Reply to "DRAMA/PUPPETS/STORYTELLING Workshop Lessons and Ideas for Joshua / Jericho"

Joshua

Drama Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Children will perform a three act script to learn the story.

Goals/Life Application
1. Students will know that God is with us and helps us
2. Students will know what walls we build (what separates us from others)
3. Students will know that with God help we can begin to break these walls down

Leader Preparation:
1. Put together one brick for an example for the students
2. Read the background and story of Joshua 5:13 – Joshua 6:16

Supplies List:

2 paper lunch bags per child
Enough newspaper to stuff the bag about 2/3 full
Stretcher or cloth to hold the bags
Enough copies of the play for each student and shepherd
Party horns (birthday party horns)
3 x 5 in notecards or pieces of construction paper
Pen/pencil, marker or crayon for each student
½ sheet of poster board for each student
Aluminum foil

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson introduction:
As the students gather together have 2 paper bags available for each student and each newspaper to stuff the one bag for each student.

Have the students take a bag and stuff it with newspaper till it is about 2/3 full. Have the students take the 2nd paper bag and place it over the other paper bag so the newspaper won’t follow out.

Tell them, these are going to be blocks we build to separate us from Jesus and others. We will be talking about this later in the lesson.

Dig- Main Content and Reflection:
Have the Students find the book of Joshua in their bibles. Ask the student (in 3rd to 5th grade) if Joshua is in the Old or the New Testament? Old
Tell them we are looking for Chapter 5, these are the larger numbers on the page. Now we need to find verse 13, these are the small numbers.

Tell the students that our play starts here. We will need people to play different parts:
Joshua (1), Narrator (1), Commander (1), Priests (4), Carriers (4), all the rest are the people. If you don’t have enough people to play the part, you as teacher could do the narrator’s part and shepherds could help with being carriers or Priests.

ACT 1

NARRATOR: As Joshua approaches the city of Jericho, he sees a man standing with a sword.

JOSHUA: Are you friend or Foe?

MAN (Commander): Neither one, I’m commander of the LORD’s army

NARRATOR: Joshua follows with his face to the ground in worship.

JOSHUA: What do you want your servant to do?

COMMANDER: Take off your sandals for this is holy ground.

NOTES:

WITH THE CLOTH PROVIDE, HAVE THE STUDENT PLACE THERE PAPER
BLOCKS OR PILLOWS ON THE CLOTH.

HAVE ABOUT FOUR STUDENTS CARRY THE CLOTH WITH ITEMS ON IT, AROUND
THE CHURCH OR UNDERCROFT

(Make it lighter for second graders and heavier for older grades – this can be done
by adding pillows to the cloth they will carry)

Act 2

NARRATOR: The gates of Jericho are tightly shut because people were afraid of the Israelites

LORD (to Joshua): I have given you Jericho, its kings and all its mighty warriors.
Your entire army is to march around the city once a day for six days.
On the seventh day, you are to march around the city seven times, with the priest blowing their horns.
After the priest give one loud blast, have the people shout.

JOSHUA (calling the priests together): Take up the Ark of the Covenant and assign seven priests to walk in front of it, each carrying a horn

JOSHUA (to all the people): March around the city and the armed men will lead the way in front of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD.

NARRATOR: After Joshua spoke to the people, the seven priests with rams horns, started marching in the presence of the LORD, blowing horns as they marched. The priests followed behind carrying the Ark of the LORD’s covenant. Armed men marched both in front of the priests
and behind the Ark, while the priest keep blowing there horns.

NOTE: HAVE FOUR STUDENTS BE THE PRIESTS, TWO IN FRONT OF THE ARK AND
TWO IN BACK. HAVE THEM BLOW THEIR PARTY HORNS

JOSHUA (to the people): Do not shout, do not even talk. Not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout, then Shout.

NARRATOR: So the Ark of the Covenant was carried around the city once that day and everyone returned to spend the night in camp. Joshua got up early the next morning, and the priests again carried the Ark of the LORD. The seven priests with the rams’ horns marched in front of the Ark of the LORD, blowing their horns. Armed guards marched both in front of the priests with the horns and behind the Ark of the LORD. All this time the priests were sounding their horns. On the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They followed this pattern for six days.

NOTES:

HAVE STUDENT MARCH AROUND THE CHURCH (IF POSSIBLE) OR THE
UNDERCROFT ONCE.

HAVE FOUR STUDENTS BE THE PRIESTS, TWO IN FRONT OF THE ARK
AND TWO IN BACK.

HAVE THEM BLOW THEIR PARTY HORNS (OR 2 STUDENTS, ONE IN BACK
& ONE IN FRONT)

Act 3

NARRATOR: On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the city as they had done before. But this time they went around the city seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns

NOTES:

HAVE STUDENT MARCH AROUND THE CHURCH (IF POSSIBLE) OR THE
UNDERCROFT SEVEN TIMES

HAVE FOUR STUDENTS BE THE PRIESTS, TWO IN FRONT OF THE ARK AND
TWO IN BACK.

HAVE THEM BLOW THEIR PARTY HORNS

JOSHUA: (to everyone) Shout! For the LORD has given you the city!

NOTE: HAVE THE STUDENT SHOUT - THE LORD HAS GIVEN YOU THE CITY!

Follow-up Questions:

What is the first thing the LORD says to Joshua about the city of Jericho? I have given you the city.
How could God give them the city before they went to war? (Basically God can do anything is the answer we are trying to arrive at)
Have the student open their bibles to First John 3:8 (1 John), tell the student that there are 4 books of John in the New Testament. The first is the gospel of John, and near the end 3 books of John called first John, second John & third John.

a. According to this verse, who do we belong to if we keep on sinning? The Devil
b. Who came to destroy the devil? God

i. What was the name used for God when, God came to destroy the devil? Jesus
ii. How did he destroy the devil? Died on a cross & rose on the 3rd day
iii. How did this destroy on sin? The devil tempts us to keep sinning
iv. Why do we stop sinning? We remember we belong to God

Reflection:

Tell the students when we do things that God doesn’t want us to do, we are sinning. These are like bricks we made with the paper bags. These bricks when put together with many other bricks or wrong things can form a wall. When a wall is formed we are blocked off by the bricks or wrong things from God and from other people.

What things do we do that separate us from other people? (Call names, cliquishness, ignore them, talk behind their backs)

Write these wrongs one half of the note cards or piece of construction paper. Put a cracked line down diagonally on the card or paper and on that side have the Children now think of an action they can take to remove the brick the brick (tear down the wall); if we call someone a name, how can we:

Make them feel better?

If someone isn’t a part of our group how can we welcome them?

Have the student’s place the bricks on the bulletin boards that states “Breaking down our Walls”

ADAPTION OLDER KIDS

is to think of things that we do that separate us from other people (call names, cliquishness, ignore them, talk behind their backs, etc.) Write these on notecards or pieces of construction paper and tape them to the wall as if they are bricks making up a wall. Children are to think of an action they can take to remove each brick. Connection to the lesson: when we do these nice things, we are following God's instructions, just as Joshua followed God's instructions.

What is the first thing that God tells Joshua about the city of Jericho?

Reflection:
Give each student a half piece of poster board.

Ask each student to draw a large V shape with its point touching the center of one short side of the poster board.
See attached sheet. Give the students aluminum foil and tape so they can cover their shields with silver.
Have the students look up the follow passage and write the one verse they like best on the shield
2 Kings 19:19, 2 Chronicles 20:12, 1 Samuel 30:8, 1 Samuel 7:8
Tell the students that they can look up that verse when they feel like they are in a battle between good and bad.

Closing:

Dear God,
Sometimes we do things that set us a part from other people. Sometimes these are good things and other times they are not good. Help us to be ready for battle when it is easy to do the wrong thing. Thank you for being our shields in times of need. Amen

Blest be the Tie the binds us.