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Jonah

Video Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Watch the animated video Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie. Discuss God’s loving kindness as exhibited in this story. Total viewing time about 21 minutes. [Note: 1st – 3rd graders visited this workshop.]

For scripture, objectives, and background, see above. 


Leader Preparation:

  • Read the scripture for this lesson.
  • Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
  • Gather the materials.

Supplies List:

  • Video: Jonah - A VeggieTales Movie. Big Idea Productions, 2002.
  • An easel; appropriate marker
  • Pictures of the main characters (see resources)
  • Masking tape
  • Scissors, glue stick, 3x5 cards (11)
  • TV/DVD
  • Hearts cut from red construction paper (one per student, each approx 4” wide)
  • Snack items: popcorn, cups, napkins, water pitcher
  • Storybook: Jonah the Inside Story by Heidi Petach
  • Story paraphrase (see below)
    For 3rd graders:
    • NRSV Bibles
    •  One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
    •  Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen

Before Start of Class:

  • Print out the story paraphrase and cut it into pieces according to the pages indicated. Paste the parts of the story onto 3x5 cards. If desired make a pocket on the back of the book in which to store the cards.
  • In the kitchen, fill a pitcher with ice and water. Gather enough plastic cups – the washable type – to serve water and popcorn.
  •  Pop the popcorn in the microwave for 3 minutes. Pour popcorn into cups. Pour cups of water.
  •  Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD, especially how to move by chapters and scanning forward and backward within a chapter.
  •  Insert disc 1 into the DVD. Start from the beginning of the video. Choose “Chapters.” Then choose “4 – A Message From the Lord.” Allow it to play for just seven seconds. Hit PAUSE after the narrator says, “This was a memorable day because he showed up.” This is where this video will be started.
  •  On the easel make a “Things to watch for” list. Cut apart the pictures of the characters. Use loops of masking tape to hang the pictures of the three sailors, Jonah, and the worm.
  •  Practice reading the story cards and showing/turning the pages using the storybook. Hold the cards on the back of the book while fully showing the pictures.


Presentation 

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.

Ask: Who can tell me what the word “compassion” means? (accept a few answers)
Say: Compassion means caring about other people. It means showing loving kindness.
Ask: Have you seen anyone showing compassion this week? What did you see?
[If necessary tell about an experience of compassion that you’ve recently witnessed or experienced.]

Say: Today our Bible story teaches us about how God shows us compassion. It’s a story about someone named Jonah, who was a prophet.
Ask: Who can tell me what a prophet is? (a messenger for God)
Say: A prophet delivers messages from God.
Ask: I wonder what delivering messages has to do with compassion? (accept any replies)
Say: Let’s hear our story to find out.

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:
Say: Jonah lived a very long time before Jesus was born.
Ask: Where do you suppose we would find the story in the Bible, in the Old Testament or the New Testament? (in the Old Testament)

For 3rd grade and up:
Make sure that everyone has a Bible to use. Have them find the book of Jonah in the Table of Contents. Point out how the list of prophets starts with Isaiah. All of the rest of the Bible books in the OT are about prophets - messengers of God.
Show the purple Adventure Bible with tabs…
Say: Besides being divided into two testaments, the books in the Bible are further divided into collections. Because Jonah was a prophet, we find the book of Jonah in the collection known as “Prophets.” If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive the tab for the Prophets section of your Bible.
[Have the Shepherd do tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.]
Say: This is too long of a story for us to read all of it. Do read this story at home this week. In order to have enough time to watch our video, I’m going to read you what is called a paraphrase; it’s a shortened version of the story from the Bible. I will show you the pictures in this storybook while I read the paraphrase.

For 1st and 2nd graders:
Say: As I read to you this story from the Bible, I will show the pictures from this book.

For all students:
Show the pictures in the book Jonah the Inside Story as you read the cards that are in the pocket on the back of the book. In later weeks of the Rotation, show the pictures in the book and ask the students to tell you the story.

When you are finished reading…
Say: For the Word of God in scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us…
The class (hopefully) says: Thanks be to God!

Say: These are the words that are spoken in the worship service after the Bible is read. We say these words in class so that we will be used to saying them when we hear a Bible story read in the worship service. We are thankful to have heard God’s words!

Ask: As I read the story did you hear any times when God was compassionate, and showed loving kindness? (accept any answers)
Pass out the hearts so that everyone has one. Make sure that you take one too.

Say: Let’s watch our video and look for examples of God’s compassion. Every time you see an instance of God showing loving kindness or compassion, raise up your heart.

Refer to the “Things to watch for” poster. Introduce the characters in the story…
Ask: How many of you have every watched a Veggie Tales movie?
So you know that the characters in this movie are all vegetables?
Say: Some of the main characters you’ll see are these three guys who are “the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.” They are telling our story. You’ll also see Jonah…and this character is a worm.

Show the Video:
Have the Shepherd distribute the snack.

Using the DVD, which has been cued (Per the instructions in the “Before Start of Class section" press PLAY.
VIEW scene of about 1 minute.
PAUSE {at 14:54} after Jonah says, “It’s a message of encouragement.” [Try to pause when
the picture is focused on Jonah but before he starts to sing.]

Say: So Jonah is a prophet and in this scene he brings a message of encouragement to the people.
Ask: Does it look like Jonah is enjoying his work as a prophet? (yes)
Say: Let’s see if Jonah always delivers God’s messages.

Using the DVD, choose MENU; Option “5-8” and then choose Chapter 5 – “A Message for Nineveh.”
VIEW scene of about 2 minutes 15 seconds.
PAUSE {at 19:41}after Jonah sings, “We are your chosen people and Nineveh, they’re not!”

Ask: It didn’t look like there was much compassion in Nineveh. Do you suppose that in real life, the problem in Nineveh was that they were hitting each other with fishes?
Say: I think that is something silly that this video has made up. They did tell it right about why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh; about how that would be like helping his enemies! Now we are going to see some other characters in this video. They are hearing the story of Jonah.

Choose MENU then choose Chapter 6 – “Compassion and Mercy.”
VIEW scene of about 1 minute and 15 seconds.
PAUSE {at 22:38} after the pirate says, “that he was going to help them even
though they didn’t deserve it.”

Say: What that character just said was important. It gives us another clue as to why Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh to give them God’s message: Because Jonah was afraid that God would give the people of Nineveh a second chance. Let’s hear it again.

Use the CONTROLS option to SCAN BACKWARD to the view of the restaurant menu.
VIEW scene of about 24 seconds.
PAUSE at the same point {22:38}.

Ask: Is God known for giving second chances?
I wonder if you’ve ever experienced God giving you a second chance?
Say: I think Jonah will learn that God gives everyone a second chance.

Press PLAY.
VIEW scene of about 2 minutes, 14 seconds.
PAUSE {at 24:52} after the 3 “pirates” are shown on deck (just before they start talking).

Ask: Where is Jonah going? (he wants to go to Tarshish)
Say: Jonah is trying to run away from God! He thinks that by going to “the end of the earth” that he can get away from God! So, Jonah gets on this ship and they head out to sea, and Jonah goes to sleep. While he sleeps a big storm hits.

Choose MENU; Option “9-12” then choose Chapter 11 – “The Storm Hits.”
VIEW scene of about 2 minutes, 12 seconds.
PAUSE {at 35:12} after the captain says, “Loser takes a swim!”

Ask: Remember in the story I read it told how the sailors “drew lots?”
Say: “Drawing lots” was sort of like doing Rock-Paper-Scissors. In our story they were using it to determine who had done something to cause the storm. This video is showing that activity as playing a game of gold fish.
Ask: Who do you suppose is going to lose the game? (Jonah)

Press PLAY.
VIEW scene of about 2 minutes.
[If time is short use CONTROLS to SCAN FORWARD to the end of the game.]
PAUSE {at 37:15} after Jonah says, “I’m afraid the only thing left is to be thrown
into the sea.”

Say: The sailors didn’t want to throw Jonah overboard. They tried to get back to shore, a part which we don’t have time to watch today.

Choose MENU; Option “13-16” then choose Chapter 13 – “Jonah Walks the Plank.”
VIEW scene of about 1 minute, 8 seconds.
PAUSE {at 40:56} after the captain says, “That was easy.”

Pick up a heart and hold it up.
Say: I think that this is a good time to hold our hearts up high.
Ask: Remember how we were going to hold up our hearts when we saw God being compassionate? What just happened that shows an example of God showing loving kindness? (the sailors were saved from the storm)

Press PLAY.
VIEW scene of about 17 seconds.
PAUSE {at 41:13} after the life preserver lands in the water.

Ask: In our Bible story did the sailors try to rescue Jonah? (no)
What happened to Jonah? (a large fish swallowed him)

SCAN FORWARD to the scene where the fish swallows Jonah.
VIEW scene of a few seconds.
PAUSE when the fish starts to go back under water.

Say: It may be hard to think of it, but being swallowed by a fish in a way saved Jonah.
So I think that we should put up our hearts again. [Raise your heart.] God was compassionate because he saved Jonah from drowning.

Ask: How long is Jonah inside the fish? (3 days & 3 nights)
I wonder what Jonah thought about while he was inside the fish?
What did Jonah do while he was in the fish? (prayed)

Choose MENU; Option “17-20” then choose Chapter 17 – “Journey to Nineveh.”
VIEW scene of about 2 minutes, 11 seconds.
[When Jonah lands on the beach put your heart in the air.]
PAUSE {at 54:07} when Jonah is traveling on his camel & the “hills” come into view.

Say: So God had compassion on Jonah and gave him a second chance. This time Jonah went to Nineveh to tell the people to stop acting so mean or God would destroy their city.
Ask: Who remembers from the story what happened?
Say: The people of Nineveh and even the king of Nineveh stopped acting mean! That meant that God did not have to destroy Nineveh.

Put your heart up.
Say: God had compassion for the people of Nineveh. God gave them a second chance.
Ask: How did Jonah feel about that?
Say: Jonah was angry that God didn’t destroy Nineveh. In chapter 4 in the book of Jonah it tells us that Jonah said to God, “I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.” Jonah was mad that God didn’t destroy Nineveh. The book of Jonah ends in a sort of a strange way. Let’s see what happened next.

Choose MENU; Option “21-24” then choose Chapter 21 – “Jonah Doesn’t Get It.”
VIEW scene of about 6 minutes.

Raise your heart when the narrator says, “Even now God was compassionate towards Jonah and caused a plant to grow that shaded him from the hot sun.” {Around 1:07:45}

PAUSE {at 1:11:46} after one of the pirates says, “…The question is, what did you learn?”

Say: That is a good question for us.
Ask: What did you learn from this story? (allow all replies – hopefully: that God is compassionate, his love is for everyone, he gives second chances, and no one is beyond redemption, no matter how much they don’t deserve it)

[Note to workshop leader: what to do if kids want to watch more of a video than the lesson calls for? Please don’t give in to their requests, unless you’ve finished the entire lesson and have extra time! Why? These lessons are specifically planned to get across certain teaching points. If you are spending time watching a part of the video that’s not a part of the lesson, you’re taking away from the intended teaching opportunities! What can you say to the kids? We’ll watch more of the video if we have time at the end of class. OR We should plan a family night activity here at church to watch the entire video! Thanks for following this lesson!

Closing:
Say: God loves everyone. God wants to give everyone a second chance, even people we don’t think deserve a second chance. Let’s close in prayer.
Ask for any prayer requests. Ask if anyone would like to lead the group in prayer. Be prepared to say a prayer yourself, working in prayer requests. Use the Lord’s Prayer as the ending. A suggestion: “Dear God, We thank you for the lessons that you teach to us using stories from the Bible. Help us to remember the story of Jonah and to show compassion to others. (End with the Lord’s Prayer) Amen.”

Extra Activities (if you finish early)
Watch chapter 23 – “A Big Musical Number.”


Attachment: Story Paraphrase to read with book:Jonah the Inside Story by Heidi Petach

Jonah the Inside Story by Heidi Petach

page 2-3
God spoke to Jonah. “Jonah, go to the city of Nineveh. Tell them to stop being so mean.”
“I can’t go there!” thought Jonah. The people of Nineveh are bullies.
They have been doing bad things to my people for a long time.
Nineveh was the last place that Jonah wanted to go.

page 4-5
Jonah wanted to hide from God. So he did not obey God! He got on a ship that was headed in the opposite direction from Nineveh.
Then God sent a strong wind that blew the sea into a big storm with huge waves. The ship was in danger of sinking!

page 6-7
The sailors threw the cargo overboard – they thought it might help.
Still the storm blew and the ship rocked.
And Jonah was sound asleep below deck!

page 8-9
The captain woke Jonah. “Why are you asleep? Can’t you see we are about to sink!?”
Now the sailors suspected that someone on board the ship was the reason for the storm. So they drew lots to see who was to blame for their misfortune. Guess who lost! “Why is this happening?” they asked Jonah.

page 10-11
“I am running away from God,” Jonah admitted. “It is my fault you are caught in this storm. Throw me overboard and the storm will stop.”
The sailors didn’t want to throw Jonah overboard. They tried to row back to shore. But the storm got worse.

page 12-13
Finally the sailors cried out, “O Lord, don’t punish us for hurting this man!” And they picked up Jonah and tossed him into the raging sea.
Was this the end of Jonah? Nope. God had a plan to save him – a great big fish swallowed Jonah.

page 14-15
For three days and three nights Jonah lived inside the huge fish. And Jonah prayed.

page 16-17
Then God ordered the fish to spit Jonah upon the beach. Pt-tu-ii. It did.
God asked Jonah again to go to Nineveh. This time Jonah obeyed God. He went to the city of Nineveh and he told all the people, “In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!”

page 18-19
The people of Nineveh listened to Jonah. They were sorry that they had been so mean. They promised to do better. This made God very happy. He was glad that he wouldn’t have to destroy all the people of Nineveh.
But this made Jonah very mad! He didn’t want God to forgive the people of Nineveh. Jonah had wanted to see them destroyed! It was only fair!

page 20-21
Jonah hoped that God would change his mind. He sat down outside the city and waited to see what would happen next. While he waited the sun was making Jonah very hot!
Jonah built himself a tent-like shelter. And God caused a vine to grow up to give Jonah some shade. Jonah was very happy about the shade!

page 22-23
But the next day God sent a hungry worm that ate the vine! This made Jonah angry and he cried out to God, “Why did you let the plant die?!”
Then God told Jonah, “You felt sorry for the plant. But you don’t want me to feel sorry for the people of Nineveh. Shouldn’t I forgive anyone who turns to me, no matter who they are?

Skip page 24.


Resources:

 


A lesson written by Carol Hulbert for First United Methodist Church
Ann Arbor, MI 


Copyright 2009 First United Methodist Church, Ann Arbor, MI. 
Permission to copy materials granted for non-commercial use provided credit is given and all cited references remain with this material 

If you use this material, even in a modified form, please include the following reference:
Hulbert, Carol. "Jonah: Video Workshop." Jan. 09. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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  • Jonah the Inside Story by Heidi Petach
Last edited by Luanne Payne
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