Preschool - Kindergarten

Creative Arts Festival 2005
PRESCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN
Lesson Plan Provided by the
Department of Christian Education

Theme: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Romans 12:2).

GOAL: To participate in the 2005 Creative Arts Festival

OBJECTIVE: To enhance understanding of Romans 12:2 in order to interpret this verse in art, prose, poetry, or photography.

TIME: 30 minutes

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Icon of Christ
Candle or votive in the icon corner
New Testament Bible - Romans 12:2
Icon of St. Paul (alternate picture 1, 2)
Chalkboard and chalk or large sheets of paper and markers
Drawing paper and crayons for each child

Note: In the lesson plan, suggested words for the teacher to speak are in italics. Read the lesson ahead of time so you may present it in your own words. Do not read to the students or you will lose their interest.

FOR THE CATECHIST:

Read The Orthodox Study Bible, Romans 12:1-2 and footnotes.

As catechist, you know your students. You can observe their behavior. You can see and hear their happiness and pain. You know their hearts. In deciding how to prepare them for the Creative Arts Festival, you can consider what they need in order to grow in their spiritual life.

As young—and wonder-filled—Christians, what do they need to be transformed, to be renewed? Must they learn to be less aggressive, to share, to show more respect to one another and to adults? Are they defiant and, therefore, disobedient? Or do their actions and words personify purity of heart? You might assess how much they are willing to pray. Do they know God’s love for them? Do they feel the sorrow of Christ’s suffering on the Cross? Or the joy and excitement of His Resurrection? As you discern what is needed for the children in your care, you have an opportunity to help them take one step farther in their Christian formation.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Tell students about entering the Creative Arts Festival, along with requirements and deadlines as needed.

2. Show an icon of St. Paul and tell students that the verse used in the Festival is from a letter St. Paul wrote t the people in Rome. Explain that St. Paul wrote the letter to teach the Romans how they should live as Christians. St. Paul wanted them to live the way that Jesus Christ wants us all to live. You might say, This is what St. Paul wrote and it is the verse we are using for this year’s Festival.

3. Read the verse from Romans 12:2. You might say Let’s talk now about what this verse means.

CONTENT:

1. Read the verse from Romans 12:2 again. Explain it slowly.

St. Paul is telling us: Don’t do bad things, even though other people around you do bad things, or you see bad things on TV or in your neighborhood. Instead, you need to do what God wants you to do because He loves you and wants you to be a good Christian. . . . Let’s talk about some bad things that people might do or say and then talk about the good things we should do instead.

2. How many of you can think of a bad thing to do? I don’t want you to tell me who does bad things, just tell me what a bad thing to do is.

3. Write the children’s responses on the chalkboard or large paper. Such responses might include the following: [Leave room on the right side of the paper to list the corresponding good action.]

  • Fighting
  • Hurting another person or animal
  • Taking someone’s toys and not sharing
  • Talking back to parents/teachers
  • Not obeying what parents say to do
    (“Lying” at this age may not really be purposeful since the child doesn’t always perceive a situation as adults do. It would be better to concentrate on the behavior of “telling the truth” instead of using the word lying.)

4. Contrast what your students know as “bad” behavior with what God would want us to do instead. You might say, Does God want us to fight? Then go through the responses on your list and ask the children to counter each with a positive behavior, such as showing good manners or doing what parents ask.

5. Now, let’s talk about making a mess. How many of you have made a mess of your clothes? Did they come clean again? How?

Think about your clothes after they came out of the washing machine. They were made new, or clean. We can say they were renewed.

When St. Paul asks us to renew our minds, he is asking us to clean out all the bad thoughts that lead to bad actions. He wants us to have only good thoughts. Now, there is no washing machine for our minds. So, what can we do to change the bad thoughts to good?

Here is one idea, and then I want you to help me with the list: “Say prayers at night.”

  • Say prayers at night, at meals
  • Receive Holy Communion in church
  • Show kindness to someone—ask for concrete examples
  • Say “I’m sorry” if we do something that hurts another person
  • Stand and listen to the Gospel reading in church
  • Kiss the icons and the cross
  • Help people when they need something such as food or someone to talk to
  • Thank God for the good things He gives us and be happy with what we have, not always wanting more
  • Listen politely to parents (Don’t talk back) and do what they say.

6. Even though we might make a mistake and do something bad, we can always go to God and say “I’m sorry” and try to do better. Emphasize that God loves us all the time, that we are Christians because we’ve been baptized, and that we want to be good Christians.

RESPONSE:

Option 1: If students are to do their projects for the Festival right after this lesson, you might arrange students at their workspace with art materials. Be ready to demonstrate what you are asking them to do.

Fold your paper in half and then open it again. Let’s look at our list of bad and good behaviors. I’d like you to choose one of these, and on one side of your paper draw the bad behavior and on the other side, the good behavior. I’ll show you what I mean. [Demonstrate.]

There might be that one student who wants to tell a story about bad and good behavior. Be ready to record the story for submission in the writing festival.

Option 2: If students will do their projects at another time, you might arrange them in a circle for role-playing, with your listing of bad and good behaviors visible.

Let’s have some fun with pretending. I’ll need someone to hold the icon of Jesus. [Choose one person, and ask them to stand with the back to the group.] We’ll act out one of the bad behaviors, and then our icon holder will turn to face the group. When we see the icon of Jesus, our actions will change, and we will act out the good behavior. [Decide if you will ask only a few children to participate, or whether the whole class will act together.] Let me show you what I mean. [Demonstrate.]

CLOSING:

Let’s listen to the words of the verse again. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” St. Paul is telling us to change our bad actions to good. What is one example of a bad action? What does St. Paul want us to do instead? What is one way we keep our mind renewed, or close to God?

Gather children around the icon and sing “Alleluia” or another hymn or prayer customary for your parish.