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Passports with Paul (a summer of workshop lesson plans)

Editor's Note:

The first post from Jaymie is a "sketch" of a summer long rotation about Paul. Each week the kids travel to a new "city where Paul went".

The second post from Ruth fills in more lesson plan detail.

A third similar version of this concept can be found here in Cathy Walz' post in this forum.


Here is our Summer Adventure with Paul - A Rotation in Progress. Please feel free to comment, add suggestions, and especially help where we are still unsure about what we're doing.

Divide the 13 weeks into several mini-rotations:

(We will end our regular "season" with Paul's conversion so we will have a basis on which to begin)

1-3 weeks on Overview of Missionary Journeys and call to be an apostle

2 weeks each on three "adventures" (Paul and Silas in Philippi, Riot in Ephesus, and Shipwrecked)

3 weeks on Letters focusing primarily on Galatians (fruit of spirit), Romans (believe in Jesus), and Ephesians (armor of God)

1 week - wrap up and completion of our summer mission project which will run the entire summer

Memory verses:
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." and Romans 8:28 "All things work together for good to those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." (both of these songs are set to music on the Scripture Rock CD by Brentwood Kids)

Our workshops include:

A Gathering Time:
Each week we will begin with a 15 minute Gathering Time with music, review of memory verse and add to a Personality Profile of Paul (there will be a big paper Paul on the wall and we will write down characteristics of Paul as we recall them or discover them) The person who leads the gathering time will dress up and have props which will give a clue about what is coming that day (for example, ball and chain for Philippian jail, beaten and battered for Ephesian riot, etc.)
Because of our travel theme, I'm really looking for a name that better fits the theme, than just calling it Gathering Time. Any ideas out there???

Passports:
Also to go along with our travel theme, we are using Passports rather than journals. Each week there will be a page in the kids' passports with the day's date, the travel destination (some of the important places we are learning about including Tarsus, Antioch, Jerusalem, Philippi, Ephesus, Athens, Rome, Caesarea, etc.), and a "travel tip." The travel tip will be a "word of the day" which will tie in with the lesson. We'll also have a sticker or stamp that symbolizes the travel tip for them to stick in their passport with a few different things thrown in for variety. For example on the missionary travel tip, we will have them do a coin rubbing, rather than a sticker. Each week there will also be a question for them to answer (age appropriate).

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Overview of Journeys


Week #1

Everyone in video room to view the Nest video "Paul's Ministry".

Passport:  Missionary destination: Tarsus


Week #2-3

Overview of Paul's Missionary Journeys

Theme:
Paul was called by God to become an apostle, traveling all over the world to share the good news about Jesus.

Workshops: Games/Bible Skills and Computers

Games: We will have a HUGE map on our wall. Kids will hear an overview of Paul's call to ministry. 1-3 graders will create four large banners which will be placed in our hallways (one for each journey). They will trace around their own feet and also color waves on the banners to show that Paul traveled by foot and ship mostly. We'll talk about the Roman influence -- good, safe roads, common language which made Paul's travels easier. Grades 4-6 will use our wall map to locate some of the key locations in Paul's ministry. They will use different colored yarn to trace his journeys and attach with EZ clips to the wall map. Then they will complete the banners that the 1-3 graders began by adding "road signs" to the banners to show the destinations on the various journeys. If we have time, we may have a couple of the kids who really need challenging, figure out the distances and post those as well.

Computers: 1-3 graders will explore Life of Paul software and answer some questions about what they discover in small groups.

4-6 graders will use Life of Christ lesson (Jesus calls another apostle) to review Paul's conversion and call and his journeys. After printing out the four journeys they will divide into small groups and discuss some of the highlights of Paul's adventures on the various journeys. They'll add those to the print out of the map and we'll post in the hall to show off what we have learned!

2019 Note: Discovery Interactive’s "Life of Christ" CD has gone out of print (its material has been turned into an online course). Learn more here!

"Life of Paul" software program is now free to the supporting members of Rotation.org, learn how!

Learn more about all 6 programs in this series.

Passports: tips: Apostle, Christian

Destinations: Antioch and Damascus


Week #4-5

Paul and Silas in Philippi

Theme: Paul was joyful and faithful even when bad things happened.

Workshops: Drama, Cooking (actually Science)

Drama - Kids will read the story from their Bibles then a soldier will come and drag them to "jail." We will turn our attic into a jail complete with several plastic rats, a skeleton, balls and chains, etc.

Cooking/Science: From Amazing Science devotions for Children's Ministry by Group publishing. Kids will make Jailhouse rocks - (actually called Garden of Goodness in the book) where you make crystals from adding ammonia and bluing to charcoal.

Passports:
Destination: Philippi and Macedonia
Travel Tips: Praise and Joy


Week #6-7

Riot in Ephesus!

Workshops: Art and Drama

Theme: Paul teaches that we are called to worship one God only, supreme over all!

Art: Kids will explore the story of the Riot in Ephesus. They will look at pictures of ancient remains of Artemis. They will construct their own silver item...? cross to remind them to worship the one true God. (we're not done with this one yet? Any suggestions???)

Drama: Explore the story in their Bibles. Kids will re-enact a "newscast" of the riot, interviewing the various groups of people and getting their perspectives, including Demetrius, Paul and his followers, the Ephesian worshipers, the city officials.

Passports:
travel tip: worship and peace
Destination: Ephesus and Turkey




Week # 8-9

Shipwrecked!

Theme: Paul remained faithful and obedient to God even when it was hard and seemed impossible.

Workshops: Storytelling/Game and Art
The first week we will have a storyteller come during the Gathering Time (it will be extended this day) and tell the story from the perspective of a sailor who was on the ship with Paul. Then everyone will finish the day by playing some review games.

Art: 4-6 graders only. ??? not sure yet-- maybe have them carve boats out of balsa wood, make something from driftwood??? Any ideas out there?

Games: 1-3 graders only. Review the story. Play a life-sized board game that we have created with review questions about the story.

Passports:
Destination: Rome, Malta
Travel Tips: Faith, Prayer


Weeks #10, 11, 12

Paul's Epistles

Theme: Paul wrote letters to encourage and build up the early church.

Workshops: Computer, Video, Cooking
Computer: Ephesians - Armor of God ? write letters to our missionaries, design armor on Kid Pix 4 (or the newer "3D" version) ? Write and illustrate letters to go to Costa Rica kids with our coins, other ideas?

Cooking: Galatians - do something with fruit, fruit pizza, or make some sort of edible scroll

Video: Romans - view a video taken by our own mission team who visited Costa Rica this past spring.

Passports:
Destination: Galatia, Ephesus, Rome
Travel tips: fruit of the Spirit (Holy Spirit?), Armor of God, Believe


Week #13

We can be missionaries for Jesus too!

Complete our mission project: Coins for Costa Rica. Count, sort and roll coins. Invite parents to come and help us this day.

Passports:
Destination: Costa Rica
Travel Tip: Giving


We welcome your input. Hope this helps.

A lesson set by Jaymie Derden from: State Street UMC
Bristol, VA

A representative of Rotation.org reformatted this post to improve readability.

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Last edited by Luanne Payne
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