Menu of Learning Options and Related Model Unit Plans

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EARLY CHILDHOOD BAND Menu of 1 Learning Options Bible References LEVEL 1 God created all things God created the world Genesis 1:1—2:4 God made the soil Ezekiel 17:5 God made the water Genesis 2:10 God made the air Matthew 6:26 God made the sun Ecclesiastes 11:7 God made the moon and stars Genesis 1:14-19; Psalm 136:1, 7-9 God made plants and seeds Ecclesiastes 11:6 seeds Matthew 13:1-9 flowers Song of Solomon 2:12 trees Job 14:7 food in Eden Genesis 2:4b-17 God made living creatures Genesis 1:20-25 God made worms Luke 9:58 God made insects and butterflies Matthew 3:4 God made birds, forest animals, backyard animals, Genesis 6:5-22; pets, wild animals, sea animals, dinosaurs Daniel 6; Jonah 1 and 2 LEVEL 2 God takes care of creation God takes care of the earth Psalm 65:9 God gives living water Psalm 104:10-18 God fills the sky with clouds Psalm 147:8, 9 Sparrows are important Matthew 10:29 God feeds the birds Luke 12:24-28 God gives us food Genesis 3:1-24 Manna from heaven Exodus 16:1-21 Elijah and the ravens 1 Kings 17:1-16 Feeding the 5000 Luke 9:11-17

Early Childhood Band 23 Menu of Learning RCWY:Christian Studies Curriculum,GRACEWAYS: Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May Options Cycles in creation Summer and winter Genesis 8:22 The seasons Deuteronomy 11:13-15 The heavens keep telling… Psalm 19:1-6 The sun comes up Ecclesiastes 1:5-7 Weather—Noah Genesis 6:9—9:17 LEVEL 3 God wants people to take care of creation Responsibility to care for creation God gives people charge Genesis 1:26, 28; 2:15, 19-20; 9:2, 3 You let us rule Psalm 8:6-8 God has given the earth to us Psalm 115:16 Praise for creation Sing joyful songs to the Lord Psalm 95:1-7 Praise the Lord, he is good Psalm 136:1-9 Sing praise Psalm 146 Shout praises to the Lord Psalm 148 KEY B IBLE VERSES TO HEAR AND REMEMBER In the beginning God created the heavens Genesis 1:1 and the earth. All people and animals are under your care. Psalm 36:6 Let all things praise the name of the Lord Psalm 148:5 O give thanks to the Lord Psalm 107:1

Early Childhood Band 24 EARLY CHILDHOOD BAND INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES Design a unit that will work in your setting by selecting activities from this Menu of Learning Options and related Model Unit plans. 1 LEVEL 1: GOD CREATED ALL THINGS FICTION OR NONFICTION BOOKS Stimulate children’s interest in the world around them by using books which illustrate aspects of the natural environment, such as picture books. Then tell children that you know a story about a time when the world was even more wonderful than the pictures they see in books. WHAT DO YOU NEED? Introduce the story of creation with words like: “People need to use things when they want to make something. I know a story about someone who made something out of nothing.” DISPLAY NATURAL OBJECTS Set aside an area of the classroom and develop a display in any of the following ways: • Take the class for a “creation walk,” carefully observing and collecting objects as you go. (Help children identify those that should only be observed and those that could be collected.) • Invite each student to bring a special object to school, such as a feather, bird’s nest, stone, or shell. Use these as the basis for show and tell. You may make a class book of “creation collections” by having teachers record what children say about their object. The children may draw pictures to go along with their recorded story. • Develop a display around the five senses: Have scented leaves and herbs for smelling; bark, nuts, and stones for touching; shells and/or environmental music for listening; fruit and vegetables for tasting; brightly colored flowers for seeing. LEVEL 2: GOD TAKES CARE OF CREATION OBSERVE A LIVING OBJECT The teacher brings an item such as a plant, bird, or small animal to the classroom. Talk about the needs of living things and how care is provided, either through natural means or by people. OBSERVE THE WORLD OUTDOORS Take children outdoors to enjoy and absorb some elements of creation, such as the warmth of the sun, the smell of leaves, the sound of birds. WHAT’S FOR LUNCH? Use the children’s lunches as an example of the many things God gives. Point to God as the one who cares for us and gives us all we need. SHOW Show a video that introduces children to the wonders of creation, pointing out animals surviving in the wild and the unique features of plants, animals, or insects.

Early Childhood Band 25 Menu of Learning RCWY:Christian Studies Curriculum,GRACEWAYS: Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May Options LEVEL 3: GOD WANTS PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF CREATION A REFLECTION ACTIVITY Establish a reflective atmosphere by asking children to sit with eyes closed. Play music quietly in the background if you wish. Lead children to imagine that they are in a beautiful park, with trees, flowers, a river, animals, and so forth. Then ask children what they would need to do to take care of such a place. CONTRASTING PICTURES Show contrasting pictures of the natural environment: one well cared for and the other spoiled by pollution. Talk about what each picture looks like, what it would feel like to be in each place, what sounds and smells would be there. USE A PUPPET Introduce a puppet to lead the children through activities designed to develop an understanding of care for the environment, for instance, a very messy puppet or one that is very eager to care for environment. WALK AROUND THE SCHOOL Take children either to observe and collect the litter that is left lying around or to observe the efforts that have been made to keep the grounds clean, to recycle, make compost, and so forth. DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES LEVEL 1: GOD CREATED ALL THINGS THE CREATION STORY Choose from the following suggestions to tell the story of creation: • Illustrate the story on an old window blind or a long piece of paper. Unroll as you progressively tell the story. • Use a felt or magnet board and add illustrations of the story as you tell it. • Build up a three-dimensional scene in the sand tray as you tell the story. Cover everything with a black cloth to begin with, use a flashlight to illustrate the light, and add plastic animals and birds to the scene as you go. • Play environmental music softly in the background as you tell the story. • Show a video of the creation story. A BOOK COLLECTION Have a collection of children’s Bibles or Bible storybooks that tell the creation story. Use them for quiet reading in the classroom, and encourage children to take books of an appropriate level home to read. PICTURE CARDS Make cards on which you or the children write, draw, or paste pictures of things that God gives people. Use these for sorting in different ways, such as large, small, living, nonliving, and so forth, and then display them on the wall or stapled and hung on streamers. FACTS ABOUT CREATION Make a nonfiction book about things in creation. Include specific references to God as creator in the text, such as “Did you know God made animals that can change the way they look? A chameleon can …”

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Many of the OBJECTS FROM THE CREATION DISPLAY (See Introductory Activities.) suggestions are Investigate items from a display of natural objects. Choose from the following activities: directly related to 1 Science and • Sort into categories, such as living, nonliving; large, small, and so forth. Environmental • Use magnifying glasses to observe details. Studies. It is • Look for patterns in leaves, shells, flowers. important that • Develop a thank-you prayer or litany around the objects. Use this in class worship, for instance, “God made rocks that shine and sparkle. Thank you, the teacher helps God.” children make links EXPLORE THE CREATION STORY Choose from the following activities to between learning develop children’s understanding of the story: about creation • Make a class “sound scape” of the story. As you tell the story, the children and God the add appropriate sound effects with instruments or voices. Tape the story creator. You can and sound scape and make it available for children to listen to at home. do this in an • Children may work in groups and present the creation story in one of these incidental way by ways: the language you —Drama, dance, or mime use, such as —Use a picture book and present it as readers theater “God’s world is —Make masks or props to use as you tell the story so amazing.” As • Rewrite the text in simplified form, illustrate, and make it into a class book, appropriate, such as a big book, accordion-fold book, flip book, pop-up book, alphabet book. Share your book with another class, the whole school or parents. include prayers STUDY PICTURE BOOKS Have a collection of picture books about the story and songs of of creation. Study the illustrations to see how the artist has depicted the thanks and praise various aspects of creation. for the world LEVEL 2: GOD TAKES CARE OF CREATION God made. LIFE CYCLES Learn how God sustains creation. Study a cycle within nature, for instance, seeds, frogs, butterfly. USING NATURAL RESOURCES Choose a natural resource, such as water or plants, and investigate the many ways it is used in people’s lives. NATURAL RESOURCES IN CRAFT Invite a crafts person to speak to your children and show them how they use a natural resource in their craft of spinning, weaving, pottery, or other craft. GOD CARES FOR ANIMALS Show pictures of various animals. Children identify what God provides for each one, such as seeds or insects for birds, grass for cows. This could form the basis of a mural entitled “God cares.” GOD CARES FOR CREATION Read a simplified version of Psalm 104:10-23 to the children. Use this to begin talking about the many ways that God cares for creation. Children add their suggestions of other ways that God cares for creation. Record these in books, as paintings, or on a mural.

Early Childhood Band 27 Menu of Learning RCWY:Christian Studies Curriculum,GRACEWAYS: Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May Options LEVEL 3: GOD WANTS PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF CREATION WHY CARE FOR CREATION? Use the Bible References Menu to identify the role of people in caring for creation. As there is no specific story for this, you will need to construct your own dramatic or reflective story to help children understand that God created people to care for the world. Genesis 2:19-20, which relates how Adam named the animals, provides an ideal opportunity for story telling and identifying the unique position of human beings in the original creation. God wants people to take care of plants, animals, and other people. Ask the children, Who takes care of them? Who or what do they take care of? A CLASS PET Discuss with the children the possibility of having a class pet that they can care for. Involve children in deciding what type of pet they can manage and in discussing its needs and their responsibility for its care. A PUPPET PLAY Have children make their own puppets from recycled materials and use them to make up plays about showing care for the environment. Present these to an audience. DESIGN A SIGN Children make individual posters or large signs for the classroom or school grounds, reminding others to care for the environment. RESPONSE ACTIVITIES LEVEL 1: GOD CREATED ALL THINGS CREATION AND WORSHIP Make your worship center into a creation corner. Ask children for suggestions of what they could do, and involve them wherever possible. Depending on the age of your the children, they could: • paint a large backdrop. • make banners. • arrange objects for a visual display. • learn prayers or simple litanies for use in worship. • make a list of favorite songs with a creation theme. ENVIRONMENTAL MUSIC Play different types of environmental music; ecncourage the children to imagine parts of the natural world while they listen. Use this music as an opportunity for expression through movement or dance. What music sounds like a storm? What music sounds like a sunny, happy day? How can you show this with your body? CREATION CELEBRATION Plan a creation celebration as a culmination to the unit. Where possible involve children in the planning, keeping the focus on a celebration of God’s wonderful world. Include activities like nature treasure hunts, a picnic lunch, and games outside. If possible, invite caregivers to come and partake in the celebration.

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MURAL Make a mural or other display that summarizes and reviews what has been learned in the unit. Choose from the following options: • Choose a theme for the display, for instance, the colors of creation; 1 experiencing creation through the senses; using natural resources that God has given. • Paint a creation mural directly onto an old window blind, an outside wall, or lockers. • Make small “creation” sand trays in the lids of plastic containers and add leaves, stones, flowers, and so forth to make a creation scene. Alternatively, make the whole sand tray or sandpit into a “mini-world.” JOY OF CREATION Use pressed flowers or leaves to make cards, or make bunches of fresh flowers to give to others and to share with them the joy children find in the natural world. LEVEL 2: GOD TAKES CARE OF CREATION PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORD Take the children outside to look for evidence of the growth cycles, such as new buds, seeds setting, leaves drying. Take photographs of these and display them on the wall or in an album. Add an appropriate text and title, for instance, “God at work in our school grounds.” PRESENTATION Select songs, rhymes and children’s work, and involve the children in preparing a simple presentation using things they have done in the unit. Share this with an audience, in school worship, assembly, or for another class. LEVEL 3: GOD WANTS PEOPLE TO TAKE CARE OF CREATION SCHOOL GROUNDS Choose one part of the school ground that your the children will be responsible for. As a class, identify what must be done, for instance, planting, weeding, or keeping the grounds free of litter; who will do it; when it should be done. COMMUNITY PROJECT Find out about projects that community groups are undertaking and consider ways children can participate. Even young children can be involved in projects like growing or planting trees or cleaning up a community area. ACKNOWLEDGMENT Provide stickers, badges, or certificates for children or classes to acknowledge the work that they are doing in caring for the environment.

Early Childhood Band 29 Menu of Learning RCWY:Christian Studies Curriculum,GRACEWAYS: Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May Options ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES FIELD TRIPS Many zoos now have a butterfly garden where the children can observe many different types of butterflies and moths and let the insects alight on their arms or heads. Another possibility would be to raise butterflies from caterpillars in the classroom. The Painted Lady butterfly is easy to raise, inhabits all of the contiguous 48 states, and is readily available by mail order. SPECIAL UNITS A study of woodland animals, zoo animals, farm animals, pets, birds, insects, underwater animals, or animal habitats would be appropriate in combination with this unit. Each of these topics could take up to two weeks to examine closely. These units of study lend themselves to various times in the year and may be used when appropriate. This unit on God’s creation lends itself well to a study on food or Thanksgiving in November. Whenever you study creation, consider planning a unit on Thanksgiving as a response to learning about our beautiful world. A study of climates or weather would also be appropriate here. In addition to the story of creation, use the story of Noah. LET THE STORY UNFOLD Read a story from an illustrated children’s Bible or Bible storybook. If you have a felt board and felt objects available, you can use them to tell the story. Another technique would be to draw the story figures and cut them out, mounting them on paper. Then cover the entire scene with white paper. As you tell the story, use a crayon on its side to rub into view the objects from the story. This way of telling the story is time-consuming for the teacher initially, but children are impressed with the unfolding of the story. LEAF PRINTS Consider painting or printing with fall leaves. SPIDERWEBS Learn about spiders. Make webs from construction paper, glitter, and glue. Make spiders from painted egg carton cups and chenille stems. COLORS OF CREATION Make a giant rainbow for the class. Cut a large shape from newsprint and let each child help in coloring the bands with marker or scrunched tissue. DISCOVERING GOD’S CREATION Read some or all of the books in the Discover Book series from Augsburg Fortress (Come to the Mountain with Me, Come to the Ocean with Me, Come to the Desert with Me, and Come to the Island with Me, all by Mary Carpenter Reid). These books look at God’s creation through the eyes of two young children. RECYCLING WALK Take a recycling walk in the neighborhood of the school. Give each child a paper bag for picking up things that don’t belong in nature. Discuss which things can be recycled and which need to go in the trash. (Before beginning this exercise, go over some safety tips. Children should not pick up glass or sharp metal objects, but tell the teacher about them. As a precaution, have the children wear gloves.) Before leaving the area your group has cleaned up, ask the children how their work has changed things. How do the children think the animals and birds feel about the clean-up efforts? How does God feel? Take time to thank God for the beautiful world. Use some of the materials you scavenged on your recycling walk to create posters for the school proclaiming that everyone should do their part to pitch in.

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WORM FARM Worms like piles of loose leaves or debris along fences. If you have trouble finding worms on your school property, look in a flower garden or in leaves around a tree or in a hedge. Find two plastic jars with lids, each having a large mouth, with one able to fit inside the other. Punched several air holes in the 1 larger lid. Cover the smaller one tightly with the lid and place it inside the larger jar. Put some loose earth mixed with a little sand and even some decaying leaves in-between the two jars. Add an earthworm or two. Cover the larger jar with the lid. Cover the outside of the jar with black construction paper and set aside in a cool place for several hours. (Caution: Do not set the jar in the direct sunlight. The earth will heat up too much for the worms you are trying to observe.) After several hours, remove the black paper and observe the trails that the worms have made in the earth between the two jars. Be sure to return the earthworms to their original dwelling place after you have observed them for a short time. Talk about the need for taking care of earthworms because they are a part of God’s creation and serve to keep our soil aerated. Create a class experience story about a recycling walk or the earthworm farm. Have the children add their wisdom to the narrative. CLASSROOM ZOO Make animals out of sewing thread spools and cardboard or from playdough. Create a natural setting by painting grass and water on a large piece of mural paper. Then let the children add the animal figures they created. UNDERWATER MURAL Use crayon to draw and color underwater animals on sandpaper. Place the sandpaper pictures face-down on a mural and iron. The pictures will transfer onto the mural. Next, cover the entire mural with a blue tempera paint wash. Add three-dimensional fish, sharks, jellyfish, and seaweed. Sand can also be glued to the “sea bottom.” CARING FOR THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT Identify an area inside the school that needs to be maintained, such as the dress-up clothes area or book area. The children might see a need to make sure that all litter gets inside trash receptacles and not left on floors. They may wish to remind each other of the rules about keeping the bathrooms clean. Decide together what the class will do for a set period of time. When the children remember to do things to help on their own, thank them for taking care of creation and the environment. Let parents know about the project and how it’s going. Not only is the communication appreciated, but children enjoy knowing that they are doing a good job.

Early Childhood Band 31 Menu of Learning RCWY:Christian Studies Curriculum,GRACEWAYS: Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May Options Early Childhood Band 32 EARLY CHILDHOOD BAND Planning Pages 1

GRACEWAYS CONCEPT: GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE

YEAR:______DURATION OF UNIT: ______

DATE OF USE: ______FAITH STATEMENTS: 1 2 3 UNIT-SPECIFIC GOALS

LEVEL 1 LEVEL 2 LEVEL 3 GOD CREATED ALL GOD TAKES CARE OF GOD WANTS PEOPLE THINGS CREATION TO TAKE CARE OF Children learn that God Children learn that God CREATION has made everything in saw his creation as good Children learn that God their world. and provides for its care. wants everyone, including them, to help take care of creation.

You Will Need ______

UNIT NOTES ______

INTRODUCTORY ACTIVITIES ______

Early Childhood Band 34 EARLY CHILDHOOD BAND DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES ______1 ______

RESPONSE ACTIVITIES ______

Early Childhood Band 35 Graceways: Christian Studies Curriculum, Fortress,Augsburg ©2001 Publishers. use. for school be reproduced May INTEGRATING INTO OTHER CURRICULUM AREAS LANGUAGE: SOCIAL STUDIES: SCIENCE: HEALTH: THE ARTS: UNIT EVALUATION Which activities worked well in this unit? ______

Which resources were useful in the implementation of this unit? ______

How did I respond to the children’s: • needs? ______

• understandings? ______

• beliefs? ______

• skills and abilities? ______

What would I do differently if I were to teach this unit again? ______How will I use and build on knowledge, understandings, skills, attitudes, and values children have developed in this unit? ______

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