August 5, 2012 - "Writing a 'Reflection Paper' About a Verse from the Scriptures"

Today's class is the session where the teaching on How to Write a Reader-Reflection Paper was covered in class.   This teaching is the lesson material that had been put-off during the last two classes because there was not enough time left, in those classes, after covering the Bible Adventures lesson for that day.   Today, the Reader-Reflection Paper lesson was the primary lesson for the class.   The handout for this lesson was the faith steps paper dated July 22, 2012, "Learning to 'Reflect'". 

          To see the full handout, click on this LINK.

The review of last week's class was handled differently today, since none of the students present in class today had attended last week.   A printed copy of the rcc.5gr Blog posting from last week was given to the students, to review at home.
The Memory verse assigned last week, Revelation 4:11, was new, to them, and no one was prepared to recite it.   So I mentioned that the lesson topic was about showing Honor to God, and about King David's desire to build a Temple for God.  Then I went over the verse in class:

     "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power."

Then I showed a video, which was intended to be part of the review, featuring the song "The Revelation Song" (recorded by the group Phillips, Craig, and Dean).    To see this video, click on this link:  The Revelation Song video, from YouTube, shown in class on 8/5/12.    The students also received a printed copy of the lyrics to this song ** (the lyrics sheet can be viewed online by clicking here. ).

The Reader-Reflection lesson material has introductory information about the topic of the verse that is used  as my example (Psalm 19:1).  The topic is "GOD".   Then the verse is printed - "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." [NIV]  

Then there are three simple instructions given, "How-to's" for writing a reflection paper.  1.) Read the verse(s) one or more times.  2.) Take some time to think about what was read.   3.) Write down what you have just thought.   Then, the guidelines listed on the handout were discussed.  

I reminded the students that our expectations for them are based on the fact that they are 5th graders - they're not 'little kids' anymore.   In 5th grade they are expected to learn to express themselves clearly, in writing.

Over the next year, they would be expected to learn to write clear, properly constructed sentences, combining three or more sentences into a paragraph to express an idea, and then writing multiple-paragraph essays or papers.   

My expectation for a reflection paper is that it be at least three clearly written sentences, with correct spelling and no use of slang terms.   The reflection has to be the student’s own thoughts, but they can get help from parents with their writing.     These reminders and additional guidelines were presented in class:

• Remember that a verse is part of a larger grouping of verses, referred to as “the context”.  The reflection would have to show an understanding of the context of the verse that is written about.  John 11:35 -”Jesus wept” - was discussed, regarding reflecting on a verse “in-context”.
• Understanding the context will help the student to see the overall topic that is covered by the verse.
• A reflection is not expected to have as much detail as an essay or research paper.
• The reflection is not limited to declarative statements.  It can contain questions that arise when thinking about the verse.
• My example, on Psalm 19:1, was typed, but student work that is turned-in can be handwritten.

My example was then presented.   During the discussion, I did restate some of the teaching points from previous lessons, in July, about God.    I did this and told the students that this was the teaching point where I was “taking a stand” - I wasn’t just telling them stories, I was declaring that God Almighty is Creator, and affirming that the (unseen) spiritual realm is real.  [This is the #1 Learning Objective for 5th grade.]

The discussion included reading most of what was written in my example, and comments about how the people in King David’s time understood the power needed to create all they were seeing, and that it was impossible for this to just have happened as a random chance.    It is still impossible for this to just be a random happening.   The last sentence of my example is the summary of my reflection, and we closed the lesson by reading it together:  The amazing power shown by creating the heavens, and the greatness of it all, stirred up thoughts of praise and great respect (or, giving honor) for God Almighty.     

A new Memory Verse for this week was assigned - Matthew 11:28:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

__________________________________________

**The Revelation Song is copyrighted.   I can print and distribute the lyrics of this song under what are called Fair Use provisions of the US copyright law.   You can access the lyrics online, but they should not be redistributed.  

[Note: There is a Bible Adventures lesson, covering a miracle Jesus performed, from the Gospel of John, Chapter 4, and two Sunday School the Clicks videos from ABCnews.com; this was also prepared for 8/5/12. This lesson was not covered today, but the memory verse, Matthew 11:28, was assigned.  ----   This Bible Adventures lesson will be taught next week, and the Matthew 11:28 verse will be re-assigned, so it will be the Memory verse for two weeks.]

July 29, 2012 - 'Honoring God -- King David’s Desire to Build God’s Temple'

This week we covered Lesson 8 from Bible Adventures, about King David and his desire to give honor to God, from 1 Chronicles chapter 17, with some concluding remarks from 2 Chronicles chapter 7.   

We began with lesson material from YouTube, from a video channel with songs by Christian musician Chris Tomlin.    We listened to his worship song “How Great is Our God”. This song was the introduction to our discussion of King David, and his desire to show proper honor to God Almighty.    King David had secured a safe place in Jerusalem to keep the Ark of the Covenant, where it was kept inside a tent.  We discussed the importance of the Ark, and how God was physically present at the place where the Ark was kept.   God is a Spirit and is unseen, but His presence could be seen because of the bright shining light of the Glory of God that was present where the Ark was at.

King David thought it was wrong that he lived in a palace, but the Ark was kept down the street, in an ordinary tent.   God Almighty deserved the BEST, so David wanted to build God a Temple.   David already was well known for his worship and praise of God, and his bringing together singers and musicians at what we now call ‘The Tabernacle of David’ for worship.   David also understood the concept of Honor, and that worship of God involved more that just words and music.    Showing Honor to God would also be done by sacrificing and giving toward the construction of God’s Temple.   

The lesson continued, with Nathan, who was a prophet of God, coming to David with a word of prophecy from God.   Nathan’s prophecy was two-fold.   David would be blessed by having his line of descendants always reigning as king, and one of his sons would be the king who would build God’s Temple.   This meant that King David was commanded not to build the Temple himself, however.

In class it was emphasized that David felt that it was an offense that he had the royal treatment and lived in the royal dwelling, but God Almighty’s presence was only in a tent.  This was shabby, in comparison to David’s palace.   The lesson closed with comments, first, on David’s prayer to God after he heard Nathan’s prophecy.   This prayer was filled with declarations of praise, thanksgiving and honor to God.     1 Chronicles 17: 19-20a are part of David’s prayer illustrating his sense of worth and great honor toward God:

19 O Lord, for Your servant’s sake, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness, in making known all these great things. 20 O Lord, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You,    [NKJV]

The second comment was about how King Solomon did complete the building of the Temple, and dedicated it to the Lord with great worship and offering of sacrifices.   

Honoring God is pleasing to Him, and it is something we all should do.   Honor is demonstrated, particularly when we take actions showing honor and make sacrifices in doing so, but honor starts with having an attitude of honor.   King David is an excellent example of this.   Our opening worship song, “How Great is Our God”, is another example of having an attitude of honor, expressed in a song.

After closing the lesson, we recited our new memory verse from Revelation, chapter 4, and also a reminder was given about continuing to work on memorizing Psalm 19: 1.

The 5th grade teaching plan includes listening to several contemporary Christian worship songs, introduced at various times during the year, and later in the year emphasizing our class theme song “Children of God” (recorded by the group Third Day).

The Memory Verse assigned this week is Revelation 4: 11.   Each week for the rest of the Summer, we also are permitting students to say the previously assigned verse, Psalm 19: 1, using the NIV text:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. - Psalm 19:1