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The Workshop Rotation Model was first developed in the Chicago area
in the early '90s by a number of Presbyterian churches seeking to solve
their chronic Sunday School problems: boring curriculum, boring classrooms,
boring teaching methods, bored kids, apathetic parents, and low bible literacy.
These churches wanted to teach bible stories in a creative manner every
week without the crushing burden of having to find and 
prepare new
material each week. They were trying to find a way out of the curriculum"quest
for the Holy Grail" that always seemed to come up short. They also
wanted to overhaul their classrooms on the cheap to make them the kid-friendly
places they needed to be to attract kids back to the classroom. Out of
those experiments came the Workshop Rotation Model. The Workshop-Rotation
Model reorganizes the way you teach, not what you teach. Born are creative
kid friendly workshops: The Drama Room, The Art Room, The A-V Workshop,
Bible Skills and Games Room, the Computer Lab, the Puppet Workshop (and
there are more and you can call them anything you want).
Kids rotate by class into a different workshop each week for a four, five or six week period. During that period of time, the story they learn is the same in each workshop. Kids love repetition and need it to remember their lessons. Because each of the workshops teaches through a different style of learning, the kids don't get bored. Instead, this multiple-intelligences approach enhances the learning process.
Here's the final key: The workshop teachers stay put. They don't rotate with the kids (though many churches have class shepherds who do stay with kids). Teachers teach in the workshop of their strength and the lesson stays the same for several weeks in a row. This means they plan less and get better as the weeks go by. By the second or third week, they don't even need the lesson outline in their hand.
Lesson plans for the Workshop Rotation Model are simple and the teacher adjusts them making them better each week. The real difference between this model and the traditional classroom model is that each workshop takes its time teaching the story through one mode. No more frenetic six part lesson plans with barely enough time to get everything done. No more 5 minute crafts either. Instead, you'll be using real art projects that take quality time and contemplation. Of course, each lesson includes bible study and discussion.
Because most teachers will naturally adjust the age appropriateness of their lesson plan on their own, you don't need to come up with separate lesson plans for each class. Just a few age appropriate notes and adjustments will do. And because most of those using the model believe in sharing their materials and great ideas, we glean from each other's materials and those from our resource centers, instead of buying new curriculum every quarter.
And wait until you see what the model has meant to the churches using it! It has unleashed creativity and resources in an exciting way. Once drab facilities are now bursting with kids and creative spaces. Money locked up in curriculum purchases is now free. The website holds a number of "Our Stories" vignettes with pictures. Take a look.
The website www.rotation.org is a good example of the cooperative spirit those using the model are enjoying. You browse what you want, print what you like, and shape it to meet your own needs. All the material on the site is copyrighted by its authors (people like you), however, they give their permission to you to freely use it for non-profit purposes in your Sunday School. As the website and cooperative spirit expands, you'll see much more. We invite you to contribute your ideas, suggestions, and creative materials. We think this kind of site is a revolution in the making, one the denominational publishers aren't necessarily keen on. As one put it, "how can we give away resources for free?" Another called it the "third rail for traditional curriculum publishers." Oh well.
Who's behind this website? You'll see some of our names listed at the site. We're an ad hoc group of churches, educators and pastors from several denominations who have had great success using the model and want to spread the word and make resources easy to get. Up until now, we have been fielding phone calls and mailing packets of info from our church offices. This site makes our information easier to get and cheaper too. We fund this site out of our own pockets. We invite you to browse our site, email us for more information. You are welcome to join with us or take whatever you need and go do God's work with his kids.
Written by Neil MacQueen, 8/97 for rotation.org
Neil's email address: sundaysoft@ee.net