Skip to main content

Computer Lessons, Ideas, Activities, and Resources for Teaching "Jesus' Birth Through the Eyes of the Shepherds, Angelic Host, and the Stable" in Sunday School.

Post your Sunday School computer lessons, ideas, activities, and resources for "Jesus' Birth Through the Eyes of the Shepherds, Angelic Host, and the Stable" here.

  • Please include a scripture reference, supply lists, sources, suggested age range. age modification, etc. 
  • Photos are much appreciated!  Click "attachments" and upload to your post.
  • Please be careful not to post copyrighted materials. Excerpting and paraphrasing is okay. Include attribution.

Manger, Luke 2:8-20, Heavenly Host, Shepherds, Keeping Watch by Night, Glory to God in the Highest. Birth of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Nativity, Inn, etc. Bible lessons for "Jesus' Birth Through the Eyes of the Shepherds, Angelic Host, and the Stable" -with Computer, software, interactive stories, games, etc.

Last edited by Neil MacQueen
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Jesus' Birth through the Eyes of the Shepherds,Angelic Host, and the Stable

Computer Workshop

Summary of Lesson Actvities:

Uses the Life of Christ and Play and Learn CDs. 

2019 Note: Play and Learn Children's Bible CD is now out of print (only works on Windows Me/XP/Vista, and Windows 7- 32 bit.)

Scripture Reference:

Luke 2

Lesson Objectives:

  • Explore the story and some of its background information using the computer
  • Know what the “Good News” of the angels and shepherds is.

Leader Preparation:

  1. Review Background and scripture
  2. Explore the software so that you can better help your students

Materials List:

  • Bibles
  • Computers
  • Life of Christ software discs (grades 3 and up)
  • Play & Learn Children’s Bible software discs (grades 2 and younger)
  • Computer Worksheets
  • Pencils

Advance Preparation Requirements:

  • Refer to schedule and decide how you will make adjustments for the different ages.
  • Load software onto computers before class begins. For the Life of Christ, have the screens set on the Professor’s office. For Play & Learn, have the screen set on the list of stories.


LESSON PLAN

Opening- Welcome and Lesson Introduction

Make sure you have your nametag on. Introduce yourself to the students and then open with a prayer.

Dig- Main Content and Reflection

Bible Story:
Please make sure that the students hear and “get” the Bible story as well as the application of that story to their lives. The Bible story is the MOST important part of the lesson—it is much more important than the activity associated with this station!
(For the first part of the month, go ahead and read the story from the Bible. For the latter part of the month—when the children should be familiar with the story—have them tell you the story)

Explain to the students that they will be reading/hearing the Bible story on the computer program. Have them open their Bibles to the verse for the month, which is Mark 16: 15-- He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Ask them how they think this will relate to the Christmas story with the angels and the shepherds. We’ll be exploring how various groups share the good news: the angels shared it, the shepherds shared it, and we can share it. After discussing the Bible verse, the students can open their Bibles to the Bible story and have the Bible open next to their computer stations. The story is found in Luke 2: 8-20.

Activities:
Explain a few things about the computer programs before the students begin:

  • Life of Christ—They can press on the “ll” symbol to pause the screen, and press on the arrow keys to go forwards and backward
  • Play and Learn—they can roll the mouse to have the cursor move around the screen. Click when a “movie camera” icon shows up for some fun effects. Click on the book at the bottom of the screen, so that it is outlined in red. Move the cursor around again to turn it into a “?”, which will give them some interesting facts (some of which they need to find to complete the worksheet).
  • Pass out the worksheets (see next post). Each student should get a worksheet, even if they are sharing a computer. The worksheets will guide the students through the parts of the computer program(s). Older students should use the “Life of Christ”—if they have time, they could do the “Play and Learn Children’s Bible” (they may or may not find this too “young). The younger students could start with the “Play and Learn” program. With some adult help, they could do parts of the “Life of Christ” program. The PreK students should just do the “Play and Learn” program.


Closing:
Make sure that you take the time in class to go over the worksheets so that students can share some of their answers/thoughts. You could do this in several ways—cover it with the whole class at the end, pause the whole class periodically to cover a section of the worksheet, or (if the class is small enough) talk with the smaller groups of students as you are with them at the computer stations.

Close with a prayer.




Worksheet for the Life of Christ CD

Go to the crate on the left side of the window that says King’s Oranges. Click on the crate and it will open to Lesson Index. Click on the lesson set for “Beginning to Baptism”. Click on lesson #7: A Savior is Born. Listen to the story and answer the following questions:

• What town did Mary and Joseph live in? ___________________________

• What are some of the ways that the shepherds responded to the news from the angels?


• What do you think the shepherds thought and felt about this event in their lives?

Take the quiz at the end of the lesson. Click to go back to the lesson index and then keep clicking “Back” until you return to the Professor’s office. Click on the drawer below the globe. Click on the slides of “Bethlehem” and view the 4 slides.

Go “Back” to the office and click on the books on the bookshelf. Click on the “Bible Words” book. Look up the following words and write down a fact about each one:

• Angel Gabriel:

• Bethlehem:

• Good News:

• Joseph:

• Mary, Mother of Jesus:

• Savior:

• Shepherds:

Go back to the office. If time permits, click on the orange crate and go back to the lessons. Click to get to Lesson #6: Angel Brings Good News. Listen to the story, answer these questions and then take the quiz:

• Which 2 people did the angel appear to?  How would you have reacted if an angel had appeared to you? What would you have done?

_____________________________________________

• Zechariah had a hard time believing God’s promise. Do you really believe that God will do all that He promises and why?




Worksheet for Play & Learn CD

Click on the group of stories about “God’s Son”. Then click on “Shepherds Visit Jesus”. Listen to or read the story and answer these questions (you may need to find some of the answers looking for the “?” symbol):

• The sheep that the shepherds were caring for belonged to the ______________________ and were

used for _____________________________


• One job of angels is to

_______________________________________________________

• What WAS the good news from the angels?

• The word angel means __________________________________

• The shepherd’s staff could be used in several ways. List one…

• How many angels appeared to the shepherds: ONE or MANY

Go back to the list of stories in God’s Son and click on “Angels Bring Good News”. Listen to or read the story and answer these questions:

• The name of the angel (who is mentioned 4 times in the Bible) is __________________

• Mary was a descendant of ______________________________

• The name Jesus (Joshua in the Hebrew language) means

_________________________________

• Mary hurried to tell her cousin ____________________________ the good news. Her cousin was

the mother of ______________________________




A lesson written by St. John's Lutheran Church
Forest Park, IL

Last edited by Luanne Payne

Computer Workshop: Shepherds and Angels 

Summary of Lesson Activities

Students will use the Fluffy and God's Amazing Christmas Adventure software program (Sunday Software) to hear, see, interact with, and reflect on the story. 

 Note: The Fluffy Christmas software is FREE to supporting members. Learn more!

Please also note that I have written an improved version of this lesson plan as part of Rotation.org's Writing Team "Shepherds and Angels" lesson set.

Scripture Reference

Luke 2 

Lesson Objectives:

Children will-

  • KNOW the story and imagine what it might have been like to be there.
  • Consider how they can spread the real message of Christ's coming into our world, just like the shepherds and angels did.

Preparation:

  • Fluffy and God's Amazing Christmas Adventure (Sunday Software)
  • A computer(s) to show the program to your kids.
  • Print the Fluffy Handout (teacher and student content)
  • A quickie ornament you have made out of fabric sheep's wool and garland to give to each student at closing.
  • Have the Fluffy Teacher's Guide ready (it's part of the download)

LESSON PLAN

The following lesson plan will take about 45 minutes depending on how quickly you get started and how long you discuss certain subjects. 

You can install Fluffy on one or more computers for 2 or 3 students per computer (a "lab" concept), or gather your students around one large screen and guide them through the program, ...letting each student help you.

The handout will help the teacher and may be useful in guiding your students and holding them accountable for content.

The program is your lesson's scripture reading. Fluffy and God's Amazing Christmas is full of scripture, and study notes, and study questions. Follow along and prompt kids to deal with content. A worksheet, such as the one attached below, will help a lot.

On newer computers, increase the size of the Fluffy program on your screen by adjusting (zooming) the Windows "SCALING" option to about 150%. This control is found In Windows 10 when you Right-click an empty area of the Desktop and select Display. In Windows 7 and 8 the Display scaling option is found in the Windows Control Panel under "Display."

Dive into the Software

  1. After introductions, ask the students what they know about the Christmas story. Have them list it on the board. Then circle words like "angels" and "shepherds" and ask them "what was the angels' role in the story? ...what was their job? Their answers will help you know what content to take extra time within the software.

  2. Announce and Describe that they are going to be studying LUKE's Gospel version of the Birth Story, the part about the Shepherds and singing Angels. Write out for all to see the names of the two sections of Fluffy software you are going to use. Give them the worksheet (attached below), point out what parts they are responsible for (you can check them off on my worksheet), and then tell them to go to the JUMP FOR JOY and begin the story. 

  3. In Jump for Joy --The Birth of Jesus section, your students can visit "Bethlehem House" if you have time. Make sure you then go to the Luke 2 Theater to see the fun video of Jesus' birth where Fluffy is sort of in the way. The narration is straight from scripture.

    3a. Option: If you have time, and especially for the older children, do the "SUPPER JESUS" FLUFFIMATION ACTIVITY after Luke2 Theater. It's a 'mad-lib'-like activity where the kids read a sentence and are prompted to fill in the blank. After filling in all the blanks Fluffy's computer generated voice reads back a script using the kids' words. They don't know exactly what's coming, which is part of the fun. The teaching focus is "Jesus as the TRUE Superhero." Lots of discussion potential here, and the kids will want to do it TWICE.

  4. Now travel to Shepherd's Night on the Main Menu. Have your students complete the Shepherds Quiz and remind them that if they don't get most of the answers right, they won't be let into the Stable to see the Baby Jesus. The student handout has a copy of all the quiz questions, and the teacher's portion of that PDF (attached below) has the answer key!

  5. In the Stable... If you have a small group, gather around one or two computers and go through the Stable Rollovers TOGETHER. They are Discussion Starters. Finish by focusing on the question of HOW THEY CAN BE SHEPHERDS AND ANGELS during this Christmas season.

    ASK: What can you do to spread the meaning of Jesus' birth like an angel or shepherd? Bring a friend to Christmas Eve services. Go caroling. Take food to the needy. etc. (btw...what is the meaning? it was in the story we just saw.)

  6. Finish by Playing DJ FLUFFY JAM. Have the kids play with it for a few minutes, then tell them they have 5 minutes to complete the Angels We Have Heard on High and play it back for the class during the Closing.

 Closing

Gather in a circle. Hand students a piece of sheep's wool (from the fabric store) and a small ring of garland (angel's halo) which you have glued into an ornament. As you approach each, charge them with the responsibility to share the Good News of God's love come to the world in Jesus Christ. (Let them take it home.) Conclude by singing together "Angels We Have Heard on High" accompanied by the fun Fluffy Jam version from the computer! :-)


 

Notes

About the Shepherds and Angels portion of the Fluffy

This section in the Fluffy  software is titled "Shepherd's Night". The storytelling in the program here goes through the basics of the story. We meet the shepherds, and then the angels come. Some interactive study notes are available to click and discuss. They include things like, "what's the role of an angel".

Before you can go with the Shepherds to see the Baby Jesus you must take a QUIZ about this part of the story. (Having the kids learn basic story is the key activity in a lot of my software, and while this story is familiar to us, it is only vaguely familiar to many children).

Once in the Stable, you can rollover the characters and a pop-up question appears. This is a discussion area for you and your kids! It gets into the life application of "what's the message here I need to share."

Age Range Note: Don't let the name "Fluffy" fool you. The program has older kid appeal, especially some of the humor. Some un-narrated content is a tip-off to the teacher that it may be for older kids who can read. OR...you need to read it to them. As usual, I've put in more than you will probably want to cover. Pick and choose while you preview with the Student Worksheet and Fluffy Guide in hand.

I have attached to this post a  printable teachers' handout and student worksheet. It has all the questions in the quiz and a copy of the questions found in the stable.

Attachments

Last edited by Luanne Payne

Luke 2's Birth of Jesus story is one of the terrific presentations found in the SunScool Bible App for Kids. Look for it under Christmas Part 2 in the app's story menu. The app has other parts of the Christmas story too.

The App is free, ecumenical, and can be downloaded for use on tablets, smartphones, Windows, and Mac!    Get the download link and look up the story you need in our Outline of all 170+ stories in SunScool. That page also includes app helps.

SunScool Bible App for Kids

From Rotation.org's Outline to the Christmas Stories found in the App:

Travel to Bethlehem, Manger, "Jesus' birth"  (Luke 2:1-7) are found in...

  • First Christmas Part 1, Levels 1, 2, 3 and 4
  • First Christmas Part 2, Level 3  "Jesus' birth"

Angels and Shepherds, Shepherds Visit Manger,  (Luke 2:8-20) are found in...

  • First Christmas, Part 3, Levels 1 and 2 "The shepherds find Jesus"
  • First Christmas Part 1, Level 4, "The Shepherds' Visit"
  • First Christmas Part 2, Level 3 "The angel's message"
Last edited by Neil MacQueen

Add Reply

Post a New Topic
Lesson or Resource
Rotation.org Inc. is a volunteer-run, 100% member supported, 501(c)3 non-profit Sunday School lesson ministry. You are welcome to borrow and adapt content for non-commercial teaching purposes --as long as both the site and author are referenced. Rotation.org Inc reserves the right to manage, move, condense, delete, and otherwise improve all content posted to the site. Read our Terms of Service. Get a free Registered Membership or become a Supporting Member for full access to all site resources.
Rotation.org is rated 5 stars on Google based on 51 reviews. Serving a global community including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, S. Africa, and more!
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×