This document is an attempt to describe the process for writing lesson plans for Faith Quest - A Workshop Rotation Model Sunday School at the Kirk of Kildaire Church, Cary North Carolina. Some of its suggestions are specific to that church. This document was printed from www.rotation.org and may be used for non-commercial teaching purposes only.

Kirk of Kildaire, Presbyterian
200 High Meadow Drive, Cary, NC 27511
(919) 467-4944
View Kirk of Kildair's Rotation Lessons at http://www.kirkofkildaire.org/FQlessons/contents.htm

The Curriculum Design (CD) team is responsible for developing the Faith Quest Scope and Sequence plan and preparing the lesson plans in support of the plan.

The team members are:

associate pastor - leads the Bible study, reviews the theology, and gives final approval of the lessons. The associate pastor and CE Children’s elder approve the Faith Quest Scope and Sequence plan prior to submitting to session for its approval.
CD team leader - manages the writing process, gathers resources, creates the flyer, and monitors the Faith Quest program to provide input to the writing team.
authors - prepare the lessons for each of the workshops.

The Methodology

Part 1 - Prepare for the Curriculum Design (CD) Meeting

Read the scripture for the story. The stories are determined by the Faith Quest Scope and Sequence Plan. This plan was created by the CD team. It is subject to review and change. It is approved by session.
Collect ideas for the story. The CD team leader will gather as many ideas, resources, suggestions as possible to bring to the meeting. Other materials needed for this meeting: Scope and Sequence Plan, workshop leader roster, rotation unit schedule, calendar.
Bible Study. The associate pastor prepares a Bible study of the story for the Curriculum Design Meeting.

 

Part 2 - Attend the Curriculum Design Meeting

Bible Study. The associate pastor conducts a Bible study for the story. Please come prepared, having read the appropriate Bible passages.
Determine the key concepts. What are the key messages we want the children to learn from this story? Write them in kid-friendly language. We try to have 3-5 concepts of faith per unit/story. Most of the meeting time is spent trying to get this right. The story needs to be boiled down to the few key ideas of faith that we want our children to understand. What does this story tell us about God, about our relationship with God and about our response to God (how we should act)?
Identify the Memory Verse. Each rotation unit has a verse that the children recite in the Great Hall every Sunday. It can be from anywhere in the Bible, usually a well-known verse, which conveys a key learning concept for this story.
Assign concepts to workshops. With a list of 3-5 key concepts, determine which workshops will focus on specific concepts. A workshop lesson is created to deliver the assigned concepts - not necessarily all the concepts. It is part of our workshop design that each workshop will address a specific concept with a unique perspective. The package of workshops delivers all the concepts. It is OK for 2 workshops to address the same concept as long as the perspective is different. This is where it helps to have done some research to come up with some ideas of what to do in your workshop - though things can change! Flexibility is key!
Share ideas and resources. The CD team leader will provide as many resources as possible to generate ideas for the lessons. There are many lesson plans available on the web site that can be used with a lot or a little change. We also look at the list of workshop leaders for the unit. Sometimes we can use a unique skill of the workshop leader to decide the lesson activity eg. music or storytelling skill. Another check is to ensure that we are using multi-intelligences across all the workshops.
Assign workshops to authors.
Determine the deadline for sending lesson plans to the CD team leader. Establish the next meeting date.

 

Part 3 - The Writing Process

The actual writing part of this process is very personal. Each writer has a unique approach, method and style of writing - all of which add diversity and color to the end product. The following process is a very general outline that can be adapted to suit your needs.

Review your notes from the Bible study and the key concepts for your workshop. Read the scripture again.
Mull it over. Think about it, pray about it. Try out ideas in your head. Let it sit in your brain awhile.
Begin to write. Use the lesson template to help with formatting.
Let it rest. After your initial draft, put it away for at least a day. Then go back and look at it with fresh eyes.
Get feedback. This is optional. Send the draft to another author. It helps to ask specific questions for feedback rather than a general “what do you think?” If you are stuck or are having trouble making an idea work, call the CD team leader or a writing partner. If you have a theology question, contact the Associate Pastor.
Review the “Objectives”. Make sure that the objectives can be accomplished with your lesson plan and the lesson plan activities are included in the objectives. Does the lesson plan teach the key concepts?
Prepare final draft. Send your final draft to the CD team leader by the deadline date.

 

Part 4 - Prepare and Distribute the Lesson Plans

1. CD team leader review. This review by the CD team leader is to gather all the lesson plans for the unit, check formatting and forward to the associate pastor. The CD team leader then prepares a flyer for the unit identifying the story, concepts, memory verse, workshop activities, workshop leaders and curriculum writers. The flyer is forwarded for review by the associate pastor.
2. Theology review. The associate pastor reviews and edits the lessons and flyer, addresses any questions about the lesson raised by the author and prints the final copy.
3. Distribute lesson plans to workshop leaders. The church office mails to the workshop leader: the lesson plan, workshop schedule, unit flyer and a memo with details about the workshop leaders Bible Study. Copies of the lessons are filed in a binder in the workroom. The final draft is sent back to the CD team leader.
4. Submit material to website. The CD team leader sends original lesson plans and flyer to the church webmaster for posting.

Emphasize use of the Bible. Look it up. Read it. Reference the CEV Contemporary English Version translation.

Use inclusive language - God is not a he or she, God is God.

Conclude the lesson with prayer. Prayer at the opening is optional because we have just had prayer in the Great Hall

Provide variations for younger and older children whenever possible -include variations for telling the story as children become more familiar in weeks 3-5. You may wish to recommend storybooks, Bible storybooks, call and response, what happened next, ask each child to tell the next sentence of the story, tell the story with mistakes (younger children like this).

Provide guidelines for including as many children as possible. Children should not be idle for long while another group is doing something. Try to engage the whole class in the activity.

Provide questions and the answers for discussion. We need to provide answers to help the workshop leader deliver the appropriate messages. A theology check by our pastor is imperative to assist the writer in this process. Don’t be shy or avoid a question because you aren’t sure. This is a growing process for all of us. Ask.

Don’t rely on verbal instructions to the workshop leader. Write it down. Consider that we are writing for the future too. In five years, we will be starting over in our story plan and will reuse these lessons. Also, we share these lessons with others on the web. They do not have access to the author and need the written explanation. Try not to use hardcopy attachments that aren’t computer generated. If you have an example (from a book) that you wish to include, be sure to provide the reference so that we can find it again sometime in the future.

Provide ideas and suggestions, not scripts. It’s a fine line between enough information and too much. We don’t want the workshop leader tied to the lesson plan verbatim, but we do want to help the leader who is less experienced in teaching.

Provide references. If you use someone else’s work, that’s OK, just reference it. It is courteous to acknowledge the work of others, as well as a legal requirement.

Be committed to the deadline dates.

 

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