Computer, Software and "App" Ideas for teaching the Palm Sunday story
There are several software programs that have been available in the past or are still available that can be used to teach the story of Palm Sunday using computers or tablets.
We continue to list even those that are technically out of print because some Sunday Schools still own and use them.
Your suggestions are welcome!
If you need help with any of these programs, post a question in our Software Help Forum
About the Opposition to Jesus
The religious authorities try to quiet Jesus on Palm Sunday
The Life of Christ software from Discovery Interactive has two relevant lessons:
- Lesson 28: The Plot To Catch and Kill Jesus - Matthew 26:1-16
- Lesson 29: A Grand Entry Into Jerusalem - Luke 19:28-46
Lesson 28 "the plot" helps set up the confrontation taught in Lesson 29 between Jesus and the authorities during the parade.
Who Shouted What?
(And what should WE shout?)
The Palm Sunday story has a lot of dialog in it, both spoken and that can be imagined. This makes it a natural for having the kids make their computers SPEAK these words.
There are two programs, among others, that can turn text into speech: Kid Pix 4 or Kid Pix "3D" software, and Let's Talk. (Let's Talk is now free to the supporting members of Rotation.org! Learn more).
What would stones shout? "Rock on Jesus" ?
It's a fun question you can ask kids. What would the authorities tell the children to "stop saying about Jesus?" "What do people want Christians to stop doing today?" "What Christ-like behavior would make your school classmates unhappy? Praying aloud? Forgiving someone rather than gossiping about them?"
What were the soldiers, Pharisees, priests, disciples, and crowds shouting?
The soldiers might have been concerned about safety or revolution. What would you answer to them? What SHOULD the disciples been shouting in response to the complaints??
What would a child seeing Jesus riding a donkey have asked their parent that day when Jesus rode by? How would the parent answer the child?
What was Jesus thinking about the crowds, about the religious authorities, but probably not saying?
Imagine what God was whispering to Jesus as he rode in.
There are various ways to approach MAKING the computer speak the kid's answers. One is for the teacher to pose the questions one at a time to the entire class, wait for them to compose an answer to the question, then play them back one a time for all to hear. Let's Talk's "Talk Now" module is particularly good with this approach.
Or you could assign a different "group at the parade" to each computer. Have each computer group work independently (with your advice) to craft an answer to the question you are asking each "group at the parade."
Example:
Soldiers: what do you have to say to Jesus?
Authorities: What are you afraid of?
Crowd: What does Jesus REALLY want you to do instead of just wave palms?
Then have each computer group share their "spoken" results with the class.
Non-readers love making the computer talk too, they just need help typing.
"Riding With Jesus"
For Preschool through Grade 2
Here's a cool idea:
When I've had preschoolers -grade 2 come into my lab during a Palm Sunday rotation, we turned on Kid Pix 4 (or Kid Pix "3D") sofware after the Bible study. I had pre-loaded two clipart graphics showing Jesus on Palm Sunday. We showed the kids how to import that graphic onto the Kid Pix screen and then continue to illustrate it with the following ideas:
(1) The kids put themselves in the picture and imagined "what they would wave instead of palms".
(2) Added themselves to "ride the donkey with Jesus" and had them shout their favorite "cheer" phrase in a talk bubble above their head.
These pictures made everyone smile A LOT and we printed them out to make a wall display titled "Our Kids At the Palm Sunday Parade".
Other Holy Week Software Suggestions:
Check out the computer forums under each of the stories of Holy Week found in the JESUS from PALM SUNDAY TO EASTER MORNING.
Easter Computer Quiz Questions:
I have written a free Quiz Set about Easter that covers the whole Easter story, including Palm Sunday. It is for use with the popular Fall of Jericho quiz game program.
Fall of Jericho is now one of the FREE downloads available to our supporting members. Learn more and get the software.
The set needs about 5 to 10 more questions added to it to make it 'long' enough for the journey without questions repeating (you can use the built-in Jericho question editor to add them), and if you're using the set for a Palm Sunday lesson you could add several questions focusing on that story.
The quiz questions are formatted as a text file for use by the software, but you can also copy the questions out of the file for use in any other quiz software or non-computer workshop uses. The layout of the text will be a little wonky but you can clean that up in your wordprocessor.
To download the file go to the COMPUTER and GAME Workshop Lessons and Ideas for teaching Holy Week here. See the Fall of Jericho tech notes for help copying the question set into the correct folder on your computer.