Cool Disciples Schedule: December 2011

Posted on by Carol Hulbert

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On Saturday nights and on Sunday mornings at FUMC our Cool Disciples experience Rotation Model Christian education, as they learn about Bible stories and concepts through kid-friendly multimedia workshops.

December’s Rotation is about, you guessed it, Christmas! Since Christmas comes every year this allows us the chance to, each year, focus on a different aspect of the story. We’ve done Christmas Rotations from the point of view of Shepherds, of Wise Men, and even from Isaiah’s eyes. This December we’ll take a look at the overall birth story of Jesus. All of the different parts of the story: Who received a message from an angel? Why travel to Bethlehem? Where was Jesus born?… Our target is to ensure that kids know the sequence and timing of story events surrounding Jesus’ birth. Our story is found by interweaving the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

A crèche scene

For Saturdays at the Green Wood location, here is the schedule for December (and a little bit of January 2012)… And for Sundays at the downtown location, here is the schedule…

Schedules have been removed. They were sort of out-of-date 🙂
Check out some pictures of workshops here.

 
Here is what we did in each workshop:

  • In the Drama Workshop students will enact the story. What a great way to learn the story details by participating in the story!
  • In the Games Workshop students will play a quiz game to see how much they really know about the story. We’ll run two Games Workshops so that everyone gets to participate in the fun.
  • In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the animated video The King is Born from Nest Entertainment while enjoying some popecorn. (Can’t have a movie without popcorn!)
  • In the Cooking Workshop students will create a nativity snack bag with items to represent story elements. Don’t eat this snack until you’ve had a chance to use it to retell the story to someone!
  • In the Art Workshop students will help tell the story using various colors of felt, creating a “stain glass window.” Then they will create stained glass votive holders using colors to represent the characters in the story of Jesus’ birth.

If you are in the area please join us for the fun learning at First United Methodist Church in Ann Arbor, MI.

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Photo credits:
Photos are from my archives.

Jesus’ Birth: Mary’s story

Posted on by Carol Hulbert

A banner for Christmas - Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus
Have you ever noticed how two people can both experience the same event and come away with different memories? It’s the same story, but different perspectives. It can actually enrich the story! Thus, every year our Advent Rotation for our Cool Disciples (our 1st – 6th graders at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI) takes a different focus.

Last year in December the story of Jesus’ birth was told through the eyes of Isaiah. (That’s right, Isaiah from the Old Testament; 700 years before Jesus was born!) There was the year when our story was from the perspective of the wise men. Previous to that it was the shepherds and angels. This year Mary, Jesus’ mother, takes center stage.

Who was Mary?

She was likely poor and lived in Galilee, a region of the Roman Empire, in a town called Nazareth. We are also told that Mary was “engaged to Joseph” which means she could have been a young teenager; as young as 12 years old, as this is the age at which young women were eligible for “betrothal.” God chose a poor, young girl for an important job! And what a rather unexpected job… to become the mother of Jesus!

Here are some questions to discuss…

+++++for the first part of our story (in Luke 1:26-38):

  • When Mary first saw the angel how do you suppose she felt? Was she scared, surprised or just nonchalant?
  • How did Mary react to the news that she would have a baby boy, name him Jesus, and that he would be our Savior?
  • I wonder why God would choose such a young woman to be Jesus’ mother?
  • If God asked you to do something that would be very challenging, do you suppose that you would say as Mary did, “I am the Lord’s servant; may it happen to me as you have said?” (Luke 1:38)
  • Tell about a time when you felt called by God to do something you weren’t sure about doing; were you afraid and had questions but then ready to accept God’s plan?

May you enjoy pondering these “talk time” questions as you nurture and support one another in your faith journeys!

Rotation workshops for December 2010

Posted on by Carol Hulbert

During the school year, on Sunday mornings each Rotation for our Cool Disciples (our 1st – 6th graders at FUMC in Ann Arbor, MI) includes six workshops. In December 2010, spilling into January 2011, we’ll be studying about Jesus’ birth from the viewpoint of his mother, Mary.

Read about our story in Luke. (If you click on words that are bold and red on this blog, you’ll go to various internet sites; in this case a site where you can read our passage. Pretty cool, yes?)

Here is the schedule of workshops for the next few weeks…

Date Art Video Movement Cooking Games Storytelling
Room 212 Pine Room Room 211 Social Hall Room 215 Room 204
12/12 2nd grade 5th grade 3rd grade 6th grade 4th grade 1st grade
12/19 1st grade 4th grade 2nd grade 5th grade 6th grade 3rd grade

Then of course, comes Christmas! For a schedule of service times check out the church web site. (May need to scroll down on that page). On Sunday, December 26th there will not be any Cool Disciples workshops. Everyone will worship together at the 9:30 service! (There will not be a service at 11:15.) The same thing will happen on January 2nd, 2011. Then on January 9th we’ll finish up our “December” Rotation.

Date Art Video Movement Cooking Games Storytelling
Room 212 Pine Room Room 211 Social Hall Room 215 Room 204
1/9 3rd grade 6th grade 1st grade 4th grade 5th grade 2nd grade

What’s happening in each workshop?

  • In the Art Workshop students will listen to melodic music while using colored pencils to create a mandala. Mandalas are circular designs. Coloring a mandala clears the mind and focuses attention. We’ll use the process of working on a mandala to peacefully ponder the story of Jesus’ birth.
  • In the Video Workshop students will watch portions of the live-action video The Nativity Story. Enjoy popcorn (can’t have a movie without popcorn!) and explore Mary’s emotions as the story progresses.
  • In the Movement Workshop students will use music and expressive movement with Body Sox to interpret Mary’s experience. We’ll use music from the Magnificat, Mary’s song of magnifying (praising) God.
  • In the Cooking Workshop students will re-tell the story by voting from a selection of snacks that they think match the emotions felt by Mary in the story. This is sure to be interesting! What will marshmallows represent? Parsley? Pickles?? After the voting, enjoy some of these snacks.
  • In the Games Workshop students will participate in an obstacle course that is sure to cement story details. I wonder how they’ll do?
  • In the Storytelling Workshop parents with a newborn will visit and help the students explore Mary’s emotions. Then we’ll ponder what Mary’s scrapbook would have looked like. (With a very cool resource.)

I wish that Sunday school could have been this much fun when I was growing up. Maybe that’s why I enjoy what I do – it gives me an excuse to have fun learning!