Rotation.org Writing Team
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
"Who You Gonna Call?"
A Movement, Music, and Memory Workshop
Oh Yes We Did!
After exploring the meaning of the Parable of the Good Samaritan in a creative Bible study, students will play a fun "Just Dance"* -style game in which they follow the dance moves of Slimer and the Ghostbusters as they sing along with a special Good-Samaritan-inspired version of the hugely popular and super-catchy Ghostbusters* theme song.
This lesson also gives you the option to discuss the meaning of "ghosting," a word used in social media that means "to ignore or exclude others"—and how Jesus' "Ghost-busting" parable calls us bust ghosting and be good neighbors, especially to those in need.
Seen below is the special dance music video we've created for this lesson and posted to YouTube for your class to follow. Attached to this lesson is a downloadable copy of the same YouTube video in case you don't have internet access to YouTube in your classroom. Music, Movement, and Singing are three of the best ways to deliver content into memory, and this lesson uses all three. Hitching the meaning of the story to one of pop culture's great earworms makes this lesson a home-run from a multiple-intelligences perspective. See the lesson plan for several ways to get your kids moving and singing with Slimer!
*See our notes about "Ghostbusters" and "Just Dance" at the end of this lesson. Just Dance has been a wildly popular video game for children and youth for many years.
Reference version: If the original Ghostbusters song and lyrics aren't yet stuck in your head, watch and listen to the original version of Ghostbusters in the "Just Dance" video, accompanied by our lyrics. 
Scripture for the Lesson
Luke 10:25-37 (NRSVUE)
Memory Verses:
"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27
"Go and do likewise." Luke 10:37 ("I ain't afraid to DO LIKEWISE" is one of the repeated lyrics in the song & dance video.)
Lesson Objectives
See the Good Samaritan Bible Background at Rotation.org for insights on this story and this set's complete list of objectives.
Preparation and Materials
- Read the Bible Background and scripture.
- Pick one of the "scripture reading options" below and prepare it.
- Preview and prepare to show the "Who You Gonna Call? Good Samaritan!" dance video on a large screen or TV. (See "Video Set Up" notes at the end of this lesson.)
- Pool noodle props for the dancers (their ghostbusting proton blasters).
- Add-On Activity: Purchase "slap bracelets" that have at least one blank side, one per child. These can be found in party stores and websites like Oriental Trading Co.
- Permanent markers to write on slap bracelets.
Lesson Plan
Opening
Welcome students and ask these questions:
1. Ask (sing): ♫ "When there's something strange, in your neighborhood, who you gonna call?"♫
Expect some to shout "Ghostbusters!" Explain it to those unfamiliar with the movies and announce that they're going to get to hear the song and see "Slimer" in a few minutes.
2. Ask: Who else can people call on when they're in trouble or afraid?
Accept various answers and be sure to include God/Jesus! Say to them, "What about calling on you for help?" After all, Jesus did teach us to love our neighbors and help people in need. Are you somebody others call upon for help and compassion?
3. Ask them "WHO should you help? Just your family and friends? Just church members or other Christians?"
Most kids will answer "everybody."
Ask: But what about bad people? Sinners? People who don't believe in God? What makes a person our neighbor?
Say: In today's story, Jesus is going to teach us a surprising lesson about "WHO" our neighbors are and "WHERE" our neighborhood really is.
After we've heard today's story, we have a fun Ghostbusters-inspired dance game we're going to play.
Choose a scripture reading option
- Use a storybook version for younger children.
- Have each student read 2 verses out loud.
- If you have time, assign the role of Jesus and the expert in the law to two readers, and the roles of the robbers, beaten man, priest, Levite, Good Samaritan, and innkeeper to others to act out as the story is read. (If you have fewer students, have them double up on parts.)
- Use props/dolls/action figures to have the kids re-enact the story as it is read.
- Video Scripture Option: Since you already have a screen and an internet connection for the YouTube dance video, you might use one of the two following video clips to share the story: Crossroad Kids Good Sam video or the Saddleback Kids Good Sam video. (Check with the teachers in the other workshops who may be using a video so you don't both choose the same one.) The Crossroad Kids "God's Story: The Good Samaritan" is particularly good and has some Bible background in it.
Scripture follow-up questions:
1. How many "neighbors" were there in the parable?
The beaten man is one obvious neighbor because he needed help. The Samaritan is another because he acted in a neighborly way by following God's command to love and help others. What about the innkeeper? He or she ALSO acted like a neighbor by taking care of the man.
2, Who did NOT "love their neighbor as themselves" in the story? Why didn't they?
The priest and the Levite may have been afraid to love/help because:
a) They didn't know the beaten man, and thus weren't sure he was one of them (not a neighbor by their definition).
b) They might have been afraid of getting blood on their hands, which would have broken their religious rules and made them unable to perform their duties in the Jerusalem Temple for a week.
c) Maybe they were afraid of being attacked just like the beaten man.
Instead of walking by, what could they have done to keep safe, not break their rules, and still help the man?
Loving your neighbor means being unselfish and willing to help.
3. Do you know what it means to "ghost" another person?
To "ghost" someone means to cut them off, ignore them, to avoid, to block, to not respond to them—to not treat them with neighborly love.
In the story, the priest and the Levite "ghosted" the beaten man. They put their own needs ahead of the commandment to "love your neighbor."
4. Have you ever been "ghosted" by someone? How did it make you feel?
5. Is there someone in your life you have ghosted? Ignored? Someone that needs your help or friendship? I want you to think for a moment and then silently say their name in your head.
For further discussion, see this list of "signs you might be ghosting someone."
6. At the end of the story, what did Jesus tell the expert in the law to go do?
Do likewise! ... be like the Samaritan who did the right thing, the unselfish thing.
Or in other words: GO BE A GHOSTBUSTER! 
Memory activity
Say: To help us remember the Great Commandment and Jesus' command to "Go and Do Likewise," I want you to write these key verses on the inside of this SLAP BRACELET, and wear it on your left wrist—the side closest to your heart!
(For non-writers, write "love your neighbor" and "do likewise" for them to copy onto the bracelet. They can also just draw a heart next to various sizes of people.)
After the dance video activity, students can also also add lyric phrases, like "Who You Gonna Be? A Good Samaritan" and "I ain't afraid to do likewise."
Tip: This snap bracelet activity could be expanded into its own lesson where students write "encouragements and thank yous" on many extra bracelets and hand-them out when they see someone being a Good Samaritan.
"Who You Gonna Call" Dance Party!
Kids who are familiar with playing dance-video games like "Just Dance" will be used to watching other kids try to follow the onscreen dance while they wait their turn.
Smaller classes and non-readers can dance as a group. Larger groups should split into "dance troupes" and wait their turn. Teachers must definitely dance! Have pool noodles ready as your "Proton Pack" particle cannons 
Encourage everyone to sing along using the words on the screen whether they are dancing or not.
Dance round one:
When playing a dance game for the first time, it's common for kids to first focus on getting down all the dance moves, and trying to sing a few of the lyrics as best they can. That's why it is important to have non-dancers also singing the lyrics while they wait their turn. You'll also want to let the kids "try again" after they've figured out the dance moves so they can focus more on singing and shouting the fun Good Samaritan lyrics!
Dance round two!
Dance Games like Just Dance award "points" to dancers who get the moves right, so this being a video, you may want to come up with your own competitive approach and reward for "most awesome" and "craziest" dancers, "loudest singers," "most Slimer," etc.
Conclusion
Gather round for a moment of prayer. Remind the students of that person they had on their minds when you asked them to silently name a person in their life they needed to pay attention to—to be a Good Samaritan to—to treat as a neighbor. Invite everyone to close their eyes while thinking of that person while you close with a short prayer, thanking God for the unselfish and compassionate examples of Jesus and the Good Samaritan.
Adaptations
For younger students:
See the Bible reading options above for suggestions. Invite older kids to join as song and dance leaders and coaches.
For older students:
After having everyone try the song and dance together, split into small groups and have a friendly "dance off" competition with judges and scorecards just for fun. Take a video of some of the dancing, and play it back for plenty of laughs.
For further discussion with older kids, see the list in the post below of "signs you may be ghosting someone."
For those with more class time:
See the "tip" at the end of the slap bracelet memory activity for expanding it.
For at-home use or a shorter/simpler lesson plan:
Move the slap bracelet memory activity to another time and place. Share the dance video with families to use at home.
Notes
Video set-up and getting a copy of the video
You'll definitely want a reasonably large screen to display the Ghostbusters - Just Dance video with its special lyrics. Always test your connections ahead of time! If your classroom or TV doesn't have a good internet connection, do one of the following:
1. Access the dance video on YouTube using your own smartphone's connection to the internet, and connect your smartphone to the classroom's large screen using a phone-to-HDMI cable. See this helpful "how to" article.
2. You can also download the dance video, then save it to a USB flash drive and plug the flash drrive into your TV or computer's USB port for playback.
About "Ghostbusters" and "Just Dance" *
There are four Ghostbusters movies, the most recent being a more family-friendly version with kids and parents at the center of the story. (There was also a "Slimer" and Ghostbusters cartoon.) Ghostbusters costumes and toys are still available for children, but even as the movies fade, the ear-worm Ghostbuster's theme song and catchphrase "Who You Gonna Call?" remain as popular as ever. That's one of the reasons we borrowed the song for teaching purposes, added Jesus' "Do Likewise" catchphrase, and added the fun dance video version --to create a giant multiple-intelligence-informed "hook" for the parable and its meaning.
Just Dance is a wildly popular video game for PlayStation, PC, Xbox, and Nintendo platforms in which the kids follow the dance moves of onscreen dancers as they sing along to popular songs and receive a dance score. The odds are pretty good your elementary-age children have played it at home or at a friend's house. The "Ghostbusters" dance video we used to make our Good Sam version was captured from the 2014 edition of Just Dance.
Written by Neil MacQueen and the Rotation.org Writing Team
Copyright Rotation.org Inc.
