Rules Are Not Made To Be Broken

With the beginning of the school year upon us this is a great time to have a lesson on fairness and to create new rules or revisit the old rules.

I came up with the idea to make a big book of our classroom rules. We did this as a large group project. I also let each child make a small book of the classroom rules if they wanted to.

I put out 6 large sheets of white poster board. Each sheet would represent a rule that we all agreed on and one sheet would be the cover of the book called “Our Rule Book.”

Rule #1 ~ Take Turns
Rule #2 ~ Play Fair
Rule #3 ~ Be Nice
Rule #4 ~ Clean Up
Rule #5 ~ Wash Hands

On the poster board I wrote in pencil (very lightly) the rule and what it was so that the children could trace over the words with markers, crayons, or colored pencils. I then encouraged them to draw pictures, glue pictures from magazines or put stickers onto the poster board that related to that rule.

After we were all done, I stapled the 6 sheets together in book style. We read the book together and then we placed the book in the book shelf with all of the other books to be read anytime the children wanted to.

Perhaps you will make a big book of rules with your class? Let me know if you do, I would love to hear how it went.

As always, peach and joy,
Barb

I Will Not Tell a Lie

During circle time we read the story “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.”

This book is a perfect example of honesty and what can happen if you don’t tell the truth.

I asked the children if they have ever lied. Surprisingly many of them admitted that they had. I asked them about some of the things they had lied about and what the consequences were when they got caught in a lie.

Some of the things they lied about was hitting a brother or sister or taking away their toy, breaking something, spilling milk or water, tearing a book, coloring on the wall.

When I asked them what happened when they got caught in a lie they talked about being put in time out, saying they were sorry or cleaning up their mess. It was a really rich conversation and I could see the remorse in their faces and hear it in their voices. I encourage you to have conversations like this with your children because it is a great way for them to learn and hear from each other.

I had a big piece of chart paper taped to the wall and asked them what honesty meant to them.

Here is what they said,

• Tell the truth
• Don’t steal
• Don’t lie
• Don’t tell on someone else
• Don’t make up stories

I had brought in all kinds of props to act out “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” we had stuffed sheep, a wolf and large sticks that would be their staff.

Below is the story in case you don’t have the book.
There once was a shepherd boy who was bored as he sat on the hillside watching the village sheep. To amuse himself he took a great breath and sang out, "Wolf! Wolf! The Wolf is chasing the sheep!" The villagers came running up the hill to help the boy drive the wolf away. But when they arrived at the top of the hill, they found no wolf. The boy laughed at the sight of their angry faces. "Don't cry 'wolf', shepherd boy," said the villagers, "when there's no wolf!" They went grumbling back down the hill. Later, the boy sang out again, "Wolf! Wolf! The wolf is chasing the sheep!" To his naughty delight, he watched the villagers run up the hill to help him drive the wolf away. When the villagers saw no wolf they sternly said, "Save your frightened song for when there is really something wrong! Don't cry 'wolf' when there is NO wolf!" But the boy just grinned and watched them go grumbling down the hill once more. Later, he saw a REAL wolf prowling about his flock. Alarmed, he leaped to his feet and sang out as loudly as he could, "Wolf! Wolf!" But the villagers thought he was trying to fool them again, and so they didn't come.
At sunset, everyone wondered why the shepherd boy hadn't returned to the village with their sheep. They went up the hill to find the boy. They found him weeping. "There really was a wolf here! The flock has scattered! I cried out, "Wolf!" Why didn't you come?" An old man tried to comfort the boy as they walked back to the village. "We'll help you look for the lost sheep in the morning," he said, putting his arm around the youth, "Nobody believes a liar...even when he is telling the truth!"


I hope if you do this with your class you have a great time and the children learn about not telling a lie and the importance of being honest.
Peace and Joy,
Barb

Caring Coupons

Over the next few weeks I will be focusing on character education. I believe that character education is a beautiful compliment to the teachings in the Bible and how God wants us to behave.

The first core virtue of character education we focused on was caring.

During circle time the children and I discussed what caring looks like or means to them.

Here is the list we came up with:

• Be nice to others
• Be compassionate
• Show you care
• Express gratitude
• Forgive others
• Help and take care of people in need
• Think good thoughts towards others
• Be generous with kind words and actions

I told the children we were going to make “Caring Coupons” for others. They were very excited about this and couldn’t wait to get started.

On the tables I had stapled together 5 coupon-shaped pieces of paper into a booklet. In pencil (very lightly) I wrote “Caring Coupon Book” so that each child could trace over the words with a marker or crayon of their choice.

I put out stickers and pictures from magazine of cats, dogs, clothes, food, books, newspapers, gardens, flowers and other pictures that would represent something a child could do to show they cared.

The children glued the pictures into their books and dictated what they would do with that coupon to show they cared. For example, Andy glued a picture of a dog and said that he would take care of his dog and make sure he had food and water. Sarah glued a picture of flowers and said she would help her mom water the flowers in the garden.

It was so exciting because each book was unique to the individual child and they really seemed to grasp the concept of caring for others.

If you try this with the children in your class, there are many ways to make it appropriate for children of different abilities. For example, instead of magazine pictures the children could draw pictures on their own; the shapes of the coupons could be preprinted and children can practice cutting them out; or have the children cut the coupons out to make any shape they want.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

It's All About The Sheep

Did you know that there are over 600 references to sheep, lamb, shepherds and ewe in the Bible? Sheep are consistently used throughout scripture to teach biblical truths.

I wanted to do a large group activity with the children because I believe it really teaches them teamwork, sharing, respect while at the same time having fun.

I made a huge cutout of a sheep and had it on the floor in the middle of our circle time as the children arrived.

I had them sit around the sheep and read them the bible verse John 10:7-16. I explained to the children that sheep are so important to God that he talks about them over 600 times in the bible. I asked them if they knew what a sheep sounds like and if they do can they make the sound. Of course, I heard a lot of “baaaas.”

After we talked about sheep I ask them if they know what a shepherd is. Many of them said Jesus and some said a man with a cane and others had no idea. I explained that a shepherd takes care of the sheep and uses a “staff” that looks like a cane to direct them.

I taught them a song that went like this…

“One Little Two Little Three Little Sheep”
(to the tune of “Ten Little Indians”)
One little, two little, three little sheep
Four little, five little, six little sheep
Seven little, eight little, nine little sheep
Ten sheep loved by the Shepherd

Then I told them that we were going to make our paper sheep nice and fluffy. I put out cottonballs of all different colors and told them they could put any color cottonball they wanted on their sheep. (To make colorful cottonballs you take powder tempera paint , put in a bag with some cottonballs and shake it.)

The children worked together beautifully and even color coordinated some of the cottonballs. I had individual sheep ready for them if they finished early and wanted to make their own sheep to take home as a reminder of our lesson. Most of them did this activity as well.

Let me know how your sheep lesson turns out.


As always, peace and joy,
Barb

Joseph's Coat of Many Colors

Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors.
Genesis 37:3

It was a very colorful day in class. Ahead of time I cut out paper bag vests for each child. They are simple to do, just cut open the middle of the front side of the bag. Cut a hole in the top for the neck. Cut a hole on each side of the bag for arm holes.

I always like to give the children lots of choices so I had paint, markers, crayons, tissue paper, fabric, glue and even chalk out on the tables.

At circle time we talked about Joseph and all of the reasons his father gave him a coat of many colors. The responses are always so cute and some were even funny. Some of the responses from them were:

“Joseph’s father gave him the coat because he was cold.”

“He gave him the coat because he wanted him to be pretty.” (my personal favorite)

“He wanted everyone to know that his coat was special.”

“He wanted to share.”

I asked them if they wanted to make a coat of many colors and they couldn’t get to the tables fast enough.

They colored, painted and glued fabric on their coats. Of course no two of them were alike. I made one along with them as we talked about how Joseph’s coat was probably made. Most of them thought it was sewed together by his father.

After the coats were completed we decided to have a parade through the school to show them off. It was so much fun as I let each child lead the parade for a little while.

I hope you will make Joseph’s coat of many colors with your students and have as much fun as I did.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

The Prayer Lap Book

Have you ever made a lap book with your students? They are great fun and can be very interactive.

Today we made a “Prayer Lap Book.”

Before we started I put out the following items:

File Folders
Magazines
Print outs of people praying
markers
crayons
glue stick

I read them the story, “I Can Pray” by Happy Day Series.

We talked about praying, how we can kneel when we pray, fold our hands/arms and close our eyes.

We started creating our lap books. The children could choose from a variety of pictures, magazine cut outs or even color the outside cover to assemble their prayer lap book. I had them write with markers the words “My Prayer Lap Book” on the cover of their folder.

On the inside cover, I asked them to put pictures of what it looks like when people pray. They could draw or color pictures, or glue on the pictures that were already out on the table of people praying.

On the opposite cover I asked them to dictate to myself or my aide the things they pray about and perhaps a prayer they would like us to write down.

On the back cover they could do whatever they wanted.

Each book came out unique and colorful. I hope you will consider creating a lap book with your children.

As always, peace and joy,
Barb

The Rainbow Promise

Who doesn’t love a rainbow? I always enjoy doing a rainbow lesson with the children so that they are reminded of God’s promise to us. Here is something we did recently:

As the children arrived in the classroom they saw the following items out on the tables:

Bread
Toaster
Cups of colored milk
Brand new, clean paintbrushes
Butter
Paper plates
Plastic knives

They were so excited because they knew they were going to get to eat.

We gathered in a circle so that I could read them the story “Let's Paint a Rainbow” by Eric Carle.

After the story we talked about rainbows, and I asked how many of them had ever seen a rainbow in the sky? They all raised their hands, so I figured if they hadn’t seen a rainbow in the sky they at least knew what a rainbow was.

We then discussed God’s promise to us from the passage in the Bible, Genesis 9:8-17. I replaced the word covenant with promise so that the children could understand it better. I explained to them that when they see a rainbow in the sky it reminds us of God’s promise and how much he loves us.

After the discussion we sang “Oh Rainbow.”

Oh Rainbow
Tune: O Christmas Tree
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.
Purple, red and orange, too,
Yellow, green and blue so true.
Oh rainbow, oh rainbow,
How lovely are your colors.

After we were done singing it was off to make rainbow toast.

The children were allowed to “paint” any colors of the rainbow on their bread using the colored milk and what fun they had!

Before they ate their toast, Emily said a prayer, “Thank you God for this rainbow toast. Amen.”

As always, peace and joy,
Barb