FAITH QUEST
This lesson plan is copyrighted and belongs to the Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian,
Cary North Carolina.
It may be used for non-profit uses only.
NOAH AND THE FLOOD
The
story of Noah and the Ark covers four chapters of Genesis (6-9). This is too much to “read” or have the kids
read, so particular parts of the story will be highlighted in various
workshops.
Scripture: Genesis
6:5-8:22
Memory
Verse/Key Verse: Psalm 124:8, “Our help is in
the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Concepts: God communicates with
people.
Noah
obeyed God.
Noah was
a good man.
God is
amazing.
God
makes and keeps promises.
Objectives:
The
class will become familiar with the Noah story and learn the sequence of
events.
Procedure:
1.
Welcome and Introductions Introduce yourself to the
children and tell them they’ll be working together on a puzzle to learn the
details of the Noah story. Open with a brief prayer, thanking God for the day
and asking for help in understanding the story.
2. Scripture/Bible Story Review the story
with the class, using the summary below as a guide and letting the kids help
you tell the story. (This will help you to know how much they already know. Be
sure to mention all the boldfaced words.) Have the third-fifth graders find
Genesis 6-8 in their Bibles first. (If necessary, review: The Bible is divided
into books, chapters and verses. The Noah story is an ancient story, one of the
oldest stories in the Bible, and is in first book, Genesis, which means
“beginning.” Once they find Genesis, show them the large chapter numbers
chapter is also at top of page and small verse numbers.)
Noah
was a good man who obeyed God. God told Noah to build an ark, and Noah did as
God commanded. Noah with his wife;
his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth;
and his sons' wives went into the
ark. They took with them two of every animal on earth, a male and female of
each.
It
rained for 40 days and nights. The waters rose and covered the earth. Only Noah
and those people and animals that were with him on the Ark survived the flood.
After
the rain stopped it took 150 days for the waters to go down enough for the ark
to come to rest on Mount Ararat. Noah opened the window of the ark and sent out
a raven, and it just flew back and
forth over the water. Then Noah sent out a dove, but the dove found no place to stand, and it returned to the ark. Noah
waited seven days, and again sent out the dove; and the dove came back to him
with an olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had gone down. Then he waited
another seven days, and sent out the dove; and it did not return.
When
the waters were dried up, God told Noah to leave the ark, along with with the people and animals with him, so
they could live on the earth, have babies and fill the earth again with people
and animals.
God
made a covenant (promise) with Noah
and his descendants: that never again would God cover the earth with a flood.
As a sign of this covenant, God said, “I
have set my bow in the clouds.” (God was putting down his weapon bow—and
would not use it again. Point out that the rainbow is shaped like a bow that
shoots arrows. We see this rainbow after it rains, and we are reminded of God's
love for us as well. · God makes a covenant with us; and we are to keep our
part of the covenant to love and obey God.)
3.
Application Give each student several
of the picture cutouts from “Noah’s Ark Illustrated,” in no set order. Have the
whole group work together to assemble the pictures in sequence. Talk them
through it as they work to place them ("Which is the raven and which is
the dove? Which comes first?” "Why would Noah and his wife be so happy
when the dove brought back an olive branch?" "What's happening in
this picture?")
(Use
the book yourself as a guide to getting the pictures in order. For some of the
pictures, their place in the story is not immediately obvious. )
Once
the pictures are assembled (it'll take up a good amount of space), string them
on the clothesline or tape to edge of tables and have the kids imagine some
captions for them.
Note:
Some of the pictures might be disturbing to the children. They show animals
standing and watching the ark as the water rises over their heads. We could
omit these pictures, although animals do drown in the story. The book doesn’t
depict people drowning.
4.
Wrap-up Recite the Bible memory
verse Psalm124:8 Ask questions to
stimulate ideas for reflection.
Reflection Time:
The shepherds will pass out the journals. Ask the first and second graders to draw a picture of something in the story. Give the third, fourth and fifth graders the option of drawing a picture or writing. If they don’t know what to write, suggest that they write, “I have set my bow in the clouds,” and then writing any thoughts they have about that verse.Help children who have difficulty articulating their ideas or writing them down.
Closing:
Prayer Close with prayer,
thanking God for his promise to us and the rainbow that reminds us of his love.
Ask for help in knowing what God wants us to do and in obeying God.
Tidy and Dismissal Ask the children for help with any clean-up needed. The Shepherd should collect name-tags and journals.
Extra Activities: If
time remains, use these activities:
Grades 1-3 -- Objectives: To learn the
characters in the Noah story.
Tape
a nametag to each child’s back without the child seeing it. The object of the
game is to go around and have each person try to guess who they are. They can
only ask "yes-no" questions of each other.
Grades 4-5 -- Objectives: To practice
using Bibles and read parts of the story from the Bible.
Hand
out the worksheets. Explain that they must search in their Bibles to find how
that number relates to the Noah story, then write the answer and cite the
verse. They can work separately or with a partner. If they have trouble, give
hints (“Look in chapter 6”). As a last resort, let them answer the questions
they know without finding the Bible reference. Give Skittles or some other
small prize when they finish. If there’s not time for this activity, you might
give it to them to take home with the offer of a prize to those who bring it
back completed. In that case, shepherds would have to collect finished
worksheets and give out prizes.
Here
are the answers:
3 (sons) Gen. 6:10
300 ... (cubits, length of boat,
about 450 feet) Gen. 6: 15
50...... (cubits, width of boat, about 75 feet) Gen.
6:15
30....... (cubits, height of boat,
about 45 feet) Gen. 6:15
2 ...... (of each kind of animal) Gen. 6:19 and elsewhere
40... (days and nights it
rained) Gen. 7: 4 or 7:12 or 7:17, possibly elsewhere
7 ...... (days until rain
starts, Gen. 7: 4 *** days before sending the dove out again, Gen.8:10 and 8:12
***or 7 pairs of animals to sacrifice, Gen. 7:2)
600 ...... (age of Noah when the
flood began) Gen. 7:11
150.... ..(days the water covered
the earth, Gen. 7: 24 **** number of days later water began to go down, Gen. 8:
3)
601.... ..(age of Noah when he when
he left the ark following the flood) Gen. 8:13
8........ (people saved on the Ark)
Gen. 6:18 or 7:13, but number is not stated. They have to figure it out.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
Use
the book “Noah's Ark Illustrated” by Peter Spier (Dell Books, ISBN
0-440-40693-5, $6.99) This book (in the Kirk library) has pictures of the Noah
story, without words. Make copies of the pages and cut into individual
sections. Make two sets of pictures in case you need to divide into two groups.
Bring
a couple of tables into the room for laying out the pictures. (No chairs
needed) Lay them out beforehand to see how much table space you’ll need. Figure
out a way to display the pictures once they’re put into order. You might string
clotheslines between chairs and hang the pictures on the lines with clothespins.
Or tape them to the edge of the tables so the kids can see them while sitting
on the floor.
Preparation
for extra activity, Grades 1-3 -- Before the session, create small name-tags by
writing the following names on index cards: Noah, Mrs. Noah, Shem, Mrs. Shem,
Ham, Mrs. Ham, Japheth, Mrs. Japheth, raven, dove, animals (make up enough
animals so every child gets a nametag). Make two sets of nametags so if the
group is large, you can divide them into two groups for the game.
Preparation
for extra activity, Grades 4-5 Make enough copies of the worksheet to have
one per child. Have extra Bibles on hand for those who don’t bring their own.
Materials:
Photocopy
of picture from “Noah's Ark Illustrated”
Bibles
Clothesline
and Clothespins
Name-tags
References:
“Noah's Ark Illustrated” by Peter Spier (Dell Books, ISBN 0-440-40693-5, $6.99)
Noah Numbers
Find Genesis, chapters 6-8 in your Bible. Tell how
each number relates to the story of Noah, and where you found the answer in
your Bible. The first one is done for you.
|
Number |
How does it fit into story? |
Bible
verse |
|
3 |
sons of Noah |
Gen. 6:10 |
|
300 |
|
|
|
50 |
|
|
|
30 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
40 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
|
|
600 |
|
|
|
150 |
|
|
|
601 |
|
|
|
|
BONUS:(You
have to figure this one out!) |
|
|
8 |
|
|