April 24, 2009
Existentialism at the Second Grade Level
Remember when I saved Spikette's immortal soul by helping her plan a lesson for her Sunday School class? I think I was a bit vague in the backstory, so let me break down for you the Sunday School system at our church.
A topic is selected by someone in Plotzville, Alabama, who has never interacted with an actual human child in his/her life. Our Sunday School system spends SIX WEEKS pounding said topic into impressionable young minds using various techniques. The topic may be a concept like "stewardship," a person like Mary of Magdelene, or a Bible story like Joshua at Jericho.
The age groups rotate through different stations each Sunday, with each station presenting the current lesson or subject in a specific way. I.e., they watch a DVD about it in the AV Room, they read about it in the Library, or they re-enact it on the Drama Stage.
Spikette volunteered to run the Drama Stage all year. When she asked for my help with a lesson, she was teaching third graders. This time, writes Spikette...
I forgot to let you know how last week went with the 2nd graders. Veeeeeery strange. The premise was the same: make a short play on how you can be a good shepard and help others.Group One, 4 kids: One girls stood in the center of the gym hypnotizing 2 kids by calling out types of candies in a dreamy voice. The two kids fall off the stage (literally) in a hypnotic state. Then one says, "I want some candy." And the girl says, "I don't have any." The kid runs after her, and she finally throws him a piece of candy. The fourth kid never did anything (that I recall). The lesson? Giving people candy (apparently reluctantly).
Group Two, 3 kids: One girl stands up and recites the 10 commandments (she got to 3 on her own, we helped with a few more and left it at that). One boy acted out the commandments and the other girl just stood there.
I'm so glad I have a real lesson to teach this week, although I better look it over because there's still not enough material for a whole class. The lesson is Mary, Jesus's Mother. There are two scripts I can use. Both short and one just has two kids. Only 3 weeks left of Sunday School. Then, I'm never doing Drama again!!!!!!!
... I don't even know what to say. Hypnotic candy? Was the first girl shepherding her flock by enabling their candy addiction? Was the candy symbolic of something else, or open to everyone's own interpretation?
Frankly, I'm surprised that a seven year old could recite three of the Ten Commandments. Although unrelated to the day's topic, I think that's pretty good. Let's see how far Wenchie can get...
1. Thou shalt not have any other gods, I don't care how awesome "Guitar Hero II" is.
2. Thou shalt not commit adultery, and this includes any sex outside of your own marriage, so yeah, it sucks.
3. Thou shalt not steal.
4. Thou shalt remember the sabbath and keep it holy. Does anyone even know what this means anymore?
5. Thou shalt not kill. Unless it's war sanctioned by your government. Then it's perfectly fine and, indeed, encouraged!
6. Thou shalt not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor, so basically, just stay indoors and pull down all your shades.
7. Hmmm...
Yeah, I'm going to take this opportunity to reiterate: Not. Pastor. Material.
Hypnotic candy. Hee!
Comments
Thanks for writing this.
Posted by: Doria at April 26, 2009 07:26 PM