Beginner Teacher Guide September 2018 Table of Contents
Lesson Warm Up Story Activity Page September 2 A Great Creation (based on Genesis 1: 1-13) Do the Memory Verse Assembly Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 1: Show and Tell of God s Make creation art 3 September 9 Light and Life (based on Genesis 1: 14-25) September 16 A Magnificent Creation (based on Genesis 1: 26-31; 2: 4-7) September 23 We Live in Families (based on Genesis 2: 18-24; 4: 1-2) September 30 Learn to Obey (based on Genesis 3: 8, 14-17, 22-24) Sing God in Heaven Made a World Blow up a balloon Share why each family member is important Play a Walk in the Garden Creation Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 2: See God s Creation Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 3: What Do You See? Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 4: We Are Family Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 5: Game Frenzy Make more creation art Make even more creation art Make a family coat of arms Make obedience keys 5 7 10 13 Appendices Title Page Appendix A Creation Art Sheet 16 Appendix B Lesson 2 Key Verse Stickers 17 Appendix C Coat of Arms Template 18 Appendix D Obedience Key Template 19 2 P age
Lesson 1 September 2, 2018 Genesis 1:1-13 A Great Creation Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Play Memory Verse Assembly. You will need 10 plastic cups. Use a Sharpie marker to write each word in the key verse on the bottom of a cup. Mix up the cups and give the class 30 seconds to arrange the cups in correct order. Scripture Summary God created the heavens and earth out of nothing. Everything was filled with darkness. Only water and the spirit of God were present. On the first day God created light, which separated Day from Night. On the second and third days God created the sky and the seas, and made dry land. God called everything he made good. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) KEY VERSE EXERCISE. Tell students trace the words in the verse to remember. Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 1 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 1: Show and Tell of God s Creation It was Mekhai s turn to do show and tell. As Mekhai was preparing for what to share, he remembered the Faithfull Five learning that God was Elohim, the super Creator. He was very excited because during the summer his family went on a trip to Luray Caverns, a beautiful natural landmark on earth. He knew God made everything and everyone for a special purpose and he wanted others to know as well. Mekhai loved to praise God and his great works so this gave him a great opportunity to do just that. As the students gathered with excitement for show and tell, Mekhai took a small moment to pray. Dear God, thank you for this chance to share today. Thank you for allowing my family to go on such an amazing trip that showed me how great a creator you are. Bless my friends today as I share your goodness and mighty work. Amen Mekhai stood before the class with great confidence. Good morning! he said. Today I want to tell you about a special place my family and I went to visit this summer. This place is called Luray Caverns. It is a beautiful natural landmark located in Luray, Virginia. Mekhai held up a picture and you could hear all 3 P age
the Wows! Mekhai continued to explain, Luray Caverns is a large underground cave with an amazing display of nature and earth as you walk. In this picture you see stalagmites, which are formations that grow from the bottom up and stalactites, which are formations that grow from the top down. These sometimes meet forming columns or pillars. This cavern is an active cave, which means that these growths still occur. Mekhai showed the class the picture of the pool where the reflection of water created a beautiful view. The class was amazed as he continued to flip through pictures of his trip at Luray Caverns. The students couldn t believe that such a place such existed on earth. Everyone, Mekhai said. God created this. Can you believe it? Everything on this natural earth was created by God including mountains, volcanoes and caves. What an awesome creator God is! Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What did God create in the beginning? The heavens and the earth What did God create on the first day? Light, day and night What did God create on the second and third days? Sky, land, seas, grass, plants and fruit trees How did God feel about his creation? God said it was good. He was happy about his creation. Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Ask students to write an action song to help the Faithful Five teach their friends the order of creation. You can brainstorm the lyrics as a class or break the class into pairs or groups. Allow volunteers to share their song. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make creation art. Materials needed: Copies of the Creation Art Sheet in Appendix A (one per student), construction paper scraps, glue, crayons, scissors Instructions: Give each student a Creation Art Sheet. Allow students to create, draw and color what happened during the first three days of creation on their art sheet. Collect the art sheets at the end of class. Students will need them again for next week s lesson. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, we praise you for your wonderful creation. As we go throughout our lives may we continue to see your creation as a gift and give you praise and thanksgiving. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. 4 P age
Lesson 2 September 9, 2018 Genesis 1:14-25 Light and Life Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Sing God in Heaven Made a World. Sing to the tune of Old Macdonald. Allow the children to insert different animals and sound. Example lyrics are below. God in heaven made a farm Halle Halle lu and on his farm he made a chicken Halle Halle lu with a cluck cluck here and a cluck cluck there here a cluck there a cluck everywhere a cluck cluck God in heaven made a farm Halle Halle lu Scripture Summary God wasn t finished with his creation yet. On the fourth day, God spoke and created the sun to light the earth by day and the moon and stars to provide light at night. On the fifth day of creation, God spoke and created the birds in the sky, fish in the sea and animals that roamed the land. He designed all animals so they would be able to reproduce their own kind. He instructed the animals to reproduce plentifully. God was happy with what he had made and called it good. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. God made the two great lights and [created] every living creature that moves, of every kind. (Genesis 1:16, 21) Before class print copies Lesson 2 Key Verse Stickers in Appendix B on self-adhesive paper. During class give each student a set of stickers. Tell students to place the stickers that show the circled phrases in the verse to remember. God made the two great lights and [created] 5 P age
every living creature that moves, of every kind. Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 2 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 2: See God s Creation Last week, Mekhai presented his show and tell about his trip to Luray Caverns. This helped to get the Faithful Five excited because today was their school field trip to the children s aquarium and they were looking forward to seeing more of God s creation. As they arrived at the aquarium and began to follow their tour guide, Mekhai said, Wow! It s amazing to see what God has created! A classmate in their group asked, How do you guys know that God created all this? We can t see God. What makes it true that God is the creator? When they stopped at a shark tank, Ashanti looked at their classmate and said, God is a spirit so we like to think of God the way we think about the wind. We can t see the wind but we know the wind is real because we can feel it on our skin and watch it cause something to move. We know God is the creator because of all the amazing things we see, hear and touch in nature. How did forests get trees and caves form from rocks? Why can fish only breathe in water and we can only breathe in air? It s the amazing work of God! The rest of Faithful Five began shaking their heads in agreement. Then their classmate said, I never thought about it that way. How could all of those things happen without a superpower like God s. The Faithful Five had a great time at the aquarium. They were able to see so many sea creatures like seals, different types of fish and even a whale. On the ride back to school they talked more about other things God created like the sun, moon and stars. They know God s creation is special because it shows how awesome God is. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What did God create on the fourth day? The sun, moon and the stars What did God create on the fifth day? The birds in the sky, fish in the sea and animals How did Ashanti help their classmate believe that God is the creator? She used an example of how we cannot see the wind but we still know it is real because we can feel it and see it move other things. 6 P age
Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students to help the Faithful Five come up with a list of creatures that were created on the fifth day by naming as many animals as you can in 60 seconds. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make more creation art. Materials needed: Creation Art Sheets from last week, construction paper scraps, glue, crayons, scissors Instructions: Distribute the Creation Art Sheets. Allow students to create, draw and color what happened during fourth and fifth days of creation on their art sheet. Collect the art sheets at the end of class. Students will need them again for next week s lesson. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, thank you for creating the sun, the moon and the stars. Thank you for creating sea creatures and animals. All of your creation is beautiful and shows us how real you are. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen Lesson 3 September 16, 2018 Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4b-7 A Magnificent Creation Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Blow up a balloon Blow up a balloon while the children are watching. Share with them what it takes to make the balloon inflate and why it needs air or your breath to blow it up. Explain how God blew into man and he became alive. Scripture Summary On the sixth day, God created humankind. Out of all the creatures and animals God created, humans were the ones made in God s image. That made humans special. God put his Spirit inside of Adam so he 7 P age
could talk to God and have God s character. Then God gave Adam authority over everything created on earth. God was happy about what he created and called it good. Key Verse Exercise Read the verses to remember aloud. God said, Let us make humankind in our image. (Genesis 1:26) Ask students to circle the words in the verse to remember. God told said Let We us make animals humankind plants in our like. image. way. 8 P age
Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 3 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 3: What Do You See? Today was not a great day at school for Nevaeh. At the playground she overheard a group of girls having a conversation about her hair. At the lunch table she sat quietly. The other Faithful Five members approached Nevaeh to ask her what was wrong but she didn t want to talk about it. When Nevaeh arrived home from school she ran in her room and began to weep on her bed. Nevaeh, what s wrong? her mother asked as she opened her bedroom door. With tears she explained, Today, I overheard some girls having a conversation about my hair. One girl said she didn t like it, the other girl called my hair ugly, and the rest of them laughed. Sweetheart, it doesn t matter what other people think. her mom said. I know mom, but sometimes, the negative words of others hurt, said Nevaeh. As her mom peered through the door she picked up a mirror on Nevaeh s dresser and sat next to her on the side of her bed. Nevaeh, God made of all us and the bible says that we were fearfully and wonderfully made. Child, that includes you. He made each of us special and unique and no one looks the same on the outside. But we were all created special. Take a look in this mirror. Nevaeh held onto the mirror and began to look at herself. Her mom explained, See, the bible says that you are made in the image of God. That does not mean that you are physically like God but made like him in your spirit. The character that you have on the inside is made in the image of God. God breathed his breath into each of us. When he looks at you Nevaeh, he rejoices over you because you have compassion and love for others just like him. As Nevaeh continued to look in the mirror she noticed the Z on her shirt glowing. In her heart she began to feel different. Mom, you re right. I forgot for a moment that when they go low, we go high! You re right! Sometimes the actions of others don t reflect God. The actions of those girls today were not a reflection of God s character. God would never say bad things about us. He loves us and cares about us a lot. Nevaeh s mom replied, You re right sweetheart. God gave is the Holy Spirit to help us live and act more like him. Nevaeh put the mirror on the bed and gave her mother a big hug. For a moment, she had forgotten how much God loved her and she was glad her mom reminded her. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What did God create on the sixth day? People or humans What makes humans God s special creation? Humans are made in the image of God How can you reflect God s character when someone hurts you? (Answers will vary) Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. You will need the capability to project a website on a screen for this activity. Go to http://pbskids.org/catinthehat/games/corn-maze-craze. Tell students the Faithful Five are learning how 9 P age
nature provides things for us like food. Help them make their way through the corn maze. Students can do this by telling you which arrows to place on the question marks. Play 2-4 rounds of the maze game. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Make even more creation art. Materials needed: Creation Art Sheets from last week, construction paper scraps, glue, crayons, scissors Instructions: Distribute the Creation Art Sheets. Allow students to create, draw and color what happened during sixth day of creation on their art sheet. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, we thank you for making us in your image. Let every breath we take remind us that you gave us life and we are important to you. In Jesus name we pray. Amen Lesson 4 September 23, 2018 Genesis 2:18-24; 4:1-2 We Live in Families Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Share why family is important. Seat the class in a circle. Ask volunteers to share why their family is important to them. Scripture Summary God did not think it was a good idea for man to be alone so him a special partner - a woman! This was the first marriage that produced children who became part of the first family. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. (Genesis 2:18) Tell students to connect the dots in the order of the verse to remember. 10 P age
Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 4 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 4: We Are Family Jahari and his family arrived in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for their first family reunion. Jahari was excited because he had not met many of his distant family members. Dad, how many people do you think will show up? Jahari said. I m not sure son. Hopefully everyone will be there. said Jahari s dad. The family arrived after a 5-hour drive to the family reunion meeting place for their Meet and Greet. Jahari s dad was greeted by his oldest sister. Margaret, I want you to meet Jahari said his dad. This was the first time Jahari had met his Aunt Margaret. She lived overseas with her military husband and this was the first time she had come to visit family in years. Jahari was surprised to see all the family members that had come. Everyone gathered for the opening of the Meet and Greet. Jahari s Uncle Mike opened with a prayer and wanted to recognize Jahari s great grandfather John and great grandmother Isabelle as the family patriarch and matriarch. What is a patriarch and matriarch? Jahari asked his dad. Son, a patriarch is the male head of the family and the matriarch is the female head of the family, his dad replied. Jahari was surprised to see how his family tree was made. As Uncle Mike showed the family history and tree in a video presentation, Jahari learned that he had seven great uncles, five great aunts, four uncles, four aunts, and a host of first, second and third cousins. Jahari was so surprised. During the remainder of the family reunion, Jahari went around meeting and connecting with many family members for the first time. He learned where his family originated and how they owned and operated a huge family farm that provided food to local families in their community who were in need. Jahari took great pride to be a part of such an awesome family. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. Why did God create a woman? God did not think it was good for man to be alone How did the first family come into existence? God made a woman to be the special partner of man. The first family came from their marriage. Who are the matriarch and patriarch of your family? (Answers will vary) Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students to help the Faithful Five highlight a child s responsibilities in the family by sharing the responsibilities they have in their families. 11 P age
Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Family Coat of Arms. Materials needed: Copies of the Coat of Arms template in Appendix C (one per student), crayons, markers, scissors, glitter glue, old magazines and other art supplies (like fabric, construction paper, tissue paper or stickers) Instructions: Give each student a copy of the Coat of Arms template. Explain what goes in each section of the coat of arms as depicted below. Draw a picture of your family. Find a picture in a magazine that show an activity your family likes. Use the art supplies to make a symbol for your family. It could be a shape, a letter, an animal, or object. Write your city and state. Write your last name. Close the lesson with prayer. Dear God, thank you for our families. Help us to be good family members by being kind to each other. Thank you for being our Dad and always caring for us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. 12 P age
Lesson 5 September 30, 2018 Genesis 3:8, 14-17, 22-24 Learn to Obey Get Excited! Below are the instructions for the warm-up activity Play a Walk in the Garden. Ask children to form a straight line against a wall in the classroom. Tell them they are in the Garden of Eden. The instructions for this game are similar to the instructions for Simon Says. Students can only move forward when they hear you say, God said before an instruction. God said you may eat fruit from all trees in the garden except one. Take three steps forward. God said this is the tree whose fruit you must not touch or eat. Take one step to the right. Fruit is good for you. Take one step forward. (Students who move are out of the game.) Discuss how this is what happened to Adam and Eve when they did not obey specific instructions God gave to them in the Garden. Scripture Summary God told Adam he could eat fruit from every tree in the Garden of Eden except the fruit from the forbidden tree the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan, God s enemy, disguised as a serpent, convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit anyway. Then Eve convinced Adam to eat the forbidden fruit. After they sinned, their eyes were opened to their nakedness so they became embarrassed and hid from God. God made clothes for them so they would no longer feel ashamed, but threw them out of the garden for being disobedient. Key Verse Exercise Read the verse to remember aloud. The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone. (Genesis 2:18) Tell students to color the verse to remember. Read and Learn! Read Adventures of the Faithful Five: Episode 5 aloud. Review key words. Adventures of the Faithful Five Episode 5: Game Frenzy Tomorrow was the youth community football game and Mekhai and his brother Zack wanted to practice by playing NFL 2018 on the XBox. Their mother had given them complete control and access to the game room. The boys knew daily that when they got home from school they could play if their rooms were clean, the garbage was taken out and their homework was done. The main rule to be followed was that they had to share and be nice to each other. 13 P age
One afternoon Zack decided that it was his turn to play the game and that Mekhai s time was up, so he went to his brother and snatched the controller out of his hand, which resulted in the controller breaking. They both knew they were going to be in big trouble. The boys tried to hide the controller from their mother. When their mom came into the room she noticed that things were very quiet and different than usual, so she called for the boys. They reluctantly responded to her voice in fear of what the consequence would be. When they finally responded their mother asked, Why aren t you playing the game? Mekhai quickly squealed on his brother, Zack broke it mom! Zack shouted back, Mekhai was hogging the controller! Their mom was so angry with them both that she took away their Xbox playing time and told them they would not be able to play in the community football tournament. The next day Mekhai was sitting in his room, looking out the window, watching his friends play football while he was grounded. His mother came in the room and said, I want you to understand because both of you were disobedient, both of you have lost your privileges. It does not matter who was at fault first. This is a perfect example of what happens when you are disobedient to God. You cannot blame others for your actions. Rise Up! Answers to questions in What Do You Think are underlined. What was the result of Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit? They had to leave the garden How were Mekhai and Zack disobedient? They were not being nice to each other What did Mekhai s and Zack s mother tell them? You cannot blame others for your actions Complete the Superhero Challenge if time permits. Tell students to help the Faithful Five write a story about obedience. The story can be based on their own experiences at home or school. Below are the instructions for the Time to Create activity Obedience Keys. Materials needed: Copies of the Obedience Key Template in Appendix D (one per student), cardstock paper, scissors, crayons, hole punch, pipe cleaners Instructions: Give each student a copy of the Obedience Key template. Allow students to color the keys and cut them out. Punch a hole at the top of each key. Use the pipe cleaner to assemble the keys together as if they are on a key ring. Explain what each key means after students assemble their key rings. 14 P age
Imagine a door that has four different locks, each requiring a separate key. Though each one of these keys will work, all four keys are required to open the door. Similarly, true obedience is comprised of several keys and all keys are necessary. 1. Immediately Delayed obedience = disobedience! Respond quickly to direction and instruction. Instant obedience may save your life! Consider a little boy running toward the road, into the path of an oncoming car. If he fails to obey when commanded to STOP, it could cost him his life. 2. Cheerfully A cheerful attitude can make a difficult chore seem much easier to accomplish. A bad attitude makes simple tasks harder. 3. Completely If you are asked to gather the trash and you immediately respond with a cheerful attitude, but fail to replace the trash bag in the trash can, you have not done the job completely. 4. Without Complaining No grumbling or arguing is allowed. This includes statements such as That s not my job or I always have to do that. Close the lesson with prayer. Lord, we commit our hearts to obeying you and the rules we are supposed to follow. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen. 15 P age
Appendix A Creation Art Sheet 16 P age
Appendix B Lesson 2 Key Verse Puzzle 17 P age
Appendix C Coat of Arms Template 18 P age
Appendix D Obedience Key Template IMMEDIATELY CHEERFULLY COMPLETELY WITHOUT COMPLAINING 19 P age