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 7:11-8:5 (This is the section of the story that describes the rain and the flood, the end of the rain and the boat coming to rest on the mountain.)
Memory Verse/Key Verse: Genesis 7:15-16, “Noah took a male and a female of every living creature with him, just as God had told him to do. And when they were all in the boat, God closed the door.”
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 act out this portion of the scripture using whole body movement, music and the spoken word. The children will not act out a specific script, but will instead interpret the story using creative movement and other dramatic methods.
Procedure:
1. Welcome the kids. Make sure that you know everyone’s name and greet each child individually.
2. Start the lesson with prayer. You might ask someone in the class to pray or you can have a prayer that all can read together. You might also choose to pray yourself. In the prayer (if you write a prayer to read together or pray yourself), thank God for all the amazing things that God does and thank God for being with us and help us to obey God in our daily lives.
3. Briefly review the Noah story from the Bible focus on the section that will be the focus for your workshop. This would be a good time to have the kids use their Bibles to help locate the story. You might ask questions about the Bible and the story Is the story found in the Old or New Testament? What book of the Bible is the story of Noah in? Did this story take place in time before or after the birth of Jesus? Etc.
Use either the New Revised Standard Version or the Contemporary English Version in Bible reading. For the younger kids (1st and 2nd), have the kids follow along, but you should probably do the reading. You can ask for volunteers to read for those who would like to read.
4. Drama Guidelines. Spend a few minutes going over some “guidelines” concerning classroom expectations. This should not be too much like “school”, but will provide the children some pointers to help make their experience positive and fun for all.
5. Do some group warm-up exercises. These are important to help with the transition from self into our imagination/other people. The will also help some children overcome self-consciousness and encourage teamwork. For this workshop, you might want to explore emotions (How did Noah look when God told him to build a boat? How did the other people in the land around Noah act when they saw what Noah was doing?), movement (How would Noah get everyone onto the Ark? How would it look when the rain started falling and the water level kept rising? When the Ark came to rest on the mountaintop?), and characters (have kids freeze as statues of various characters in the story, including animals).
6. Movement. Give each of the children a long-flowing, lightweight scarf. Play music for the children either dance music, meditative music, music to move to. Narrate the story. The children should act out the emotions of the story by waving a twirling their scarf. No talking! They will need to spread out. The scarves move fast and frantic during the rains, they move slowly when Noah and his family wait for the waters to recede, gently when Noah gives and offering. How do the scarves move to show the dove flying around? Kids love to work with scarves boys and girls.
7. Tidy-up! At 10:30 you should begin to clean up and discuss your experience. This might include a discussion of the story, debriefing, or simply the kids’ reactions to the creative experience/process.
Reflection Time:
The kids should complete their journals. The shepherds will pass out the journals. The younger kids can draw a picture or copy a few words with teacher/shepherd help that they want to use to describe their experience at the workshop. Older kids can write about their feelings, what part of the workshop they liked, or copy the key/memory verse. You might also ask them to reflect on the concept that God communicated with Noah how does God communicate with you?
Closing:
Prayer Gather the class in a circle or have them get in an attitude of prayer and close with a prayer. The prayer should be simple and a time to thank God for the many gifts God has given us that we might praise God. A song or liturgical “free” dance to a song that speaks to the concepts of the lesson would also be a great way to close this workshop.
Tidy and Dismissal Ask the children for help with any clean-up needed. The Shepherd should collect name-tags and journals.
Teacher preparation in
advance:
1. Prepare an opening prayer in case nobody volunteers to pray.
2. Decide what sort of creative experience you want to lead the kids through that will enhance their understanding of the story of Noah, especially focusing on the selected scripture passages and highlighted concepts.
3. Gather any props/costumes that you will need, as well as music, instruments, etc. for the drama experience.
4. Prepare some questions or debriefing discussion questions to use after the drama experience.
5. Decide how you want to close the lesson. Prepare a prayer, song, or other appropriate “prayer like” idea.
Materials:
Bibles
Props, costumes, scarves
References:
“Drama and Puppet Workshop Teacher’s Manual”, Amy Crane, arcane@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us, 1998. Permission granted to freely distribute and use for non-commercial purposes provided the copyright message and web site address are included.