Reply to "VIDEO, A-V Workshop: Videos, Lessons and Ideas for teaching the Story of Joseph"

Joseph in Egypt

Movie Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

The children will watch the VeggieTales video, "The Ballad of Little Joe" and will consider how to turn to God in the hard times.

Scripture Reference: Genesis 40:1 - 47:12

Memory Verse: Romans 8:28

Additional objectives for the Movie Workshop
At the end of the session, the students will

see that while God made things work together for good for Joseph, it took quite a few years.
see how God chooses a person to be the instrument of redemption for His people and how He used that person’s own special gifts and talents.

Bible Background is found here.

Preparation and Materials:

Read the scripture passages and lesson plan.
Preview the video. Be familiar with the places where the video should be stopped for discussion.
Video: The Ballad of Little Joe. Big Idea Productions (VeggieTales), 2003. (35 minutes long)
Globe or world map
Popcorn; lemonade or water and cups; hand wipes
Whiteboard or flipchart and appropriate markers
Memento (optional): just for fun — something Western or Veggie Tales stickers
Extra time material: Learn the memory verse and learn the sign language to go with it (see end of this lesson).

Lesson Plan

Opening

Greet the children and explain what they will be learning today.

“Today we are going to have some fun seeing the rest of the story of Joseph and his brothers. What do you remember about Joseph from our last rotation?” [Prompt if necessary to review the story of Jacob’s 12 sons, the jealousy over the coat, Joseph being thrown into a pit and sold to slave traders, and Joseph ending up in jail after the incident with Potiphar’s wife.]

Scripture/Bible Story

Read a portion of the scripture: “This rotation’s story is too long to read the whole story, so we will read this section and then see the whole story in the video. (Remember, we left Joseph in jail last rotation, which is where this Bible passage begins.)”:

Genesis 41: 14-40 (younger: Genesis 41: 14-16, 25-38).

[Help the children to use their Bibles in looking up verses. Remind them that ‘Genesis’ means ‘beginning’ and it is the first book in the Bible and includes the story of Creation, Noah’s Ark, Abraham, his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob and his great-grandson Joseph, about whom we are studying this rotation. It is in the Old Testament.]

Does anyone know what a Western movie is? [Accept responses. If necessary, talk about Westerns in the western part of the U.S. with cowboys and saloons and sheriffs and tumbleweeds and whatnot.]

Well, today you are NOT going to see a Western movie. But you are going to see a Western-Bible story. Did the stories in the Bible take place in the wild, wild West? [Show on the globe or map where the western U.S. is and where the Egypt and Canaan are.] Not close, is it? But the Veggie Tales people had some fun with the story of Joseph and that’s what we are going to watch today.

While you’re watching the video:

notice changes made to the story when it was moved from the Bible to the Wild West.
think about the question sent in to Bob and Larry: “If God loves me, why do bad things happen?”

Pass out wipes, popcorn and drinks.

Watch the Video

START the video at the beginning.

STOP the video after Little Joe is arrested and put in jail, even as he is protesting his innocence — “Tell it to the Judge.” (Right before the Silly Song 15:08.)

Say: Little Joe did the right thing when Miss Kitty encouraged him to steal the money. And he still ended up in jail.

Q How do you think he felt then? Do you think he was still happy he obeyed God and did not steal the money?

Q Little Joe has been hurt intentionally by both his brothers and Miss Kitty. How does it feel when someone hurts you on purpose?

Q I wonder why Little Joe is in jail? Did he do anything wrong? Do you think he told the truth? I wonder why no one believed him?

Q Any questions so far?

Say: “I am going to restart the video. First we will see something really silly. (If short on time skip the "Silly Song", jump to 19:21.)

STOP When the Sheriff says, “You’ve got the best attitude of any prisoner I’ve ever had. . . If God is really good, why is all this happening to you?” Notice how Little Joe answers.

START the video again.
STOP the video after Little Joe finishes praying: “..... Goodnight, God.”

Q Does Little Joe still have faith in God? I wonder why?

Say: It’s hard sometimes to have faith, isn’t it?

START the video again.
STOP the video after Little Joe gets all choked up talking to his brothers: “See the Sheriff .... Whatever you say.”

Q Did Little Joe recognize his brothers? (Remember, a number of years have passed and they think he is dead, so it is not surprising that they do not recognize him.)

Q I wonder why he doesn’t want them to know who he is? What do you think he is going to do?

START the video again.

STOP when credits roll (34:40).

Say: At the end of the video, Bob the Tomato said to Pete McGinnis, the boy who wrote the letter, “We learned God can use the good stuff and the bad stuff and put it all together to make something great!”

Joseph’s brothers did an evil thing: they sold him into slavery and lied to their father. God used this evil deed to bring about something good. Joseph was able to use his gifts to save the lives of his father and brothers and preserve God’s original covenant with Abraham. God always keeps his promises.

Q. I wonder, could something good come out of something bad in your life?

Say: Remember, those good things don’t always happen right away. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt and he was 30 when the Pharaoh made him in charge — that was 13 years! And is was more than 7 more years before the famine reunited his family.

Let’s talk about the things that were changed in this video from the Bible story. [Help the children list as many as they can think of. Clarify ones that they are not clear about.] Here are some of the differences:

Reflect:

Say: In today's video Little Joe was really organized (remember, you could tell by looking in his sock drawer!) and did you notice how God used that gift for organizing, as He used Little Joe, to help His people.

What special gifts do you have?
[Make suggestions if the children seem to be slow coming up with ideas. You may want to list them on a whiteboard or flipchart. Some possibilities—good listener, organized, good artist, caring, considerate, hard worker, good helper, patient, good with animals, good cook, green thumb, good with little kids, creative, ...]

How can God use your special gift(s) to help someone through a hard time? (How can your gifts be used to help someone — maybe yourself, maybe a friend of family member.)
[Examples, using some of the above ideas:
good listener - letting others share when they are hurt or sad
organized - helping tidy up for someone who is ill
good artist - creating get well cards and sending to someone who is ill
good with animals - feeding your neighbors cat while they are in hospital]

Closing Prayer:

I am going to read a prayer that has time for you to think quietly and pray to God about what I just said. Let’s bow our heads and talk to God.
Gracious Father,
We praise You for using what others intended for evil to accomplish great good.
We thank You for Your blessings that never end.
We rejoice in the gifts You have given us that we can use in Your service.
We confess that sometimes we doubt You because hard things happen to us and life is sometimes difficult.
Please help us to have faith always, just as Joseph did, to know that all things work together for good for us because we love You.
Amen.”

Optional: You may wish to give the children a sticker to wear home as a reminder of the movie — maybe something silly like Veggie Tale stickers or Western/cowboy stickers.

Additional Suggestions

Younger Students: instead of reading the story from the bible use a bible picture story book.

Short on time: Skip over Silly Songs with Larry (Timing: 15:08-19:21=4:13). Skip the comparison between the Bible and Little Joe discussion.

Extra time:

Game: Found on the DVD menu under FUN - Family Time - Minefield Game. Block off an area with tape or cones and fill with minefield objects, examples: Bean Bags, Pieces of Paper. One person wears a blindfold and the others all call out directions to get them safely across, without stepping on a minefield. Afterwards sit down and discuss about Joseph being in Jail and how hard it must have been for him to trust God had a plan for his life.

Bible Memory Verse: Teach the children the memory verse using American Sign language (see below instructions).

Journal Activity: "God used “Little Joe’s” special gifts and talents for His purposes and I know God can use my special gifts and talents, too!" to think about how God uses people like Little Joe and Joseph and you for His purposes:

Older children: Write about ways your gifts can be used to do God’s work.
Younger children: Draw a picture of yourself using your gifts to help someone through a hard time. (Or dictate/write about using your gifts.)

Resources:

American Sign Language Browser: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm
MacQueen, Neil. "A Manual for the Video - A/V Workshop. https://www.rotation.org/topic...-video--a-v-workshop
Spangler, Ann and Robert Wolgemuth. Men of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002. (Closing prayer adapted from “Joseph: His Legacy of Prayer")

Joseph in Egypt
Memory Verse Sign Language
Romans 8:28 (NLT) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

WE The index finger moves from one shoulder to the other shoulder.

KNOW The fingertips touch the forehead to indicate that knowledge is in the brain (hand flat, palm down).

GOD The open right hand is raised to the heavens and then downward in a sign of respect.

CAUSES Both S handshapes are thrown out from the front of the body (start with fists, palm side to chest, end with open hands extended, palm up).

EVERYTHING The signs EACH and THING are combined. EACH: one A handshape moves down the other A handshape; THING: the palm is facing upward and the hand bounces to the side to indicate different items (things).

WORK One S handshape taps the back of the other S handshape to represent the hands doing something (working).

TOGETHER The sign WITH is moved in a circle to represent many people are with one another (together). WITH: the A handshapes come together.

GOOD The hand moves forth from the mouth to the other hand. Something has been tasted and judged as being good; it is therefore offered to others.

LOVE The hands hug something over the heart to indicate the concept of love.

GOD The open right hand is raised to the heavens and then downward in a sign of respect.

CALLED One hand taps a single time on the other hand to get the attention of someone.

ACCORDING

HIS The open hand is associated with the concept of possession. When it is done in the same location as the sign HE it becomes HIS. (HE: the pronouns he, she, and it are indicated in signs by pointing to the side or pointing directly to the person or object being referred to.)

PURPOSE The signs THINK and MEAN are combined. THINK: the index finger touches the forehead which is the location of the mind. MEAN: V handshape presses down on the palm, moves up and twists, then presses down again.
From the American Sign Language Browser: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm. You can see the signs demonstrated there.

A lesson written by Amy Crane from: River Community Church
Prairieville, LA
Updated by a member of the Rotation.org Content Team.

Review -- Posted by Nanci H

We used the Veggie Tales movie "Ballad of Little Joe" for our video workshop.

The kids really got a good handle on this very long story and remembered the sequence and events very well during discussions the next week.