Hold up the birth announcement and say:
On the night Jesus was born, the birth announcement didn't look like this (holding up the birth announcement again). The birth announcement was in a starry sky with beautiful singing of angels announcing the birth of the baby Jesus. Every year we celebrate the birth of Jesus. This is the day we call "Christmas."
In the story today we learn about the birthday of Jesus. But first let's look at some of the new words in this story.
#B on Student Study Guide
go
Find Nazareth and Bethlehem on the ancient map of Israel (from Lesson One). Put a "Bethlehem" sign on the wall and large "Mary" and "Joseph" nametags on two students. Instruct them to "go to Bethlehem." While they are "there," instruct the other students (calling each of their names) to "go to Bethlehem." After everyone has "arrived," (you-with exaggerated motions) "count the people.
many people
Contrast with the opposite, saying (with finger counting):
Not a few-but many.
(Gesture with hands as if counting by tens.)
no bed
Draw a simple bed on the board, saying,
There is a bed.
There is no bed.
To reinforce the learning of the negative marker here, give additional examples. Putting a pencil on the table, say:
There is a pencil on the table.
Remove the pencil and hold it behind your back, saying,
There is no pencil on the table.
Holding a pencil in your hand, say:
There is a pencil in my hand.
Then - dropping the pencil on the floor, say:
There is no pencil in my hand (with appropriate actions).
Have students work in pairs to practice this last example ("There is a/no pencil in my hand.")
must stay
Provide examples of using must to express necessity. Using props and simple pictures drawn on the board, say:
It is cold. I must wear a coat.
There are many people in Bethlehem. The rooms are crowded. Mary and Joseph must stay in a stable (a house for animals). Show pictures or draw simple pictures of several animals.
stable
A home for animals.
wraps . . . with cloth
Use a doll (or real baby) to demonstrate "swaddling" with a cloth. Ask a student to role play wrapping Baby Jesus.
lays Baby Jesus in the manger
Provide examples of "laying": Lay the book on the table. Lay the pencil on the floor. Lay the baby in her arms.
manger
The place for the hay - the food for the animals (draw on board).
Call students' attention to #C on the Student Study Guide Say:
In the film clip today, watch for answers to two questions.
(Write these on the board as you say them.)
WHEN was Jesus born?
WHERE was Jesus born?
After eliciting responses to the "when" and "where" of the birth of Jesus, say:
Let's read this story!
1. Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem for the counting of people.
Answer Key: 1-the, 2-for, 3-Mary, 4-Baby, 5-with, 6-manger
Answer Key #1: a-3, b-4, c-7, d-1, e-6, f-5, g-2
Give to each student a copy of Handout #7: "In Bethlehem" by Wes Eby. Use your copy on overhead transparency to help students learn and enjoy this delightful jazz chant.
Now let's look at new words for the next part of the story (#F on Student Study Guide).
night
Contrast with day by drawing (1) a night sky with stars and moon and (2) the sun.
watching
Place hand over brow and turn head left/right-as if looking at a distance. When a child learns to sit up or learns to walk, we watch so we can keep the child safe. (Refocus) The shepherds were watching the sheep - to keep the sheep safe.
suddenly
Quickly (Snap fingers as you say this.)
Provide examples:
I am walking. Suddenly - I stop! I am reading a book. Suddenly-I stop! The light is on. (Turn out the light.) Suddenly the light goes out.
afraid
Indicate with body language.
Savior
Jesus Christ - the One who saves us from the punishment of sin.
find
With exaggerated motion, look for something saying,
I am looking for my (key).
After looking several places, say:
I find my (key)!
lying
Contrast "sitting" and "lying down" while demonstrating the actions.
excited
Act out this emotion. Contrast with "afraid." Mix them up - have students guess which one you are demonstrating.
worried
Thinking that something bad is going to happen. (Pantomime with wringing hands, etc.)
everyone
With sweeping arm motion, indicate everyone.
Who announces the birth of Baby Jesus?
Write this question on the board as you speak-and direct students' attention to #G on the Student Study Guide.
After eliciting responses to the above question, say:
Let's read this story!
1. This night shepherds are in the field near Bethlehem.
Answer Key: 1-near, 2-is, 3-tell, 4-are, 5-good, 6-in, 7-find, 8-to, 9-news
Answer Key #2: a-10, b-11, c-2, d-5, e-6, f-8, g-1, h-9, i-3, j-4, k-12, L-7
Ask students to look at #H of the Student Study Guide if they need help with sequencing. Read through the questions in "Listening for Details" (for stories #1 and #2).
(Read through the questions prior to showing the film clip the 2nd time.)
Write the correct answer in the blank for each question. Read through the questions prior to showing the film clip the second time. The first one has been done for you.
1. Is the counting in Bethlehem for sheep or for people? [people]
Allow students to work together if they prefer while answering these questions. As soon as a few students have finished, proceed with a whole class discussion of the answers.
1 The angel from God has good news for
the shepherds. Then the angel tells the
shepherds to do something. Look at the sentences in Reading the Story #2 on page 2.3 of the Student Study Guide. What does the angel tell them to do?
Write these instructions on the board as the students identify then:
2 Now just for fun - I'll be the angel and
you be the shepherds! (Use body language.) Let me tell you what to do! Are you ready?!??
Close your eyes.
3 For small group discussion: On the night Jesus was born the sky was beautiful and bright. An angel came to announce the birth of Baby Jesus. And now -2000 years later -we still celebrate his birth!
Do you have a story about something unusual that happened when you were born? (Share in small groups)
Write the word "unusual" on the board. If a more advanced student is familiar with word, ask that student to give some examples and make a sentence using the word. If "unusual" needs teacher-explanation, point to the days on a calendar. Time permitting, write the following questions on the board and elecit response (small group or whole class):
How do people celebrate birthdays in your country?
Monday I get up at 6:00. Tuesday I get up at 6:00. Wednesday I get up at 6:00. But Thursday I get up at 9:30! THIS is UNUSUAL!!! Everyday I eat rice - on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. But on Saturday, I eat potatoes. THIS is UNUSUAL! Every year for 20 years I get a birthday card from a friend. This year I do not get a card from this friend. THIS is UNUSUAL!
4 In the U.S. people "make a wish" when
they blow out the candles on the birthday
cake. (Give several examples!) If someone tells you that you can make one wish that would come true, what would you wish? Share your wish with your small group.
5 Ask for volunteers to tell the story in their own words. Students who are most proficient will get needed practice, while the others can learn from listening. If students need a little help, you might show small increments of the film clip - then ask the class about what they just saw. Students may enjoy an "add-on" story, i.e., the first volunteer provides the first sentence; a second volunteer adds what comes next; on and on this goes to the end! Everyone benefits! The risk-takers are challenged; the less confident students hear a good model and eventually have courage to try!
1. From the beginning, (from the first) God has had a plan* for His creation-for the world He made.
He planned for day and night, for rainy season and dry season, for the color of animals to protect them from danger. *(Pictures to emphasize this point would be a wonderful help here!)
"In the beginning God made the heavens and the earth from nothing . . . God saw all that He had made and it was very good." (Gen. 1:1, 31, NLV)
"There is a special time for everything. There is a time for everything that happens under heaven." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NLV)
2. In God's plan, God sent Jesus into our world (point to a map or globe-using an encircling motion) to tell us about the love of God.
"Jesus Christ shows us what God is like."
(2 Corinthians 4:4b, CEV)
"God was in Christ. He was working through Christ to bring the whole world back to Himself. God no longer held men's sins against them." (2 Corinthians 5:19, NLV)
"The Son shines with the shining-greatness of the Father. The Son is as God is in every way. It is the Son Who holds up the whole world by the power of His Word. The Son gave His own life so we could be clean from all sin. After He had done that, He sat down on the right side of God in heaven." (Hebrews 1:3, NLV)
"God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son (Jesus), so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never die. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them!" (John 3:16-17, CEV)
3. The time and place for Jesus' birth are a part of God's plan.
"Bethlehem . . .from you One will come who will rule for Me in Israel. His coming was planned long ago, from the beginning." (Micah 5:2, NLV)
"A young woman, who has never had a man, will give birth to a son. She will give Him the name Immanuel."-(Isaiah 4:14, NLV) [Immanuel = "God with us."-Matthew 1:23.]
4. From the beginning, God has had a wonderful plan for YOU.
"You are the one who put me together inside my mother's body, and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. Nothing about me is hidden from you! I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do." (Psalms 139:13-16, CEV)
"For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, Oplans for well-being and not for trouble, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:10, NLV)
Then erase the bed and say,
Note: Although more advanced students - and certainly native speakers - use contractions extensively, the contraction is omitted here by design in order to underscore the importance of including a form of the verb to be in these sentences
It is raining. I must take an umbrella.
It is hot. I must wear a sun hat.
#C on Student Study Guide
Show film clip beginning with the decree being read - ending as a man is leading a donkey out of the stable (left screen) following the arrival of Joseph and Mary in the stable.
#D on the Student Study Guide
2. Many people go to Bethlehem for this counting.
3. There is no bed for Mary and Joseph.
4. Mary and Joseph must stay in a stable with the animals.
5. Baby Jesus is born this night.
6. Mary wraps Baby Jesus with a soft cloth.
7. She lays him in the manger.
#E on Student Study Guide
(on separate page with this lesson)
#F on Student Study Guide
#G on Student Study Guide
Show film clip. Watch for the man who led the donkey out of the stable and now has a lamp light in his left hand. Begin this segment the moment he turns back toward the stable. This segment concludes as Joseph and Mary lift their young son out of the manger. Stop the tape the moment the baby's body leaves the hay.
#H on the Student Study Guide
2. They are watching their sheep.
3. Suddenly the sky is very bright.
4. God sends an angel to tell the shepherds about the birth of Jesus.
5. The shepherds are afraid.
6. The angel says: "Do not be afraid. I have good news!"
7. "A Savior is born this day in Bethlehem."
8. "He is Christ the Lord."
9. "You will find him in a manger in Bethlehem."
10. The shepherds hurry to find Baby Jesus lying in the manger.
11. The shepherds are excited!
12. They tell everyone about the good news of Jesus' birth.
#I on the Student Study Guide
(on separate page following the Student Study Guide)
#J on Student Study Guide
2. Are there many or few people in Bethlehem? _______________
3. Do Mary and Joseph stay in a hotel or a stable? _______________
4. Is Baby Jesus born in the night or day? _______________
5. Does Mary lay Baby Jesus in a crib or a manger? _______________
6. Are the shepherds in a field near Nazareth or Bethlehem? _______________
7. Are the shepherds watching sheep or cows? _______________
8. Are the shepherds afraid or not afraid? _______________
9. Does the angel have good news or bad news? _______________
10. Are the shepherds excited or worried to hear this news? _______________
#K on Student Study Guide
Do not be afraid.
Go to Bethlehem.
Find Jesus in a manger.
Open your eyes - suddenly!
Stand up.
Be afraid.
Do NOT be afraid.
Be excited.
Do NOT be excited.
Make a sheep sound. (Ba-a-a-a!)
Watch the sky.
Uh-oh. You hurt your right foot. Hop on your left foot to see the sheep!
Talk to your sheep in sheep language (B-a-a-a-a-a).
Keep hopping!
Smile.
Sit down.
Do you have a special birthday song?
(If so) Would you teach our class to sing this song?
Do you have a favorite birthday memory to share?
#L on Student Study Guide
Many years before his birth, men of God told people about the birth of Jesus.
King David, one of the Old Testament writers, said to God:
Song:
sure to include the verse about "the little tiny babies!")
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