Lesson four - pages 8/9 Reading the Bible

AIM for the book

To bring to life the story of Jesus by exploring the way we use our senses.

Learning objectives

• To know that the Bible is the most important book for Christians. Also that it is in two parts.
• To be able to name the two parts of the Bible - Old Testament and New Testament - and to name some of the characters and stories found in the Bible.
• To understand how Christians use the Bible.

Background

The Bible is often described as a library. It is a collection of stories, events and writings that explore the relationship between God and human beings. It is the authoritative literary source for all Christians. Written mostly in Hebrew (Old Testament) and Greek (New Testament), the Bible has been translated into virtually every language and there are many different English translations. It is not easy to translate because the various meanings of a word in Greek or Hebrew may be impossible to capture in English. Jesus would almost certainly have spent most of his time speaking Aramaic (not Hebrew or Greek) and the Bible is unlikely to contain any (or many) words Jesus used.

Bible references

Luke 2.41-52

Ways of using the picture

• Do the children have books that are special? Explain that for Christians the Bible is their most important book and they read it regularly.
• Make a collection of different Bibles. Try to find Bibles of different shapes and sizes and in different languages.
• Visit a local church or chapel to discover where the Bible is kept.

Key words

• Christian
• Bible
• Jesus
• Old Testament
• New Testament

Activity one - what is the Bible all about?

• You will need
  The picture on page 8/9 in the In Words book.
  A selection of different Bibles (a variety of sizes, shapes, pictures, ages, translations, ages, covers and so on).
  A selection of Bible storybooks.
  Blackboard or flipchart.

• Start
  In order for children to understand why the Bible is so important to Christians, they need to know what it is all about!
  Give the children the opportunity to look at and handle the Bibles on display.
  Ask them to be detectives who have to find out what the Bible is all about. For this activity the children could work in groups and help one another. Ensure that each group has at least one picture Bible.
  After an appropriate length of time ask the children to offer feedback about what they have discovered. Make a record of this on a board or flip chart.

• Develop
  It says on page 9 that you can find stories about the life of Jesus in the Bible.
  But who was Jesus?
  Explain to the children that Christians believe he is the Son of God who came to earth to save us. To Christians, he is a very important person. The Bible is very important to Christians because it tells them about Jesus.

• End
  Choose three or four stories about Jesus and have a story time.
  Through discussion, draw out from the stories the messages that Jesus was teaching.

Activity two - how do Christians use the Bible?

• You will need
  Drawing materials.
  Writing materials.

• Start
  It is important for the children to understand how the Bible is used by Christians. Explain that it is not meant to be kept on the shelf. It is to be read and then put into action.

• Develop
  Invite a Christian to come into school with their Bible and explain to the children how they use it. Remember to prepare both the visitor and the children. Your visitor needs to know the context of the visit, what you hope the children will learn from the visit and a general picture of the ability of the children. The children need to have thought of questions they would like to ask. What do they want to find out?

• End
  Ask the children to record in words and/or pictures what they have learnt about how a Christian uses their Bible.

Activity three - the Bible is a library

• You will need
  As many Bible storybooks as you can find with Old and New Testament stories.
  66 thin pieces of card, the width of a bookmark. 39 in one colour with the books of the Old Testament written on them, and 27 in a different colour with the names of the New Testament books on them.

• Start
  Explain to the children that the Bible is split into two parts:
  • the Old Testament, which is full of stories about God's people before Jesus was born; and
  • the New Testament, which is full of stories about Jesus and the first Christians.
  Each Testament is made up of many books.

• Develop
  Either lay the strips of card out across the floor and ask the children to count them as you do, or stick them along a wall, asking the children to count.
  Show the children all the books you have collected. Now involve the children in sorting them into Old and New Testament. This could be done as a whole class.
  If possible, display the books next to the cards.
  Depending on which stories you have managed to collect, you may want just to add pictures from other stories to your sorting task. For example: Noah's Ark, Moses, Joseph, Jonah, Daniel, and Paul's journeys.
  Return to your original display of Bibles and ask the children to search through them and find the books and stories you have just sorted, and where the Old Testament ends and the New Testament begins.

• End
  Create a large collage display. Cover a display board in backing paper shaped like an open book with the spine down the centre. On the left-hand side put up pictures of stories found in the Old Testament and on the right-hand side put up pictures of stories from the New Testament.

• Assessment opportunities
  The main assessment opportunities will come through discussion with the children.
  It would also be possible to assess the children through giving them an activity that involves sorting the Bible storybooks.
  The children could be asked to name or draw stories that come from each Testament.

Activity checklist

Activity one - what is the Bible all about?

The picture on page 8/9 in the In Words book.
A selection of different Bibles (a variety of sizes, shapes, pictures, ages, translations, ages, covers and so on).
A selection of Bible storybooks.
Blackboard or flipchart.

Activity two - how do Christians use the Bible?

Drawing materials.
Writing materials.

Activity three - the Bible is a library

As many Bible storybooks as you can find with Old and New Testament stories.
66 thin pieces of card, each the width of a bookmark. 39 in one colour with the books of the Old Testament written on them, and 27 in a different colour with the names of the New Testament books on them.

Web site links

http://www.faithwebbin.net/kidz/frames/pageone.html
This web site contains a large selection of Bible stories and activities in the section 'Inside the Ant's Nest'. Try out the 'Crafts & More' and 'Resources' sections for bible crafts, colouring pages, printable puzzles, lesson sheets and further ideas.

http://www.antelope-ebooks.com/RELIGIOUS/coverccc.html
There are numerous sites offering Bible-based resources. This one, from Antelope Publishing, includes 'e-stories', Bible stories, activities and games.

© Lisa Fenton