Bible Teaching for Preteens

One Day Training Conference Plan Debbie Thompson, Writer

Purpose Statement

To prepare teachers to teach preteens in Sunday School, understanding their characteristics and how they learn.

Before the Conference

Focal Wall, Room Setup, and Decoration Ideas

Set a table in front of the focal wall. Arrange the chairs in a semicircle facing the focal wall. Place a name tag and a copy of Are You Smarter Than a 5 th Grader? (Item 1 ) handout in each chair. (See preparation steps 4 and 5.) Tape index cards for Characteristics Game on the back of each chair. (See preparation step 6.)

Locate pictures of preteens. Mount the pictures on construction paper. Display the pictures on the focal wall.

Display curriculum and resources for preteens. (See preparation step 1.)

Audio/Visual Needs

Preparation Steps—Resources to Collect and Prepare

1. Gather Bible Teaching for Kids curriculum and resources for preteens. BTX: A Bible Study Teaching Experience for Preteens offers a full line of related teaching resources for preteens that includes: leader guide, learner guide, leader pack, memory verses, and teaching pictures. Check LifeWay’s Web site at www.lifeway.com for more information and to download samples from the leader guide and learner guide.

One Day Training Conference Plan 1 2. Display at least one volume of Everything You Need to Know to Be a Teenager. 3. Choose sessions from curriculum to use for team activities. (See preparation step 1.) 4. Use three different colors of paper to make name tags. The name tags will provide a way to form teams. 5. Print two handouts: Are You Smarter Than a 5 th Grader? (Item 1) and Bible Skills for Preteens (Item 2). 6. Provide the Giant Game Floor Mat (Item 001114564, LifeWay Church Resources, www.lifeway.com). Prepare Characteristics Matching Game: . On five sheets of 9-by-12-inch construction paper, print: Physically. children are: Intellectually, children are: Emotionally, children are: Socially, children are: Spiritually, children are: . Insert the construction paper sheets in pockets across the top of the Giant Game Floor Mat. Display the mat on the wall or on the floor. . On index cards, print the following statements: Active learners—they utilize their senses and may appear restless. Children benefit from changing activities, balancing times of play and rest.

Becoming more coordinated—they are increasing proficiency in fine motor skills. Children benefit from activities that use gross motor skills such as games and fine motor skills such as crafts.

Developing at different rates—they do not have the same skills and abilities. Remarks and attitudes can help or hurt the self-image of a child.

Concrete thinkers—they think in terms of real-life experiences. Keep activities challenging and relevant to their lives.

Naturally curious and becoming independent thinkers—they enjoy learning through a variety of activities. Implement multiple learning styles in each session.

Creative in their ideas and plans—they enjoy group decision- making.

One Day Training Conference Plan 2 Form groups and let children discuss ideas presented in the Bible study.

Aware of the difference between right and wrong—they are sensitive to fairness and recognize honesty. Model appropriate ways to apply these concepts through your actions.

Becoming more aware of their peers and measure themselves against what others think—they crave genuine affirmation. Be specific in your praise and encouragement.

Able to understand rules and consequences—they need and desire appropriate guidelines for behavior. Be firm and loving as you address behaviors.

Seeking love and affirmation—they need you to love them for who they are. Recognize individual gifts and talents.

Anxious in large groups of unknown people—they express their feelings openly and are embarrassed easily. Be sensitive to their needs by valuing everyone’s suggestions and thoughts.

Growing more aware of their own strengths and weaknesses—give them opportunities to function at their emotional level. Allow them to make choices and do tasks independently.

Modeling the adult examples they see—they model the attitude, prayer, and worship of those around them. Model Christian attitudes and actions.

Acquiring biblical knowledge, skills, and principles—they relate their knowledge to daily life. Allow children to respond and participate actively in Bible study.

Increasingly capable of making commitments— they are learning to trust Christ and talk to God about their feelings. Listen to their questions, encourage them to read the Bible for answers and be a Christian mentor.

Tip: Copy the statements on this page, and then cut strips to glue on index cards.

7. Gather a prize sack and prizes for the sack.

One Day Training Conference Plan 3 8. Use a tear sheet or poster board and a felt-tip marker to make a scoreboard to record scores for the team activities during the conference.

During the Conference

Procedure Steps

1. As conferees arrive, greet them and ask them to find a chair, print their first name on the name tag, and begin working on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Item 1) handout.

2. After everyone has arrived, ask conferees to form three teams based on the color of their name tag.

3. Explain that conferees will work as teams during the conference time. Show the prize sack and state that the team with the highest score at the end of the conference will choose prizes from the sack. Call attention to the scoreboard. (See preparation step 8.)

4. Read the answers* for Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? (Item 1). Guide conferees to grade their own papers. Ask each group to give you the average of their individual scores. Record their score on the scoreboard. *(Answers are printed on page 5.)

5. Talk about the importance of fifth and sixth graders and their characteristics. Play the Characteristics Game. (See preparation step 6.) Ask each team member to look on the back of their chairs and find the index card. If there are empty chairs, gather the cards and distribute the cards equally between the teams. Invite the team with the lowest score to begin matching the index cards to the correct characteristic on the Giant Game Floor Mat and dropping their card in the pockets under the matching characteristic. Each team takes a turn, one team member at a time. The team only gets a point if they are correct. At the end, add points to the scoreboard for each team. Tip: The conference leader should prepare the correct answers.

6. Distribute Bible Skills for Preteens (Item 2) handout. Talk about the importance of Bible skills with preteens.

7. Call attention to each piece of curriculum displayed on the table and explain how the items are used in Sunday School. Give each team a copy of a session from the curriculum. Say: “You will plan a Sunday session as if your team will be teaching together.” Emphasize the importance of being prepared as a teacher. Allow teams about 15-20 minutes to plan the session. Provide suggested resources for the planning time. After the planning time, give each

One Day Training Conference Plan 4 team at least 10 minutes to tell about the session they prepared. Invite each team to tell what they liked about the curriculum and to suggest any ideas for improvement. State that each team has a possible 100 points for this assignment. (Scorekeeper: conference leader or the “listening teams”)

8. Tally the scoreboard for each team. (See preparation steps 7 and 8.) The team with the most points chooses from the prize sack. The second place team will choose next, followed by the third place team.

9. Pray at the close of the conference, thanking God for conferees. Thank God for opportunities to teach preteens and share His love each week.

Answers: Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader

1. orange 2. false 3. Canada 4. 4 5. The Mayflower 6. Andrew Johnson 7. True 8. 2 9. 50 10.Brazil

One Day Training Conference Plan 5 Are You Smarter Than …a 5th Grader?

1. What color do you get when you . Richard Nixon combine an equal amount of red . George W. Bush paint with an equal amount of . Andrew Johnson yellow paint? . Thomas Jefferson . blue . Abraham Lincoln . orange . green 7. True or false: The ostrich is the . red fastest bird on land. . black . True . pink . False

2. True or false: Polar bears eat 8. How many years in one term for a penguins. U.S. Representative? . True . 1 . False . 2 . 3 3. What nation has the longest border . 4 with the U.S.? . 5 . Alaska . 6 . Mexico . Canada 9. How many states in the United . South America States of America? . 50 4. How many sides does a trapezoid . 48 have? . 52 . 1 . 36 . 2 . 13 . 3 . 4 10. What is the largest South . 5 American country by area? . 6 . Brazil . Argentina 5. What was the name of the ship the . Chili pilgrims first took to the United . Peru States? . Ecuador . Santa Maria . None of the above . La Nina . El Nino . The Mayflower Item 1 . The Titanic

6. Who was the first president to be impeached? . Bill Clinton

One Day Training Conference Plan 6 Bible Skills for Preteens

Level 3 (Grades 5-6)

In addition to what third and fourth . Find the names of major Bible graders have learned, fifth and sixth people in the books where graders should be learning how to: those people’s stories are written such as: . Locate all the books of the —David (1 and 2 Samuel) Bible. —Abraham (Genesis) —Daniel (Daniel) . Know all the books of the —Paul (Acts) Bible in order. —Moses (Exodus) —Jesus (Matthew, Mark, . Read Bible references and be Luke, and John) able to locate the Scriptures. . Be able to locate from . Locate a Bible reference and memory, often used Bible find information asked for by passages and memory reading the passage or verses such as: verse. —The Lord’s Prayer or Model Prayer (Matthew 6; . Identify and find Bible books Luke 11) according to the contents of —The Ten Commandments the books. (Exodus 20) For example: —The Sermon on the Mount —A Bible book that tells (Matthew 5; Luke 6) about the early church and Paul’s missionary travels . Recognize the basic divisions (Acts) of the Old and New —A Bible book that tells Testament books and identify about David’s early life as a all Bible books they contain. shepherd (1 Samuel) (Law, History, Poetry, Major —A Bible book that tells Prophets, and Minor about the life of Abraham Prophets; Gospels, History, (Genesis) Paul’s Letters, General Letters, and Prophecy.

One Day Training Conference 8 Item 2

One Day Training Conference Plan 2