Memorization Without Tears

Transcription

1 Memorization Without Tears Why Memorize? The Word of God is close to the very centre of our relationship with Him. Learning memory verses embeds His scriptures in our hearts. Bible verses will speak of His love, wisdom, peace, encouragement, comfort and guidance throughout our whole lives. The Bible passages and verses that we memorize add to the voice of the Holy Spirit, as He can more easily bring those verses to our minds when He knows we need them. Helping our children to learn key verses and passages of scripture is a vital part of their spiritual nurture and discipling process. Today s children are often taught in multi-sensory ways, and many of us learn best by doing something, rather than by hearing or seeing words. It is important to help children to understand the meaning of the verses and how they apply to their lives today. Things to Remember About Remembering Read the verse to be learned, reflect on it for yourself until you understand the verse in a richer and deeper way. Pray, asking God how you can help the children to experience this verse for themselves. Choose verses that are relevant to the ages and needs of the children in your family or group. Think about the verse from a child s perspective. Some verses are confusing or disturbing for children who are still at the level of concrete thinking, such as verses that describe death as a sleep. Adapt activity ideas to your own context. Choose an activity that has a link to the verse, if possible, so that the way the verse is learned is connected with the meaning of the verse being learned. Make sure you understand the instructions, and check that the activity works smoothly in your context, before trying to teach the children, as complications, interruptions, or things that don t work well, are very distracting for the memorizing process and disheartening for you and the children. Make a sample of any finished products so that the children can see what they are aiming to achieve. Where appropriate, have clear copies of the verse available for the children, so that they can refer to them during the activity. Emphasize enjoyment and creativity when using the memorization activities, rather than competition and perfection. Karen Holford 1

2 Use the ideas in this hand-out to spark your own variations, and you will soon have many ideas at your fingertips! How We Learn Learning modalities verbal 20% Visual 40% doer/active learners 40% Loving God with Heart and Soul and Mind and Strength could be through some of the following ways: Heart - love and happiness, Soul - spiritual sense of wonder, Mind - stimulating thinking and creative responses Strength - involving bodily movement and sensation We can make use of these God-given abilities to help children experience God s word and commit verses to memory. Some Simple Ideas to Try Feet Create a marching rhythm for the verse and march together, leading the children and repeating the march till the children have all learned the verse Come, follow me, said Jesus, and I will make you fishers of men. Mark 1:17 Hands Whatever your hands find to do, do it with all your might. Ecclesiastes 9:10. create a clapping rhythm for the words, starting gently and building up to a powerful clap at the end. Growing Start by being crouched down and growing up bit by bit as the verse is said. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and Man. Luke 2:40 Ears James 1:19 Everyone should be quick to listen (said quickly, holding ears and running on the spot), slow to speak (said very slowly with slow plodding steps), and slow to become angry (said slowly with slow steps and ending with a surprise roar!) Be still Have children move around the room and then freeze their actions when you say Be still! Ask them to repeat the words Be still (said in a normal voice) and know that I am God (said in a whisper) and then let them sit down in stillness and quietness for a few moments, thinking about God. When the quiet time is over say Psalm 46:1, loudly, together. Karen Holford 2

3 Mind Philippians 4:8 make paper/foam crowns with one of the descriptions (lovely, pure, good report, etc.) written on each crown. Crown some children with the words and help them to stand in the correct order to prompt the children saying the verse. Heart Make a paper craft heart pocket, in whatever way you like, and hide the following verse inside: Your word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11. You could also fill it with texts about love. Adapt regular games to help you teach Bible verses. You may choose to play the game in a co-operative way, so that the children work together and there are no winners pass the parcel with a word hidden in each layer, hide the words of the verse around the room for the children to find and assemble, play verse hangman, etc. 1. Everlasting verse Needs: flip chart paper that can be cut into long strips about 3 wide; adhesive tape; markers; Bibles. Choose a verse about eternity, such as I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6. Write the chosen verse along the top half of a long strip of paper. Make sure that all the words are well above the central line of the strip (have the children fold the strip in half lengthways if they have a problem keeping their words high up on the strip.) Lay the strip out flat, with the words facing up and at the top of the strip. Write an A at the top left corner of the strip, a B at the right top corner, a C at the bottom left corner and a D at the bottom right corner. Pick up the two ends of the strip and bring them together to make a circle. But before sticking the circle together, make a half twist in one of the ends of the paper, so that A has the D behind it and C has the B behind it. Stick the two ends of the strip together firmly with adhesive tape all around the overlap. (This is called making a mobius strip. If you get stuck visit Take a pair of scissors and cut a line along the middle fold of the strip, all the way around, parallel to the long edge of the strip. When you have finished cutting you will end up with a shape that you didn t expect! But the shape can help to illustrate that eternity goes on forever. Have them run their finger along the shape and see what happens. Karen Holford 3

4 2. Paper flower verse Needs: sheets of coloured construction paper; a simple petal template cut out of card one per child; a circular template to create the center of the flower one per child; scissors; marker pens and stick adhesive. Use one coloured piece of paper for the background of the flower. Using the template cut out one petal for each word of the verse to be learned. Write the words of the verse towards the tips of the petals, avoiding the end of the petal that will be near the centre of the flower. Arrange the petals in word order to make a circular flower shape, with the petals radiating out from the central point. Stick them down so that the edges of the petals are left free and curl them gently. Cut a circle to fit in the centre of the flower and stick it down over the central edges of the petals. Write the Bible reference on this central shape. Add a narrow green paper stem and leaves. (This could be a Mother s Day gift.) 3. Newspaper verse Needs: newspapers; scissors; sheets of copy paper (may be colored); glue sticks; Bibles. Find the verse in the Bible. Search through the newspapers on this table to find the words you need to create the Bible verse on your card, and cut them out using the scissors. If you can t find the exact words, cut out individual letters to spell out the words. Once you have found all the words you need, arrange your cut out words to make the memory verse and stick them onto a piece of paper. You could also illustrate your text with pictures from the newspapers. 4. Miming a Bible verse Needs: Bibles. Find the Bible verse we are learning. Work with a friend to think of some actions to create a mime that illustrates the Bible verse. Show your actions to the rest of the group and see how different they are, or are not! (Perhaps your class could develop a mime that could be presented in church as an alternative Scripture reading.) Karen Holford 4

5 5. Create a postcard Needs: blank postcards; crayons; markers; craft glue; collage items; Bibles. Find the Bible verse you are learning. Take a blank postcard and write your Bible verse on the blank side of the card. Decorate the postcard to illustrate the Bible verse. Use anything on this table. Think of someone who might like to receive this card. Write them a short note. When the glue is dry, place the card in an envelope and address it to the person you want to send it to. Ask your parents or teacher to help you mail the card. 6. Fishing for words Needs: One magnetic fishing game per group of two to three children with enough fish for each word of the Bible verse make more fish if you need to; wipe-clean marker pens, so the fish can be wiped clean and a new verse added another time; Bibles. Set up the tanks with the word-fish inside them and give the children the following instructions: Use the magnetic fishing rod and fish for words in the tank. Catch the words in the right order to create the Bible verse you are making. If you catch a word out of order, or a wordless fish, throw it back. Lay the words out in the right order. When you have caught all the words, and the Bible reference, throw them back into the tank and try it again until you can all say the Bible verse without looking at the fish. 7. Cartoon verse Needs: white paper; pencils; erasers; crayons. Look through the Book of Proverbs and choose your favourite Proverb. Think how you could illustrate this verse with a simple cartoon - either as a single picture, a pair of contrasting pictures or a series of pictures. It s ok to use stick men to illustrate your cartoon - your ideas are more important than your artwork! What new thoughts have you had about this proverb whilst making the cartoon? (The cartoons could be collected and displayed, used to illustrate the church bulletin, or copied into a simple booklet to be sold for funds.) Karen Holford 5

6 8. Stepping stones Needs: sheets of grey craft foam cut into stepping stone shapes; permanent, thick marker pen; scissors. Choose a verse that is suited to the theme of stepping-stones, rocks or pathways and write it out, a word or two at a time, on the grey foam shapes. Make a pathway of foam stones for the children to walk along. Make sure the children don t slip by placing the foam shapes on a carpeted floor, or securing them safely to a shiny floor. Look around and you will see some flat foam stone shapes. On each stone is a word from a Bible verse. Step from one stone to the next, in order, reading the words out loud as you go. Walk along the pathway of stones a couple of times until you have memorized the verse. 9. Washing line verse Needs: a small basket for the laundry ; craft foam of different colours cut into simple clothing shapes; a permanent marker pen; a basket of laundry pegs suitable for children to use; a cord or string washing line hung securely at a height children can reach. Choose a verse that is about being washed clean. Write each word on a different foam clothing shape. Pile them randomly in a small laundry basket. Invite the children to work together to peg the clothes on the line in the right order to make the Bible verse. Read the verse aloud together. Shuffle the clothes and repeat the activity to help reinforce the verse. (Children can make their own mini versions to take home to help them remember the verse. Paper or card can be used instead of the craft foam.) 10. Alphabetti letters Needs: a bag of alphabet pasta, or alphabet beads, poured into separate bowls; Bibles. Let the children work on their own, or in small groups and give the children the following instructions: Find the Bible verse in the Bible. Search through the bowls of alphabet pasta to find the letters you need to spell the words that make up the Bible verse. Lay out the letters on a sheet of card so that they spell out the Bible text. If some letters are missing from the alphabet pasta replace them with a letter of a similar shape. Karen Holford 6

7 Once you have found all the letters for the verse, come and recite the verse you have learned. (Photographs of the verses can be taken, or the alphabet beads can be laced together as a permanent reminder of the verse. The pasta can also be stuck onto poster board to make a plaque of the verse, which can be decorated with other pasta shapes and sprayed gold or silver, etc.) 11. Other memory verse ideas: Make a verse with the word bear in it and stick it onto a tiny child-safe bear. Use a soft toy that will record your messages and replay them. Record the memory verse for the week and have the children come up close, one at a time, and listen to the toy speak the memory verse. Thread the initial letters of each word in a memory verse onto wire or thread to use as a memory-prompting device that can be attached to a bag or key ring. ( For God so loved the world would become fgsltw.) Make a mini jigsaw of the verse - buy pre-cut jigsaws in good craft stores and let the children write the verse on the jigsaw, decorate the jigsaw and break it into pieces. Then let them re-assemble the verse. Make a mini-book of the Bible verse. Search the Internet for mini-book craft ideas. Workshop activity He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 Pair up with a person near you and list some of the different ways you could teach this memory verse to a Primary class. How many ideas can you come up with? Karen Holford 7