shut-in list or does the senior have to be someone who still comes to church? Miss Grace responded, That s a very good question Israel. It is thoughtful of you to remember seniors on the sick and shut-in list. We can key words sick and shut-in church members who are physically not able to attend church due to illness spirituals Christian songs that were created by African slaves in America include any senior. Israel s face lit up with so much joy. Then can we sing for my grandma at Serenity Gardens! he exclaimed. Grandma loves the spirituals you taught us for Black History Month. Miss Grace smiled at Israel and said, Yes we can. Your grandmother always did whatever she could to help others in this church and the community. The following Saturday, Miss Grace took the children s choir to Serenity Gardens to sing for Israel s grandmother and the other seniors living there. Israel s grandma was pleasantly surprised by the visit. Israel did not tell her they were coming. When the choir finished singing, Israel ran up to his grandmother, gave her a big hug and kiss and said, Grandma we wanted to do something special for 8 P a g e
you because you have done so much to help others. We love you very much. With a tear of joy running down her cheek, Israel s grandmother responded, I love you all too. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What made Dorcas special to the people in Joppa? She was always doing good and helping the poor. Why did Miss Grace think Israel was thoughtful? He remembered the seniors on the sick and shut-in list. Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students the Faithful Five want to do something helpful for the seniors in their church and community. Help them by planning a service project for the seniors in your church and community. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make a Kindness Rock. Materials needed: Rock art kit (from any craft store or Five Below), thin paint brushes, paint, cups of water, newspaper, paper plates, plastic table cloths, yarn Instructions: Use the newspaper to cover tables and floors. Cut the plastic table cloth in large rectangles to make aprons for the students. Use yarn to hang the apron on the student. The apron does not have to be fancy. It just needs to protect students clothing. Put a small dab of various colors of paint on paper plates to create a paint palette for each student. Give each student a paintbrush, rock and cup of water. Ask students to design a rock with a positive word. (Optional: Write examples of positive words like imagine, dream, love, inspire, fun, faith, smile, grow, pray, etc.) Allow the rocks to dry. When the rocks are dry, tell students to place the rocks in random places outside like on the playground, at the bus stop, or in their front yard. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, I know that when I serve others, I serve you. Help me to be a good servant. Amen. 9 P a g e
Lesson 13 February 25, 2018 1 Timothy 6: 11-21 The Way to Go Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Sing Jesus Loves Me Teach students the lyrics to the song if necessary. Jesus loves me this I know For the bible tells me so Little ones to him belong They are weak but he is strong Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. For the bible tells me so. Scripture Summary This is part of the first letter the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. He reminded Timothy to try to live the right way, to serve God, and to do good deeds for others to show his faith in Jesus. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. Do good, be rich in good works, and share. (1 Timothy 6:18) Tell students to write a word from the word box to match each clue. Encourage them to cross out the word once it is used. I rhyme with to. Do I have double letters in the middle. good I rhyme with me. be I have a short I sound and my first letter is r. rich Word Box do good be works in rich and share I am the opposite of out. in I am also the answer to the second clue. good I end with the letter s. I rhyme with band. I rhyme with care. works and share 10 P a g e
Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 13 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 13: The Best Play Date Ever Come on Tori. It s time to go, called out Tori s mother. Okay mom. Coming! Tori respectfully answered. Tori and the rest of the Faithful Five signed up to participate in their school s service project. Today there were going to the homeless shelter s Family Day. Each student at the school donated a movie, game or toy from their personal collection. The purpose of the project was to teach children how to share with others in need. Tori gave up her favorite movie, Frozen. Aaliyah donated her Doc McStuffins playset. Taj decided to share one of his Transformers action figures. Akeem gave up his soccer ball and Israel donated one of his XBoxOne games. Tori and her mother arrived at the Family Day event the same time as the rest of the Faithful Five families. From the looks of things, Family Day was going to be more fun than they anticipated. There was a Moon Bounce, a video game truck, a popcorn machine, and an awesome playground with a merry go round, see saw, swings and jungle gym. Some of the Faithful Five s classmates were already playing with the children from the shelter. Come on guys! Let s go play! shouted Akeem with excitement. Tori said, We have to ask permission first. Oh yeah, replied Akeem. Dad is it okay to go play? Akeem s father looked at the rest of the parents for their concurrence and said, Yes son. It is okay for all of you to go play. Y-aaaaaay! the Faithful Five cheered as they ran toward the Moon Bounce. All of the children played nicely together for three hours. When it was time to go home, Tori s mother asked the Faithful Five how they felt about sharing their time and toys with others in need. Tori responded for the group and said, Mom this was the best play date ever! Sharing is a good thing.. Rise Up! key words service project volunteer work done to benefit members of a community concurrence a situation in which people agree Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What did Paul tell Timothy in this letter? To try to live the right way, serve God and do good deeds How did the Faithful Five share with others? They shared their time and toys with others in need. Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Come up with a few scenarios where students have to make a decision over the best thing to do. Tell students the Faithful Five know the best way to show godly characteristics is to do what Jesus would do in every situation. Share a scenario and ask the students to advise the Faithful Five on how the situation should end in a way that pleases Jesus. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make a Be Like Jesus bracelet Materials needed: DIY slap bracelets (from Oriental Trading), crayons or markers Instructions: Allow students to decorate their bracelets words that remind them to be like Jesus. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, I know everything belongs to you. Help me to share with others without complaining. Amen. 11 P a g e
Appendix A Matching Game Flashcards 12 P a g e
Appendix B Tongue Pattern 13 P a g e
Appendix C Lesson 12 Key Verse Stickers 14 P a g e