Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Learning about the Structure of the Bible


St. Jerome once said, "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." This quarter I'm focusing on different aspects of the Bible with all my students, and my 6th graders have been learning about the content, structure, and origin of the Bible.  We started with this Bible Scavenger Hunt using Google forms to help them navigate their Bibles. (Note that most of these questions are very specific to the particular edition of the Bible each student has- the Fireside NABRE, but you could use it as inspiration for the edition of the Bible you use in your classroom!)


We do a lot of learning using our Chrome books- videos, Google Classroom projects, etc., but sometimes, good old paper is a necessary tool.  I also wanted them to have some things that they could keep, even tucked into their Bibles, to continue to use as a resource.  I've linked all these printables at the bottom of the post, and will share with you the pictures of how I used them- but there are tons of possibilities based on the needs of your students and the content of your curriculum.

This printable has all the Books of the Bible and all of the types of Biblical Literature.  The students were tasked to use their table of contents and color code the books and their matching categories.  Color choice was their own, but had to show the groupings of Books.

They used those newly colored books to create a "Bible Bookshelf" with shelves for the Old Testament and New Testament sorted by category. Next year I think I'll give them a slightly larger piece of paper, or I might print the same activity slightly smaller so that it could be done on side by side pages of a notebook.  Teachers- we can barely finish an activity before thinking about how we want to do it differently next time, right?  Here are a couple of student examples:


A tip- make sure they do all of the coloring and THEN the cutting, keeping categories as whole rectangles, not individual books.  That will save so much time!


While I think that it is super valuable even for older students to still do fine motor tasks like coloring and cutting, you might want to shorten this activity and have a solid set of books all ready to go.  Because of that, I also have the same printable in full color as you see below.  It does take away the work of figuring our which books go with which categories, but you can check understanding of that in other ways, of course.



You can use the same printable to make sorting activities.  Use the white version to help them practice putting the books of the Bible in order.  (We also listened to these videos with songs for the Books of the Old Testament and New Testament.)


Or print out the colored version and leave them in chunks to sort and order the Books in their categories:


Next, we worked on figuring out why the Books of the Bible are broken into these different categories.  This booklet has a section for each category (again, matching our edition of the Bible, but you could certainly adapt if your Bible calls them the Pauline Letters instead of the New Testament letters, for example).  We used this as a jigsaw activity- pairs of students chose one category and read the 1-2 page intro of that section in their Bible.  They came up with five or so main points that described the types of Books in their category and why they fit together.  Through this we were able to also talk about the great variety of styles of Literature within the Bible and their purpose.  The pairs reported back to the whole class, and we condensed their findings in our notes.


I also made another booklet with a list of major events in the Old Testament on one side, events in the New Testament on the other, and a spot to write favorite Bible verse and stories on the back page.  Now when I suggest they spend sometime reading their Bible during our prayer time, they have a place to start.



So we moved from the broad structure of the Bible, to the categories of literature, and then narrowed down to individual books.  After the previous activities, the students got to pick one Book in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament to do a "Book Report" on.  Using the info from the Book introduction, they completed these sheets, moving from the general to the specific.


We're wrapping up this week with a final digital "Museum Display" project, but I really like these printable resources and think that taking the time to get to know the structure of Scripture was helpful for all of us!

Click on these links to print your own Bible Resources:
Books of the Bible Black and White
Books of the Bible Color
Biblical Literature Booklet
Major Events in Old and New Testament/Favorite Bible Verses
Old Testament Book Review
New Testament Book Review

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Advent and Christmas Resources in Spanish

 
Thanks to the time of some generous readers, I'm happy to share with you today two of my most popular Advent and Christmas resources translated into Spanish.  (Thanks, Janet & Carolina!) It's a frequent request for me to offer my printables in Spanish, but unfortunately my rudimentary high school Spanish isn't nearly strong enough for me to do that on my own.  But I'm so happy with the help of my readers to offer these printables for DREs, teachers, and parents teaching kiddos with a Spanish or bilingual background.

In this post, I'm linking all the newly translated printable, but for the sake of simplicity am sending you back to the original posts for all the photos and instructions.

(And, p.s., if you would ever like to translate one of my resources into another language and then share with others, send me an email!  I'll happily send you the original/editable files and then we can collab to share them with others!)

Printable Advent Candles
See the original post, pictures, and instructions here.
Click on the image below to print out the Candles in Spanish:






Seeking Our Savior

See the original post, pictures, and instructions here.
Click on the images below for the printables in Spanish:


Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Activities for Homes & Classrooms



The Solemnity of Christ the King and the end of the Liturgical Year is this weekend! But every end also means a new beginning, and this beginning brings Advent.  I LOVE Advent.  The preparing, the waiting, the hope, the peaceful promise.

Here are some ideas for you to use with your kiddos to keep and celebrate the season of Advent.  Click on any of the images to take you to the resource or post:


Looking for music to keep you in the season?  Check out this Advent Song Playlist:

And videos are always a great addition in the classroom:

Learn about the New Liturgical Year with this Liturgical Year Coloring Book:
And this Liturgical Year Calendar:

Make plans for decorating for the Liturgical Year:

Use these resources for Advent:

Use the stamps and printable stickers in my Etsy Shop:
All Digital orders 25% off until 12/1/18 with code BERADIANT25
and all physical orders ship with an extra sticker pack.

Try some new Advent Traditions:




Printable Advent Candles for an Advent Wreath:
http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com/2014/11/kids-advent-wreath-free-printables.html


What Advent Looks Like printable:

Wandering Wise Men: 
An alternate activity to Elf on the Shelf, I used the Wise Men from our classroom Nativity to emphasize the waiting and preparing and seeking that is required of us during Advent.  Click on the images to go to the posts with 15 different ideas.

   

Pray and color the O Antiphons:


Seeking our Savior: An Advent Detective Journey based on Scripture, showing how Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Christ.  Printable coloring book, Scripture cards, mini craft projects, and a leaders guide.


Make a Peg Doll Nativity:






 Advent Jeopardy Trivia games here and here.

 Party Like a Saint- A December-Saint-Themed Advent Party with crafts and games.

What if they had email?  Youth Group Advent lesson idea putting the Christmas story in a new perspective.

 A Stocking For Jesus: Activities to go along with the book, including some Advent printables.

Nativity Photo Booth, putting all of those Nativity play costumes and props to good use!
http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com/2013/12/nativity-photo-booth.html

Advent Prayer Ring- Great for Youth Groups or Bible Studies:
http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com/2012/12/advent-prayer-ring.html

My Gift- An Epiphany Readers' Theater:
http://looktohimandberadiant.blogspot.com/2014/01/my-gift-celebrating-epiphany.html

Make these Epiphany Home Blessing Kits:

How will you be keeping Advent this year?