The Woman at the Well
Video Workshop
Summary of Lesson Activities:
Watch the real-life story on The Gospel of John and do a science experiment related to the story.
Video Reference: The Gospel of John, Visual Bible International, 2003. [Starring Henry Ian Cusick as Jesus, and narrated by Christopher Plummer] Use the 3-hour version.
Note: This workshops were written for 1st through 6th graders though not all grades visit all workshops.
Scripture Reference:
John 4:4-42
Key Verse: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.” John 4:13-14a (NIV)
Rotation Objectives--
at the end of the Rotation, kids should be able to:
- Locate the stories in their Bibles (older students); Younger students will learn that the story is in the New Testament.
- Understand how radical it was for a Jewish person to associate with a Samaritan.
- Put themselves in the place of the woman at the well and feel the type of compassion Jesus was offering.
- Discover that Jesus fulfills our spiritual needs rather than just our physical needs.
- Understand the change that took place in the woman.
Leader Preparation:
- Read the scripture for this lesson.
- Read and reflect on the overview material provided for this lesson.
- Preview the video and have it cued to the correct starting place.
- Gather the materials.
Supplies List:
- The video listed above.
- The TV/DVD will have been reserved for your workshop.
- Snack items: goldfish crackers, paper cups, napkins, water pitcher
- Bibles (for 3rd grade); a purple Adventure Bible for 1st and 2nd grades
- Easel with paper
- Sets of “water drops” for key verse practice (see resources)
- Coffee filter paper, scissors, cups of water, black (must be water-based) markers. Used Mr. Sketch brand of markers.
Before Start of Class:
- In the kitchen, fill a pitcher with ice and water.
- Prepare snack by pouring Goldfish crackers into cups. (Probably 1/2 full is good.) Fill water glasses half way.
- Write the key verse on the easel paper.
- Cut the coffee filter paper into sections. Cut each filter into 4 or 5 pieces.
- Make sure you know how to use the TV/DVD, especially how to move by chapters and how to move backwards within a chapter.
- Using the DVD, from MAIN MENU, choose <Chapter & Verse>.
- Choose <more> to see the option for <4:3-44>. Leave the DVD in this setting.
- Turn the sound off.
- Make sure you have extra water in the jug for the science experiment.
Presentation
Opening - Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Greet your students warmly, welcoming them to the video workshop. Introduce yourself and any other adults.
[Note: The Shepherd will quietly take attendance, etc. while you are starting your lesson.]
Say: Let’s begin with 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.
Dig - Main Content and Reflection:
Ask:
- Where in the Bible would we read about Jesus, in the New Testament or the Old Testament? (new)
- Who can tell me the first four books of the New Testament?
- What are the first four books of the New Testament called? (the Gospels)
- What does the word gospels mean? (good news)
Say: When we read the gospels we learn that Jesus teaches us the good news about God’s love for us. Let’s hear some of this good news.
For 1st and 2nd graders:
Have a purple Adventure Bible open to John 4.
Ask the group how much of the story they know.
Points to make sure get covered:
- Jesus was sitting by himself at the village well; his disciples had gone for food.
- A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus asked her for a drink.
- The woman questioned why Jesus was talking to her. (Did Samaritans get along with Jews?)
- Read John 4:10 to the students.
- The woman questioned where Jesus could get this living water.
- Read John 4:13-14. Point out that this is part of the key verse. Refer to the key verse on the easel paper.
For 3rd grade and up:
Distribute Bibles.
Have everyone find the gospel of John, chapter 4 in his/her Bible. [Make sure everyone remembers the quick way to find the New Testament – dividing the Bible in half gets them near Psalms. Dividing the back half in half again gets them near the New Testament.]
Ask: What does the heading say at the top of this section of the Bible? (Jesus and the woman of Samaria)
Say: The heading gives us a clue as to what our story is about.
Ask: What do you know about Samaria? (answer looking for: that Jews didn’t get along with Samaritans)
Say: Jews hated Samaritans, Samaritans hated the Jews and they avoided any contact with each other. It was pretty radical for a Jewish person to associate with a Samaritan. Their attitude had to do with what had happened in past history.
Say: Jesus and the woman of Samarian met at a well, a place where water was drawn. Jesus offered this woman something special. Let’s read about it.
Ask students to take turns reading John 4:7-15.
Say: Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman. Remember, that alone was a radical thing to do. Jesus had told her, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you living water.” And then he said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”
Point out that this is the key verse John 4:13-14a. Refer to the key verse on the easel paper. Have everyone read the key verse together.
For all students:
Ask: Living water…water that makes you never thirst… what do you suppose Jesus was talking about? (pause, wait for answers…accept all answers)
Say: The woman was thinking that Jesus was talking about water like we think of a glass of water. [Pick up one of the glasses of water that you poured.] We physically need water. [Drink the water.]
Say: Jesus was offering her living water – to fulfill her spiritual needs, her need to know God. Jesus was trying to help the woman to know that it didn’t matter what she was like on the outside, what she looked like or what had happened to her life. What was important was that she could connect with God. Maybe she didn’t know it but she was thirsting for God! We all thirst for God. We can have this thirst quenched no other way but by our belief and faith in Jesus.
Show the video:
Say: Let’s watch a short video that tells our story.
Have the Shepherd help you distribute the snack.
Turn the sound up on the TV.
Using the DVD, choose <4:3-44> (Jesus and the Samaritan Woman)
VIEW the scene. (Scene is 5 minutes 30 seconds).
PAUSE when all the people are milling around and after the narrator says “ and we know that he really is the savior of the world.”
Discussion:
Say: We don’t know very much about this woman but there are some things about her that we can figure out.
Ask: This was the village well. Why do you suppose there weren’t other people drawing water at the well? (may take some discussion and some hinting on your part: it is noon and it is hot, others would be resting at that time of day)
So why do you suppose this woman is at the well at the hot part of the day?
Why would someone go to the well when no one else was there? (try to get the kids to think of the fact that she probably wanted to avoid other people)
Why do you suppose that she wanted to avoid other people? (because of how they felt about her, the way they treated her)
Why would you want to avoid other people? (allow all answers)
Say: Jesus did ask the woman to go and get her husband. She said that she didn’t have a husband. In Jesus’ time a woman her age without a husband was looked down upon. [You can decide whether to mention about the number of husbands she had and that she was living with a man who wasn’t her husband. Perhaps just with the 3rd graders?]
Say: So we can assume that this woman was looked down upon and she avoided other people because they probably were unkind to her.
Ask: How did meeting Jesus change the woman? (accept any answers)
Re-watch a portion of the video:
Say: Let’s watch her reaction to Jesus’ words again.
Use CONTROLS option to SCAN BACKWARD to the close-up of Jesus by the wall (where Jesus is talking about worship of God).
VIEW this scene.
PAUSE when the close-up is on the woman’s face after Jesus says, “God is Spirit.”
Ask: Is the woman really listening and enthralled by Jesus’ words?
VIEW more of this scene.
STOP after the woman goes into town and talks to townspeople. (The narrator says, “So they left the town and went to Jesus.
Ask: Did you see how meeting Jesus changed the woman?
What did the woman do? (she went into town and talked to people about Jesus)
Say: This was the same woman who avoided people! She was excited to share what she had learned about Jesus. Let’s do a little bit of a science experiment that reflects the change that happened in this woman.
Science experiment:
Pass out one coffee filter section per student and one cup for every two students. Demonstrate how you want them to each draw a stick-figure person about 1” tall, using the provided markers. (Draw the figure near the wide part of the coffee filter).
While the kids are drawing, fill the cups with 1/2 inch of water. When all are ready, have them place the coffee filter, marked side down, with just the edge touching the water.
Ask: What is happening to the person you drew? (colors in the black ink separate out as the water rises up the filter) How many colors do you see?
Say: The scientific word to describe what you see is called chromatography. It looked to us like we drew a little person in one color but now we can see that what we thought was a black marker was actually many colors combined together.
Ask: How can we compare this experiment to what happened to the Samaritan woman?
Say: Before meeting Jesus, she appeared on the outside as one way to the townspeople, who shunned her. But experiencing Jesus exposed her true colors.
Ask:
- How has knowing Jesus changed you?
- Do you relate to other people differently?
- Do you realize that you have a “thirst” for closeness to God in your life?
- How have you experienced this thirst?
If you have time:
Use water drop key verse practice: Pass out sets of the water drops. Cover up the key verse listed on the easel. Allow students to work in groups to see if they can put the water drops in the correct order.
Closing:
Say: This one woman’s experience with Christ resulted in the whole village believing in Jesus. Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for two days. Lots of people got to experience God, all because one woman shared her experience with Jesus. Go this week and share your experience of Jesus with your friends and your family.
Resources:
- Warvel, Carolyn. “The Women at the Well by The Resource Room.” 2000.
https://www.daniellesplace.com...e-well.html For water drop key verse practice - available at the Resource Room of Daniellesplace.com. Small membership fee is required to join portions of this site. I printed out the water drops from this site and changed the wording on them to match our key verse. You could also just draw water drops but these had cute faces on them. ☺ - Scripture quoted is taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
