The Life of Christ
4th-6th grades
This page is devoted to sharing the actual lesson plans I used while teaching The Life of Christ to 4th-6th graders in a Bible class setting. I also throw in a few personal thoughts along the way.
- John’s Birth Announced
- Jesus’ Birth Announced
- The Birth of Christ
- Jesus Grows Up
- John’s Ministry Begins
- Pictures at last
- Temptations of Jesus
- The Samaritan Woman
- The Sabbath Controversy
- The Sermon on the Mount — Chapter 5
- The Sermon on the Mount — Chapter 6
John’s Birth Announced
Tomorrow is the first class in my new assignment. I’ve been teaching pre-schoolers for the past 15 months. Now, I get to move back to the group of kids I left when I was asked to teach the little ones. It is considered our Later Elementary class. There are 7 students — 3 boys and 4 girls. We will spend the next year studying the New Testament. The first 6 months we will be studying the Life of Christ. The last 6 months we will be studying Acts and the Epistles.
The class will be set up with 8 stations around the room. Each station will have a variety of activities such as folder games for the child’s kinesthetic side, recorded teaching for the audio learner and handwork to sink it deep into their brain. There will be a considerable amount of memory work. Each child will be encouraged to memorize all the material, but it is truly up to them how much they get done.
The stations are:
12 Apostles — Memorize their names, learn some interesting things about each one, know where they can find their names in the Bible.
Salt and Light — From the sermon on the mount. The students will learn the text and understand its meaning. Salt and Light Station Activities
Lord’s Prayer — Memorize and be able to pray a prayer patterned after the one Jesus used to teach us to pray.
The Wise Man — Memorize and understand what this passage is and why getting wisdom is so important.
The Beatitudes — Memorize and be able to explain what they mean.
New Testament Books — Memorize them in order, be able to find them quickly in the Bible, learn what each book is about, who wrote it, who it was written to.
Timeline and Map — Be able to put the events of Jesus’ life in order. Be able to map the places Jesus visited.
Bible Lesson Review — Each class session I will present a new lesson. Most of these lessons will have a folder game or something similar to reinforce what we learned.
Each child will have a project folder where their written work is put. They will be copying each of the memory passages and doing some illustrating and written work. These project folders are based on Dinah Zike’s Big Book of Books and Big Book of Projects.
Over the course of the year, the children will be given a Bible reading schedule that, if completed, will have them reading the entire New Testament. We will also be learning hymns that either pertain to the lessons or are especially encouraging to young people.
My Lesson Plan:
We’ll begin the lesson with an overview of the entire Bible. Using the timeline as a guide, we’ll talk about how God’s creation, the fall of man, God’s plan to save man, the unfolding of this plan throughout the Old Testament. This will probably take a good portion of the class.
Discuss the announcement of John the Baptist’s birth. The children have read the scripture relating to this with their families. The amount of time spent will depend on their recollection of the events. I want to impress on them the place this event had in God’s plan.
Pass out project folders. Discuss the different parts to them and give them a couple of minutes to get familiar with it.
Introduce the New Testament book pictures. We will be introducing one each Sunday. The first one, obviously, is Matthew. Pass out the reduced picture of the Matthew card to glue in their project folder. Fill the information it asks for together. The key verse for Matthew is Matthew 5:17. They should be able to do this independently after the first couple of weeks.
Pass out the Bible reading schedule for the quarter. Encourage them to read this independently (without mom or dad having to remind them). Pass out the memory work booklet so they can work on all the memory work at home.
If there is any time left (and this is doubtful), let them visit the station of their choice.
Jesus’ Birth Announced
The first class went well. I had a hard time getting my brain working at the 10-11 year old level. I wanted to start the class with Jesus Loves Me, but the kids weren’t too thrilled with that idea. We reviewed the whole Bible. It was very interesting and quite an exercise for me. They were able to tell quite a few of the events themselves. We won’t get to do that every time, but we do need to do it every once in a while.
I’ve added some new folder games for the stations. Now there is just one station that doesn’t have any activities. That one is The Wise Man. I’ve got some ideas, so I just need the time to sit down and put them together.
Tonight we will be talking about Jesus’ birth being announced. We read the beginning of Luke 1 Sunday AM when we talked about John’s birth being announced. We’ll finish the chapter tonight.
My Lesson Plan:
Review the announcement of John’s birth.
Discuss the announcement of Jesus’ birth. Luke 1:26-56 and Isaiah 7:14
Introduce the John or Jesus folder game. This folder game will be put at the Bible lesson review station. This activity has a blue circle overlapping a yellow circle. It is green where they overlap. The children will read the cards that tell something about either John’s or Jesus’ or both births. If it is about both, it goes in the overlap area. After they are through, they will turn their cards over. The colored dot on the back of the cards will match the color of the circle if they have put them in the right place.
Introduce the New Testament book pictures. We introduced Matthew Sunday AM. We will review it and then explain how they will fill out the information about each book in their project folders.
The rest of the class will be spent at the stations.
The Birth of Christ
I didn’t have time to write a lesson plan for Sunday AM. We studied the birth of John. We read Luke 1:57-80. Tonight we will be studying the birth of Christ. This is such a pivotal story in the Bible. The prophets have been prophesying of His coming since the beginning. I will take some time tonight to retell the Bible story again from the beginning. I want to do this from time to time so we don’t forget the big picture.
My Lesson Plan:
Tell the story of Jesus beginning with Creation. Actually, I want to begin with John 1:1 and following. This review will go all the way to the story for tonight — Jesus’ birth.
Introduce the new folder activity for Bible lesson review station. It is about what is fact or fiction about the birth of Christ.
New Testament book pictures. We introduced Mark Sunday AM. We’ll review the 2 we’ve done (Matthew and Mark) and encourage them to begin working in their project folder on the NT book section.
There are quite a few new folder activities in the various stations. I will introduce one for the Wise Man. It has pictures of Bible characters on cards. The cards have scripture on the back. The student is supposed to look up the scripture and read it. Then they are to decide if the character was being wise or foolish in that passage.
The rest of the class will be spent at the stations.
Jesus Grows Up
Wednesday night, we studied about the wise men coming to visit Jesus. It is a common misconception that they came and visited Jesus the very night He was born. All the nativity scenes we see during the Christmas season have them right there (some of them even have Santa Claus there). But, the Bible tells us that the wise men came to visit Jesus in the house he was staying in. Since the Bible tells us that He was born in a stable, they couldn’t have visited Him that night. His parents obviously found better shelter for the young family. We aren’t sure how old Jesus was when the wise men came to visit, but we can be sure He was under 2 years old. That’s what Herod thought at least when he ordered all the babies killed under 2 years old.
Tomorrow’s lesson is about Jesus growing up. We will talk about Jesus’ family leaving Egypt, at God’s request, and returning to Bethlehem and then on to Nazareth. We will talk about how His parents thought He was lost when they were on their way home from the temple. We will also learn that He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
The activity I will add to the Bible lesson review station is about 6 children of the Bible that did great things. The children will have the opportunity to look them up in their Bibles, read about them and decided which statements are about which child. They will also learn some things they can do, as children, to be pleasing to God.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus — The kids didn’t like this too much. They apparently haven’t been singing in class recently. We’ll give it another shot and hopefully they will warm up to the idea.
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: Jesus Grows Up Have the children turn in their Bibles to Luke 2:39-52 Read the passage aloud. I’ve been letting the scriptures speak for themselves for the most part. Every once in a while, I stop reading and discuss something that be difficult to understand. These kids are all pretty smart and seem to understand reading from the scriptures.
Review the New Testament cards on the wall and introduce John.
They’ve had a few weeks to get used to the stations. I need to start getting down to business on helping them memorize the passages I’ve asked them to memorize. Before they go to their stations, I will go over the Wise Man/Foolish Man passage. We will read it aloud and go over one of the activities at the station.
Let them spend time in the stations.
John’s Ministry Begins
Our lesson tonight will be about John The Baptist. We’ve already talked about his miraculous birth and the events that surrounded it. Tonight, after a little review, we’ll talk about how he lived, what he taught and. most important, how he prepared the way for Jesus.
Our text for tonight will be Matthew 3:1-12; Mark 1:1-8; Luke 3:1-20; and John 1:1-28. This is the first class we will need to read from all 4 gospels. I plan to tell about John in my own words and then to read from the scripture. I usually throw out impromptu question to see if they are understanding what we’re reading. They are usually on top of things and answer them well.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus — This went over better Sunday AM. I started talking to them about why we sing. I told them we sing to teach and encourage each other and to praise God. I told them that if they didn’t want to sing, they must not want to teach or encourage anyone, and they must not want to praise God. Well, they all sang — I hope with a willing a heart.
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: John The Baptist. I pretty much went over what I was going to teach above. I also want to go ahead and tell about Herod arresting him, since it is in the Luke reading. The rest of the story (his beheading) will be talked about in depth later.
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We’ve done the 4 gospels. They are learning them very well. I want to encourage them to memorize (or at least become very familiar with) the key verses. This isn’t in our list of things to memorize this quarter. There are a couple of kids that think the other memory work is way easy, so maybe they will be challenged by this.
Before they go to their stations, I will go over the Wise Man/Foolish Man passage. We will read it aloud and go over one of the activities at the station. We’ll do this again, and talk in detail about what this passage means. I will encourage them to not only be able to say it from memory, but to write it from memory. There are forms at each station they can do this on.
Let them spend time in the stations.
Pictures at Last
I didn’t get a lesson plan on the blogged for Sunday’s lesson. We studied about the baptism of Jesus. Since I didn’t have a lesson plan, I really didn’t feel like I did it justice. We’ll have to a do a very good review this Sunday.
Tonight our congregation has its monthly singing. That means no class. Now, I love teaching Bible class, but this monthly break is wonderful. I love to sing with my brethren.
Since we aren’t having class, I thought I would show you some pictures of what the classroom looks like. So, here it goes:
This is a picture of half of the classroom. There are 8 stations in all. While we are going over new lesson material, reviewing memory work or singing, the chairs are turned around and everyone sits in a circle. Several of the kids get to class as much as 20 minutes early. They come on to class and get to work at one of the stations. I’m glad they get this extra time because our class periods are not very long.
Each of the stations have a poster that are pictured below. The poster gives the basic information and the passage to be memorized. On the floor next to each station there is a plastic file tote. Each station has folder and envelope activites to help the child memorize the passage and understand its meaning.
The posters were bought at a teacher’s supply store. They had this cute design in several different variations. All I did was to print out the information I wanted on the computer and glue them on.
Temptations of Jesus
This morning we will discuss the temptations of Jesus. I will start with a good review of The Baptism of Jesus since I didn’t think I did it justice Wednesday night and since it flows right into the temptations of Jesus. I like to have a folder activity for each week’s lesson, but I just couldn’t figure one out for this one, until early this morning (before I went to bed). I’ll have to complete it for Wednesday night. I got the idea while looking on another blog. I wish I had seen it earlier.
One thing I want to talk to them about today is just how long Jesus went without food. He wasn’t just a little hungry, he was probably near death. He had been without food for 40 days. I calculated it on my calendar and that would be like us not eating since January 2nd. That’s a long time to go without food. That’s why the temptations were so tempting.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus — They resigning themselves to the fact that we’re going to sing. I love hearing young people this age sing.
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: The Temptations of Jesus (see above)
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We did Acts Sunday night and will do Romans this morning.
Go over Salt/Light passage. I have stickers ready for anyone that is ready to recite their memory work. I’ve told them that before they can recite it, they must have done all the activities in the tote for that passage and have written it down from memory.
Let them spend time in the stations.
The Samaritan Woman
It has been a while since I posted a lesson plan. I’m finding that flexibility is the key with this group of kids. I’m never quite sure how each class is going to go. They really like to come early and get started, so I don’t start the lesson right away. I usually pick one child that’s making good progress and attempt to start the lesson when he/she is finished with the activity he/she’s doing. I’m going to have to be careful because tomorrow’s lesson is quite lengthy. I want to cover not only the story of the Samaritan woman, but the history behind who the Samaritans were and why the Jews hated them so much.
I’m getting more and more students reciting their memory work. I insist that they do all the activities at the station they are wanting to recite and also write down the passage from memory. I thought I would get some protests from this, but they seem to enjoy the challenge. I insist that the memory work be near perfect. If they mess up, they have to wait until the next class period to recite it again. I don’t want them to just learn it for the moment. I want it to be learned for life.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: The Samaritan Woman (see above)
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We did Acts Sunday night and will do 2 Corinthians this morning.
Let them spend time in the stations.
The Sabbath Controversy
It has been a while since I have posted a lesson plan for this class. I have been out of town helping my parents while dad was in the hospital. I had 2 great teachers substitute for me during that time. They covered Healing the Nobleman’s son and choosing the 12 apostles. The Sabbath controversy should’ve come before the 12 apostles, but I figured it would be harder for a substitute to teach. So, tomorrow’s lesson will be the Sabbath controversy. This can be found in 3 gospels: Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 2:23-28, Luke 6:1-5, and there will also be a reference to Deuteronomy 5:14.
Since I’ve been out of the classroom for 2 lessons, I hope to see great strides being made in their memory work. They just a few weeks left in this quarter to get done. We’ll see how they’re doing tomorrow.
The kids usually get right to work at their stations as soon as they get to the classroom. Some of them come as much as 20 minutes early. That gives them a lot of extra time that we just don’t have in class. It seems to work best to let them work at their stations for about the first 10 minutes of class and then break to do the lesson, sing, and review the memory work. Then, if there’s any time left over (which there usually isn’t), they can go back to working in the stations.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: The Sabbath Controversy
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We’re going to have to do 2 this week. I think we’ll be doing Galatians and Ephesians.
Review one or two of their memory work out loud together.
Let them spend time in the stations.
Sermon On The Mount — Chapter 5
The next 3 class session we will be talking about one of my favorite passages in the Bible. Matthew 5-7 is commonly called THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. In this sermon (or as some believe, a compilation of Jesus’ teachings), Jesus teaches his disciples about many things they should be doing in their every day lives. Each section can make a class in itself, but we’re going to take a chapter each class. Four of the 6 things the kids are memorizing come from the Sermon On The Mount, so they are familiar with quite a bit of it already. These lessons will give me the opportunity to elaborate more on their memory passages as well as read and discuss the rest of the passages.
My Lesson Plan:
Sing: Tell Me The Story of Jesus
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: The Sermon On The Mount (Chapter 5) We’ll be concentrating on the Beatitudes and the Salt/Light passage.
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We’re going to have to do 2 this week. I think we’ll be doing Philippians and Colossians.
Let them spend time in the stations.
Sermon On The Mount — Chapter 6
I’m convinced someone is cheating me out of precious time in my class. It seems like the class gets shorter and shorter. I was all ready to teach the lesson and give the kids about 10 minutes to work in their stations Wednesday night. The bell rang way too early. We did get through the lesson, but didn’t get to get to the stations.
Tomorrow’s lesson is on chapter 6 of the Sermon on the Mount. The Lord’s prayer is in this chapter along with more great stuff. They are memorizing the Lord’s prayer, so we’ll spend a little extra time talking about it. One of the activities they are to complete while memorizing the Lord’s prayer has them writing their own prayer patterned after the one found in Matthew 6. I’ve done this activity several times in the past and the kids are always very pleased with the result.
I spent the day today getting the plan for next quarter written out on paper. That is the hardest part. The rest is just putting the plan into action. With computers, color copiers and laminators, it’s a breeze compared to what it used to be like.
My Lesson Plan:
Review what we’ve studied so far.
Today’s lesson: The Sermon On The Mount (Chapter 6) We’ll be concentrating on the Lord’s prayer.
Review the New Testament cards on the wall. We’re going to have to do 2 this week. I think we’ll be doing 1 and 2 Thessalonians.
Let them spend time in the stations.
I love your simple, practical and to point lesson plans it is how I think just enough detail. Thanks 4 him in Jesus.