Paul’s Travels
Computer Workshop
Summary of Lesson Activities:
Uses the Life of Christ software.
Workshop-specific Goals
- Become familiar with Paul’s travels—the cities and the geography.
- Realize that Paul followed God’s leading as he visited the various cities and regions.
Preparation:
- Review Background notes. The Bible story is from Acts 11: 19-26; 13: 1-3
- Gather the materials.
- Refer to schedule and decide how you will make adjustments for the different ages.
- Each of the students has their own passport, which is kept in the teaching box for the summer. At the end of class, you or the guide should hand out the passports. The students will have the opportunity to write/draw on the passport page. There is also a space for you to put their passport stamp. Check the supply list for the proper stamp (the stamp applies to the lesson).
- Look at the passport page for your “city” for the background information and question of the day that the students will be getting (copy at end of lesson).
- Tape the map onto the wall and locate the city/region you are teaching about today so you are ready for the first part of the lesson. so you are ready for the first part of the lesson
- Familiarize yourself with the computer programs
- Load the computer programs onto the computers before class begins. Set them to the opening page. It may be beneficial for the teacher to have the program at the “Professor’s Office” when the children arrive, and then simply guide them to the beginning of the worksheet.
Materials List:
- Bibles (supplied in teaching box)
- Large map of Paul’s journeys (tape to the wall)
- Construction paper star to place on the map
- Tape
- Passport stamp of compass showing north
- Inkpad
- Pencils, markers, crayons
- Student passports (kept in teaching box for the summer)
- Computers
- Computer software: Life of Christ (Grades 1-5)
or Play and Learn Bible (for PreK) - out of print. - Worksheets (see end of lesson)
Lesson Plan
Opening:
Make sure you have your nametag on. Introduce yourself to the students.
Open with a prayer .
We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please start the class by having everyone make the sign of the cross and say: “We make our beginning in the name of God the Father—and God the Son—and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dig:
Introduction & Bible Story:
Please make sure that the students hear and “get” the Bible story as well as the application of that story to their lives. The Bible story is the MOST important part of the lesson—it is much more important than the activity associated with this station!
Say: This summer for Sunday School we are going on a Mediterranean cruise with the Apostle Paul. Every week we will visit a different port and learn something about Paul’s life or his teachings. This week we are visiting Antioch. Locate this city/region on the large map and put the construction paper star with the appropriate name on the map. After the first week, you could ask the students some of the other places that they have “visited” and what they did and learned.
The city of Antioch was supportive of the early church. In fact, believers were first called Christians there. Antioch was the starting point for several of Paul’s missionary journeys. We’ll ready more about it in the book of Acts. Have the students open their Bibles to Acts. Have them read the following passages: Acts 11: 19-26; 13: 1-3.
In Antioch, the good news about Jesus was preached both to the Jews and the Gentiles. This was a busy city with many people. Even though the believers had different races and cultures and languages, they did have one thing in common: belief in Christ. And they wanted to share this good news, which they did by sending Paul off on his missionary journeys. Once Paul left Antioch, he followed God’s leading on which cities and areas to visit. We will be using a computer program today to learn about some of the places that God directed Paul to visit.
Activities:
Divide the children into groups for each computer station. Each child needs to have an opportunity to be at the keyboard. Give each child the appropriate worksheet and a pencil. Each child should have their own worksheet to fill out even if they are sharing a computer. You may want to pair younger students with a helpful older student.
For the PreK class (uses Play and Learn Children's Bible software):
Load the computers with the disc “The Play and Learn Children’s Bible” for younger students. Let one of the children click the controller to advance the screens when you give the word. They will NOT have a worksheet.
- Click on “Bible Stories” and then “God’s Son”.
- Play “Saul Becomes Jesus’ Friend.”
- Then play “Singing in Jail.”
- If there is still time, you could repeat one of the stories or go to the Game Room. Select any of the games. None of them have anything directly to do with the lesson, but they could all be fun. Let the children choose which they would like to do. Take turns.
Some suggestions on working in this program: You should select the option that has the computer read the story to them. After the page is finished, the children can move the mouse around—when the arrow changes to a movie camera they should click to see some animation. Then they should click on the blue book at the bottom of the screen, which will then get a red border. When they move the mouse around now, they will see the arrow change to a question mark. They can click for more information. Once they are done with the page, they can click on the arrow key to move to the next page.
For Older classes (uses Life of Christ software):
- Load the computers with the disc “The Life of Christ” (See Advance Prep).
- The worksheet will give them instructions for navigating the program
Go over the answers on the worksheet with the students.
Reflection:
Pass out the passports to the students. Have each student write their name on the cover. Read the key point and the question for the day. Give them a few moments to write/draw in their passport. While they are doing this, go around and stamp in to each passport.
Closing Prayer:
We would like to have a consistent opening and closing to each class, especially since the teacher and station changes each week. Please end the class with this benediction from Numbers 6: 24-26 (CEV). Make the sign of the cross and say:
I pray that the LORD will bless and protect you, and that He will show you mercy and kindness. May the LORD be good to you and give you peace. Amen.
Age Adaptations
1. Older students:
2. Younger students: There will be 2 copies of the “Play & Learn Bible” along with the 4 copies of the “Life in Christ” computer programs. Start the younger students out with the worksheet, but you have the option of letting them go through the “Play and Learn” program if desired.
3. PreSchool students: When telling the story, mention a little bit about Antioch (since that is the port for the day). Tell the students you will be learning about Paul in 2 stories on the computer. One story happens before he went on his missionary journeys. The second story is from one of his missionary journeys—when he was in Philippi.
“Life in Christ” Worksheet
For this part of class, we are going to learn about the routes of Paul’s 3 missionary journeys and his trip to Rome. Watch for these cities and areas, as we will be studying them later this summer: Paphos, Pisidian Antioch, Lystra, Galatia, Corinth, Macedonia, Ephesus, Jerusalem, Malta, Rome.
Click on the globe by the window. Under “Expansion of the Church”, click on “Paul’s First Journey” and go through those slides and answer these questions:
1. Paul & Barnabas met a Jewish sorcerer on the island of _____________________.
2. Paul healed a lame man and then was stoned in the city of ____________________.
Click “Back” and then choose “Paul’s Second Journey”
3. Who did Paul travel with on this journey—Barnabas or Silas?
4. Paul worked with the tentmakers Priscilla & Aquila in the town of _________________.
Click “Back” and then choose “Paul’s Third Journey”
5. Paul stayed in Ephesus for __________ years.
6. Paul’s friends begged him not to go to _____________________.
Click “Back” and then choose “Paul’s Journey to Rome”
7. Paul was ______________ and brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.
8. Their ship was caught in a storm and then ran aground on the island of ____________.
Click “Back” and select “Modern Borders”.
9. Asia Minor (which included Galatia and other places Paul visited) is now the country of
__________________.
Click “Back” and then “Back” again to return to the office. Click on the Books on the Bookshelf.
For this part of the lesson, we will be learning more about the cities Paul visited, as well as some of the people he met. You will be going through both the “Bible Timeline” Book and the “Bible Words” Book so you can get information to complete the matching terms.
TURN PAGE OVER TO OTHER SIDE.
Click on the “Bible Timeline” book. Click on “Paul’s First Journey” and listen. Then you can click on various words to get more information. Click “Back”. Then choose “Paul’s Second Journey” and then “Paul’s Third Journey”. Fill out as many of the matching terms as you can.
If you still have terms to find out about, then click “Back” to return to the Books on the shelf. Click on “Bible Words”. Look for the words you might need and click on them.
Matching Terms—Places Paul Visited
_____10. Cyprus A. Capital city of Achaia (Greece)
_____11. Lystra B. Had a pagan temple to the Roman goddess Diana
_____12. Antioch C. Home to Timothy
_____13. Galatia D. Island off the coast of Syria
_____14. Philippi E. First Gentile Christian church was founded here
_____15. Corinth F. Capital of the Roman Empire
_____16. Ephesus G. City in Macedonia
_____17. Damascus H. Province (not city) in central Asia Minor
_____18. Rome I. Paul had a conversion experience on his way to this city
and then had to escape over the city walls in a basket
Matching Terms—People Paul Met
_____19. Barnabas A. Anyone who is not Jewish
_____20. Felix B. With Paul in the prison in Philippi
_____21. Gentiles C. Jew from Cyprus who was with Paul on some journeys
_____22. Lydia D. Came to know Christ through Paul and later became a
fellow worker with Paul
_____23. Silas E. Paul appeared before this Governor of Judea
_____24. Timothy F. Believer in Philippi whose home was a meeting place
for fellow believers.
“Life in Christ” Worksheet—Answer Sheet
1. Cyprus
2. Lystra
3. Silas
4. Corinth
5. Three
6. Jerusalem
7. Arrested
8. Malta
9. Turkey
10. D
11. C
12. E
13. H
14. G
15. A
16. B
17. I
18. F
19. C
20. E
21. A
22. F
23. B
24. D
A lesson plan by Cathy Walz from: St. John Lutheran Church
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