The following lessons about Gabriel's announcement to Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1) were shared with us by member Wendy Humphries.
Gabriel's Announcement to Zechariah in the Temple
Drama or Puppet or "Shadow Theater" Workshop
View and print the attached PDF of the lesson
LIsten to and download the "rap" song file attached to this lesson at rotation.org
Summary:
- Scripture: Luke 1:1-25
- Focus: Gabriel announces the coming of John the Baptist
Activities: The attached lesson PDF has a very creative retelling of the "Birth of John the Baptist" story (notice the fun rhymes). It could be "rapped" by the characters "off stage" while others perform using puppets or a "shadow" theater concept (backlit screen).
Additional Suggestions: Some of the lines in the rhyming script are pretty obscure, and the poetic/rapping style may be hard for younger children. However, "adapting" is what good teachers always do! Convert the lesson PDF to a Word doc text using simplypdf.com to convert it, then edit. Have different readers "rap and clap" your new version as it is acted out.
The lesson could use some more life application. One way to get into that is to have your students create different facial/visual reactions for Zechariah and Elizabeth to the announcement. Then, suggest some equally surprising announcements that might come to someone TODAY at your church (about devoting your life, about serving others, about giving up possessions/money, about becoming an important part of God's mission in the world -- what would be YOUR initial reaction to such an announcement being delivered to YOU?
How are you like Gabriel? -- see Luke 1:19-20. How do you "stand in God's presence"? Where are you "sent to tell the good news"? Where and to whom? What will you say?
You are welcome to use it in part or entirely. In addition to printing the PDF, you can copy the text from the PDF by dragging it with your mouse and copying/pasting into your own document. You can quickly save the PDF to your computer, then upload the PDF to https://simplypdf.com/ and convert it to a Word doc for easy editing in Word.
