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Reply to "MISC Workshop Ideas and Resources for the Lord's Prayer"

Poster Board Tool - Learning/Understanding the Lord's Prayer

For the Lord's Prayer, I took two large pieces of posterboard and put them together to form one large poster (a left side and a right side).

On the right side, I printed the Lord's Prayer -- using debts as is our tradition but you could change this to sins or trespasses.

For the left side of the poster, I printed out -- in 20th century parlance -- what each part of the Lord's Prayer really means. I got this interpretation from a Web site that I liked.

For the modern printouts, I attached velcro to these (and placed corresponding velcro on the posterboard) so that as we went recited the Lord's Prayer, the kids would stop and read the "20th century" interpretation and then attach it to the left side of the poster.

I made enough of these large posters for all 4 workshops that we were rotating through so that the kids would recite the prayer and read the interpretations for the four weeks they were rotating through the Lord's Prayer.

They liked reading and interpeting the prayer in this manner. If you'd like my "interpretations" or more information, send me an email.

[This message has been edited by WAM (edited 04-21-2001).]
Post edited for clarity by Exchange Volunteer.


Resources (compiled from this site)

Books / Curriculum

  • Hey, God, Let's Talk! by Charles L. Terrell, Abingdon Press, 0687033772.   I was able to get some wonderful ideas from this!  Another member said, "a great resource!"
  • Jubilation Station The World of the Lord's Prayer published by Cook Ministry Resources, downloadable only product.
  • "Learning the Lord's Prayer" by Phyllis Vos Wezeman and Judith Chase Harris (Active Learning Associates). Very helpful In developing our plans.  (3 resources provided by New Yorker Guest - May 24, 2001.)
  • "Gateways to Worship" suggestion by Anne Camp: Carolyn Brown has written an excellent book called "Gateways to Worship", designed specifically for introducing kindergarten & 1st graders to worship experiences, including the Lord's Prayer. She devotes the six weeks of Lent to taking it apart for them, etc. We have used this material several times with this age group and been happy with the results. We have also incorporated the Lord's Prayer into our closing ritual for all classes, every week. Most people do actually learn the Lord's Prayer that way, and we are not dependant on a single unit for teaching it. But the unit teaching of this prayer does help avoid the "Harold be thy name" mistakes.
  • Cornerstones has ten workshops on the Lord's Prayer.  [Update 2016: In the past year or so, the founders of Cornerstones retired. Their website and materials are no longer available. ] For the Lord's Prayer we used *Bedouin Encampment, Moved by the Spirit, Faith Issues, and Mary and Martha's Bed & Breakfast. At the end of each month I give the leaders an evaluation and suggestion sheet to fill out so they can let me know what changes they would make to their workshop if we teach them again. In general, everyone says the lessons are too hard for the younger children. I suggest that you go over each workshop and see what may need to be changed. A lot of our leaders are quite adept at adapting the lesson plan for the younger children. However, the newer lessons that are being written have adjustments for the younger children. Also, a lot of the supplies needed for Cornerstones workshops need to be secured well in advance (or ordered from someplace else) because Cornerstones material is older curriculum, and some items cannot even be purchased or obtained anymore. So again you need to plan for these workshops well in advance and maybe make changes in the supplies you use. Some of the suggestions I received from the leaders:
    • *Bedouin Encampment: make the holy places more creative, more exciting; Mary & Martha's B&B - have preprinted items to paste in the children's journals; Moved by the Spirit - cutting the footprints from the sponges was difficult. (the leader suggests smaller ones, pre-cut)
  • Covenant People Curriculum (PC-USA) Year 1, Unit 7, provides a five- session study of the Lord's Prayer for children from ages 3/4/5 through Grade 4. We adapted for our local church use.

Anne Camp - posted:

The Lord's Prayer:

The overall purpose of the rotation is to help every student pray the Lord's Prayer confidently and to explore the meaning of various phrases in depth.

Basic Belief: In life and in death, we belong to God.… We trust in God, whom Jesus called Abba, Father. A Brief Statement of Faith, lines 1, 27-28

Beginner's Catechism Question 46. Why do we pray to God? Because we were created to live with God, who desires the prayers of our hearts. Our hearts long for God, for we need God's help and guidance every day. Question 47. What do we do when we pray? When we pray, we adore God, we confess our sins, we give God thanks, and we pray for the needs of others and ourselves. Question 48. How did Jesus teach his followers to pray? He taught them the words of the Lord's Prayer.

Memory Verse: Matt. 6:7-9 7"When you are praying, do not heap up empty phrases as the show-offs do; for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. 8Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9Pray then in this way: Our Father …."

Art Workshop:
"listen" and "talk" with great works of art, what prayers do they inspire? explore the overall question of what is prayer; explore "God is like ..." statements

  1. Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
  2. Deuteronomy 32:11 The Lord was like an eagle teaching its young to fly, always ready to swoop down and catch them on its back.
  3. Isaiah 66:13 The Lord will comfort you like a mother, comforting her child.
  4. Hosea 13:8 The Lord will protect you like a mother bear robbed of her cubs.
  5. Psalm 18: 2 The Lord is my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my place of shelter.
  6. Jeremiah 18:6 The Lord has power over me and forms me, just as the potter shapes the clay.
  7. Psalm 103:13 Just as a father is kind to his children, the Lord is kind to all who worship him.

Drama Workshop:
with a partner, say the Lord's Prayer and have one partner be God, answering each phrase (switch); insure that the prayer is not "rote," that each phrase has a lively meaning! We also used "When Do You Talk to God?" a picture/story book that suggests different locations and situations for prayer. Volunteers were asked to pray their own prayers in each situation mentioned.

Computer Workshop:
Life of Christ Lesson 40.
2020 Note: Discovery Interactive’s "Life of Christ" CD.


Puzzles Workshop:
reinforce knowledge and understanding of the Lord's Prayer: used cards to assemble phrases sequentially; used cards again matching activity to pair prayer phrases with contemporary translations

Cooking Workshop:
make pretzels with refrigerated bread sticks; talk about the pretzel as a Lenten food and a reminder to pray; and read "God Speaks to Us in Feeding Stories"

AV Workshop:
illustrate each phrase of the Lord's Prayer on the overhead projector; this was a particularly successful activity: each class completed a wonderful presentation which we then used in children's worship

Exchange Volunteer edited topic title for clarity and added bolding, etc., also moved here to consolidate posts.



Prayer Pals:

DebeNelson - posted:

An idea I've been playing with the last couple of days is Prayer Pals. (I got it from a list-serv in my email)The idea is to connect students with adults in the congregation as prayer pals, getting them together a few times a year in a big group gathering for support. I'm going to add a globe to my storytelling area on Sunday to start the prayer process. For the younger kids, I'll have them take turns each week spinning the globe, stopping on a random place to pray for. Before they take their turn, the older two groups - Middle and High School will be each given a current newspaper and marker. Their task will be to take a few minutes to peruse the newspaper and come up with a prayer concern or thanksgiving from each group. While they are searching the little ones can spin globe and choose their place to pray for. We will have a chalk board and chalk available for the kids to write prayer suggestions on at any time. My goal is to teach prayer, encourage prayer, and then after a few weeks, introduce the prayer pals idea. (I just started at this church) Any suggestions to alterations are welcome, as always!


Memorization:

Janet - posted September 16, 2001

I was hoping our church would be using the rotation model, but they aren't. Today was our first day of Sunday School and the K-3 class was so big I volunteered to teach K-1. I hope to sneak the rotation model in.

Here's my question: Today I learned that one of the goals for the year is to learn the Lord's Prayer. I hate learning by rote and the language of the Lord's Prayer is so difficult. I'd like to do a rotation and help children focus on what the prayer means. Does anyone have any ideas?

One more thing. I was so inspired by the rotation model that I had an idea that we will be using in a few weeks: we will go apple picking! I may focus on Genesis that day or the "give us this day our daily bread" part of the Lord's Prayer. I live across the street from an apple orchard and when I visit it and the trees are full of apples, I really see God's abundance.

Thanks for any help!

Memorization Response

Neil MacQueen - posted September 20, 2001

I used to think memorization was da devil. But then came to realize that all learning starts with what you KNOW (ie, what's in your memory) and that kids like gaining mastery over certain information if presented well.

The problem is HOW the memorization process is handled and how much LIFE APPLICATION you include with them memorization.

Some kids can't memorize as well as others, so leave the candy prizes behind. Reward effort.

As for vocabulary.... I'm not sure most adults fully understand the implications of the Lord's Prayer vocabulary! It's the same thing with the stories we teach kids. There's no way they can fully understand what every word or phrase means. But we teach the story into memory so that the content is there to grow with them as their intellectual and spiritual capabilities grow.   Hope this helps


Rewriting The Lord's Prayer:

Our older kids rewrote the Lord's Prayer last summer

They liked their version so well they actually made a painting to hang in their SS room. They have already requested we keep it and hang it in our Worship Workshop.

I do not remember all of it but it started: Our heavenly Dad we honor and praise your holy name. Help us bring your kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our "Onie" bread. (Onie is an elderly member of our church who makes wonderful bread for the bake sales. Everyone rushes to buy Onie Bread before it is all gone.) I was really struck when the children used Dad. I thought it was awesome. Others actually protested and tried to get the prayer removed from the wall. Anyway just an idea.



Other stories that emphasize the importance of prayer:

Cindy LB - posted August 10, 2002

Our church-wide theme for this year is "Seeking the Lord in prayer". Has anyone used the Prayer of Jabez or other scripture prayers for rotations, other than the Lord's prayer. What about Jesus' prayer in John 17?  Looking for some good stories that really emphasize the importance of prayer. Thanks!!

julie burton  - posted August 19, 2002

How about the story of Hannah's prayer in 1 Samuel;Daniel prayed several times a day, refusing to bow down to the edict banning prayer. The Believers Prayer - Acts 4:23-31; Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives - Luke 22:39-45

CreativeCarol - posted September 26, 2003

Jan has posted material on a prayer labyrinth with the Daniel lessons. Look for it at Labyrinth post.

Last edited by Luanne Payne
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