Jonah

Puppets Workshop
 
Summary of Lesson Activities:

Use handle-bag puppets to tell the story of Jonah. Then use the puppets to enact modern-day skits and develop a way for the characters to show compassion. [Note: 4th – 6th 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:

• Easel; appropriate marker
• NRSV Bibles; One purple Adventure Bible with tabs (Law, History, etc.)
• Bible tab writing kit: tabs, fine-line Sharpie pen
• A map that shows Nineveh
• Three handle-bag puppets, a cardboard fish on a paint stick, a worm puppet
• The puppet stage
• Scripts – three copies of Act 1; four copies of Act 2; one copy of modern-day skits
• Props: a long piece of blue fabric; bean bags (5); straws (at least 3); some greenery
• Scene clapper
• Tape or thumb tacks? – Something to use to secure the scripts to the back of the puppet stage
• Highlighter marker (1)
• Scissors (1)

Before Start of Class:

• Distribute NRSV Bibles on the seats.
• Write the key Bible verse on the easel. Also write the word “Compassion.”
• Highlight the scripts for each character for the Jonah scripts.
• Figure out how to attach a script to the back of the puppet stage. (So that one person can operate the two sailor puppets.)
• Cut apart the modern-day skits (or fold the paper so that just one skit shows at a time).

Presentation

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Refer to the easel.
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 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 explore our story to find out. Listen for any instances where you see compassion in our story.

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Ask: If I told you that Jonah lived a very long time before Jesus was born, where would we find the story in the Bible? (in the Old Testament)

Make sure that everyone has an NRSV Bible to use. Have them open to the Table of Contents. Point out how the list of books in the Old Testament starting with Isaiah, and all the way through Malachi (with the exception of Lamentations), are names of prophets - messengers of God.

Say: If you have your own Bible today, be sure you receive the tab for Prophets.
[Show the purple Adventure Bible with tabs. Have the Shepherd do tabs for students who bring their Bibles. Use the classroom Bible with tabs as an example.]
Have them find the book of Jonah, chapter one.
Ask a student to read the heading at chapter one: “Jonah Tries to Run Away from God.”

Ask: I wonder why he was trying to run away from God?
Say: God had told Jonah to do something but it was something that Jonah didn’t want to do. That is why we often call Jonah “a reluctant prophet.” Let’s hear what God asked Jonah to do.

Have three students read Jonah 1, verses 2, 3, and 4.

Ask: Why do you suppose that Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh?
[In the first week kids might not know.]
Say: The people of Nineveh had been mean to Jonah’s people. Helping the people of Nineveh would be like helping your enemies. Jonah, being a prophet who worked with God, must have known that there was the possibility that God might have compassion on the people of Nineveh! Jonah did not like that idea.

Show the map. Point out where Jonah would have lived and where Nineveh was. Point out how Tarshish was probably way over in Spain (off the map).
Say: Jonah thought that if he got far enough away from his homeland that he’d be too far away for God to know where he was.
Ask: Do you suppose that is a silly idea? (yes – God is always with us)

Let’s act out the next part of our story using puppets.

Explain how to use the puppets:
Show the students one of the handle-bag puppets.
Say: We can have lots of fun with these puppets but we need to treat them gently. Like all church property, we will be respectful and careful in our use of the puppets.

Show the kids how the “bag” or body, slips off the rod or handle. Show them how you hold the rod with one hand. Now slip the handle through the top of the bag. Show them how one hand is on the handle and the other hand is in the far corner of the bag – it becomes the “hand” of the puppet. Demonstrate how the puppet can wave, cover their puppet mouth to cough, and pick up something. Have the puppet pick up a beanbag.

Enact the story using puppets:
Assign one student to be Jonah and the big fish, two students to control the waves, and one student to operate two “sailor” puppets. Pass out scripts. Point out how the text in italics is stage directions. Attach the sailor’s script to the back of the puppet stage.
Have them enact “Act 1” of the Jonah script while you read the part of the narrator.

Ask: Have you heard any acts of compassion in this story yet? (accept a few answers)
What about Jonah saying that the sailors should throw him overboard?

Say: Jonah was willing to sacrifice his own life so that the sailors could be saved. It is kind of interesting that Jonah would have compassion on the sailors but not on the people of Nineveh.
Ask: Do you suppose God showed compassion because he saved Jonah from drowning?
Say: It may be hard to think of it, but being swallowed by a fish in a way saved Jonah.
After Jonah got out of the fish, once again God told him to go to Nineveh. This time, Jonah went to Nineveh and warned the people.

Ask: Did the people of Nineveh believe Jonah’s message? (yes, they did)

Say: Let’s see how Jonah reacted.

Assign a different student to be Jonah and one to be both the plant and the worm (without any speaking part) and one to be God. You may choose to have a student be the narrator.
Have them enact “Act 2” of the Jonah script.

Discussion:
Ask: Have you heard any more acts of compassion in this story? (God forgiving the people of Nineveh, God providing shade for Jonah)
What about God providing a lesson for Jonah to learn?
What does this story teach us about God? (allow all answers)

Refer to the key Bible verse printed on the easel.
Say: This is what Jonah told God, after God had decided not to harm the Ninevites.
God loves everyone. God is willing to forgive anyone who asks for forgiveness. God does not punish if people repent.
Ask: What does “repent” mean? (to feel regret, to be sorry for what one has done & to promise not to do it again)
Say: God gives people second chances. God is a compassionate God.
Ask: How about us, do we show compassion in our lives towards other people?
Always?
How about towards others who are different that us, or who aren’t easy to love?

Say: Let’s use the puppets to act out some skits that tell modern-day stories. Let’s see if these skits show compassion.

Enact skits using puppets:
Pick students who haven’t had a chance to use the puppets to perform the modern-day skits. Each skit requires two puppets.

Run through a skit. Ask students if any compassion was shown in the skit. Discuss how the ending could change to show compassion in the situation described. If desired, have the students act out the new ending. Do as many skits as there is time for.

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.”

If you have extra time:
Have the students re-enact the Jonah story adding in the other parts not in the scripts.

Resources:

• G.R.E.A.T. Adventure Dream Team at State Street United Methodist Church, Bristol, VA. “Jonah The Reluctant Prophet: Art Workshop.” 2005. https://www.rotation.org/topic...treet-umc-bristol-va
• Hunter, Kurt. Puppets, Kids, and Christian Education. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2001.

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: Puppet Workshop." Jan. 09. Place URL where lesson found inside angle brackets<>.

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