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FeaturesGuest Editorial by Barbara Westberg..............................................................3Iditarod (theme development) ........................................................................4Room Décor ...................................................................................................5Two Dimensional Decorations ........................................................................53-D Variations for Decorations........................................................................6Bulletin Board Ideas .......................................................................................8Attendance/Memory Work Contest..................................................................9Musher’s Journal ..........................................................................................10Theme Related Activities ..............................................................................10Characteristics of Primary Children..............................................................11Pictures of Room Décor....................................................................12 and 80

Unit 1—Christ’s BirthWeek of Aim: To show the miracles surrounding Christ’s birth.

1. December 1 Preparing a Path for the Promise ..................................132. December 8 An Angelic Announcement ............................................183. December 15 A Savior Is Born!...........................................................244. December 22 Wise Men Worship Jesus...............................................28

Unit 2—Characteristics of ChristiansWeek of Aim: To show the character a Christian should possess.

5. December 29 Jesus Cleanses the Temple ............................................336. January 5 Jesus Chooses His Team ...............................................387. January 12 Walking and Wobbling on Water ...................................428. January 19 Desperate, Determined, and Delivered..........................479. January 26 Persistence Pays............................................................52

Unit 3—Christ Commissions His DisciplesWeek of Aim: To show the teamwork that Jesus wants from His disciples.

10. February 2 A Penny Apiece .............................................................5811. February 9 Use It or Lose It ............................................................6412. February 16 Teamwork .....................................................................70

Review13. February 23 The Quarter in Review ..................................................75

Contents

Primary Teacher’s ManualEditor: R. M. Davis • Design: Joni OwensManufactured in U.S.A., December 2013, 132411 www.pentecostalpublishing.com • All rights reserved.© 2013 by Pentecostal Publishing House, 8855 Dunn Road, Hazelwood, MO 63042.

Only individual items accompanied by the above icon may be copied for use in the local classroom. Do not reproduce, distribute, ortransmit any other part of the Word Aflame curriculum in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other elec-tronic or mechanical methods, without possessing prior documented approval from Pentecostal Publishing House. To request permis-sion, contact [email protected].

PriTMwnt13-14:BG TM sigs 9/6/13 9:28 AM Page 2

A Look at the CurriculumUse the ideas and visual aids that

are in the teacher’s manual and theteacher’s resource packet to trans-form your room. A variety of ideasallows you to pick and choose—notonly for décor ideas but also forweekly activities. Let this manualenhance your excellent teachingskills. Improvise to suit your pur-pose. Add to, take away, substitute . .. whatever works best to teach yourstudents about Jesus. Use your imag-ination to make Sunday school funfor everyone.

Primary Teacher’s ManualThe teacher’s manual gives

detailed instructions, biblical back-ground of the lesson, and insight onstudent capabilities. An overviewchart at the beginning of each lessonallows you to take a quick glance atwhat supplies will be needed for theentire lesson.

In each lesson, instructions to theteacher are in plain type. Examples ofwording that you could use when speak-ing to the students are in bold type.

Every lesson has a one-line objec-tive, or Bible point, to stress through-out the lesson. The Bible point is inbold type and underlined. The Bibleverse is also in bold type. The Biblepoint is the life application of the les-son. Every Bible story should have lifeapplication and answer the “So what?”question. The lame man was healed; sowhat does that mean to me? God’sWord is true; so what does that meanto me? Your job is not to tell a Biblestory, but to communicate Bible truthsand principles that will cultivate a rela-tionship with the Lord. When the stu-dents leave the classroom, the lifeapplication should have been clearlycommunicated.

Note that lesson 13 is a review les-son. Special games and activities areoffered to help your students reviewthe past twelve lessons of the quarterin a fun way. Even students who have

not been present all twelve Sundayswill have an opportunity to contributeas well as hear about the lessons theymissed. Save visuals and craft itemsfrom each lesson as they will be usedin the review activities. Encouragestudents to save their student papersso they can review the lessons athome and be ready to play some fungames, win some prizes, and sharewhat they have learned this quarter.This would be a good Sunday to inviteparents to come in and see what theirchildren have learned.

Primary Teacher’s Resource Packet

The teacher’s resource packet isfull of teaching tools, supplements,and visual aids to make your roomcome alive and the lessons exciting.

Included in the resource packet isa teacher training article that fea-tures information relevant to your agegroup. This article is drilled for athree-ring binder so you can begincreating your own teacher’s resourcenotebook. Be on the lookout for othermaterials you can add to your note-book. It will be a great reference toolwhen you need an extra idea. Thisarticle is also posted on our Web site,www.wordaflame.org.

A special memory passage posteris also included. Use this poster to helpstudents learn additional Bible versesthat reinforce the quarter’s focus.

A Kids in Missions newsletterintroduces the children to a particularregion of foreign or home missions.Through geographical and politicalnotes, crafts, snacks, and studies ofmissionary needs, the children willdiscover why and how they can helpthe kingdom of God in that region.

Primary StudentThis four-page activity/take home

paper includes a practical story aboutKai, a young Alaskan boy whose fami-ly raises sled dogs. The story rein-forces the Bible story. The paper also

features a cartoon strip retelling theBible story, an in-class activity, a spe-cial activity to do at home, a joke orriddle, fun facts, and a note to par-ents. Order one student paper forevery student in your class.

Remove the staple and sepa-rate the leaflets for distribution.

Theme DevelopmentThe Iditarod

The Iditarod, known as “The LastGreat Race to Nome,” is the world’slargest dog sled race and the mostexciting sporting event in Alaska.Each year hundreds of dogs andmushers leave Anchorage and travelover 1,000 miles to the finish line inNome. Some make this journey in lessthan ten days! As expected, a race thesize of the Iditarod and all that itentails energizes the citizens of Alaskaand positively impacts the state inmany ways. Likewise the excitementand activity that will generate fromyour classroom during the next quar-ter have the potential to affect yourstudents for years to come!

Introduce your students to Kai, ayoung Alaskan boy whose family rais-es sled dogs. Kai learns a lot aboutthe kind of dogs needed on a success-ful team. The lead dog is responsiblefor leading the rest of the team in thedirection that the musher commands.He knows his musher’s voice andresponds obediently each time he isasked. The lead dog is strong and canendure the harsh conditions of the bit-ter cold and the outdoors. He is smartand has quick reflexes. He has runmany races and is therefore a wiseleader. The lead dog does not like toget into mischief by veering off thepath and ignoring the voice of hismusher, but knows that staying on thestraight and narrow and listening tohis musher is safer and more fun inthe end.

ThisQUARTERwww.wordaflame.org


Other team dogs have to possess characteris-tics of perseverance, determination, willingnessto work, and compatibility. The driver (or mush-er) of the team is responsible for feeding, nur-turing, loving, and disciplining the dogs. Hechooses his team carefully for their individualtalents and abilities.

Many parallels can be drawn between theIditarod race, with its mushers and dogs strug-gling through frigid temperatures, snow bliz-zards, and grueling miles of trail and theChristian race, with Jesus as our guide and yourstudents as members of a team striving towardthe goals of the kingdom. So, round up yourteam, focus on the individual abilities of eachmember, and prayerfully join them together as apowerful unit to strike out on the Last GreatRace to the Throne! Let’s hike!

Room DécorTypically it is recommended that a classroom

be totally transformed and finished prior to thefirst Sunday of a quarter, but for this theme, it isnot necessary. In fact, adding to or altering theroom from time to time throughout the quarteris more realistic. Since we are parodying a racethat covers over 1,000 miles, it makes sensethat the scenery change from week to week. Ifyou do not have time to build those snowcapped mountains at the start of the quarter,make flat ones on the wall to get started andthen complete three dimensional mountains afew weeks later. Add or remove snowflakes fromweek to week. Have a blizzard one Sunday andlight snowfall the next. If possible rearrange afreestanding tree now and then.

To set the stage for the excitement, com-pletely redecorate your classroom to resemblethe great outdoors of Alaska during winter.This means lots of blue sky, white snow andice, and evergreen trees. Cover the top half ofall classroom walls with sky blue paper and thebottom half with white paper. Make sure that thewhite paper overlaps the blue enough to allowyou to go back and cut the straight edge of thewhite paper, using a box knife or X-acto knife,so that it has gently rolling slopes.

Once the basic backdrop has been estab-lished, assess the room and determine what, ifany, 3-dimensional objects you will be able toincorporate. Will there be room for snow-cov-ered mountains? Would it be possible to add aflocked tree? If there is ample space and youcan build 3-D objects, great. If not, you can stillcreate a fun and inviting place in which yourstudents can thrive.

Two Dimensional DecorationsFor 2-D decorating simply continue on

with paper. Do not stop with the blue sky andwhite snow. Add mountains along one walland paint snow on their tops. Use a spongebrush to add a forest of pine green trees atthe base of the mountains. Add more treesaway from the mountains and forest intermit-tently around the room. Be sure to add snowto the trees as well.

A bright yellow sun with far reaching rayswould be appropriate. A fast and easy way tocreate a sun is to use the lid to a round trashcan or borrow a cymbal from the sanctuary andtrace around it. Once the circle is drawn, addthe sun’s rays. If possible use yellow paper andadd orange and red shading with pastels or col-ored chalk for detail.

On a second wall enlarge the picture fromthe transparency in the teacher’s resource pack-et which depicts a musher and his team as theyrace through the snow. The average team com-peting in the Iditarod contains sixteen dogs, butmore or less can be used to fit on your wall. Addor delete dogs from the picture according toyour space requirements.

In addition to the intermittent trees and thedog team on this wall, add a few of the arcticanimals from the transparency sheet.

These animals could also be added to themountain/forest wall. Color the animals withpastels or paint.

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Tip:If you are working alone and covering walls with paper, lay the roll of paper

on the floor and unroll it the length of the wall. Cut the paper to the desiredlength (with a little extra just in case) and then roll up the cut piece. Take therolled piece of paper and apply it to the wall, unrolling the paper and staplingthe top edge as you walk the length of the wall. Once the top edge of the paperhas been secured to the wall and you have checked and approved the straight-ness, go back to the middle of the wall and add staples in the center and alongthe bottom edge of the paper working any loose paper and wrinkles from themiddle of the wall to the sides. This simple method will reduce wrinkling andmake the job of covering walls do-able, even when working alone.

Note:See pages 12

and 80 for pic-tures of a roomdecorated in thistheme.


The third wall is basedaround water and also includesanimals native to Alaska’swaterways. Use blue SaranWrap or cellophane to create alarge body of water near oneend of the wall. Place pieces ofwhite ice and glaciers (papercutouts) in the middle of thewater so they appear to float. Ifdesired, add animals to the ice

and/or glaciers.Use an overhead projector

to enlarge a polar bear to papersize and add him to the water’s edge. Add thetail of a whale in the middle of the water.

Another option for this wall is to extend thebody of water around a corner to help span thedivide between this wall and the wall with themusher and dog team. This would also allowyou to add animals on both edges of the water.

Water can also be simulated with a blue fab-ric that shimmers. To increase the amount ofshine or shimmer, crinkle clear cellophane andplace it on top of the fabric. Although this fab-ric version is slightly more expensive, it mayprove to be easier to work with and less frus-

trating than the Saran Wrap which tends towrinkle and cling.

The fourth wall is for the plan of salva-tion bulletin board and the contest infor-mation/game board (seeattendance/memory contest on page 9).This area could also be used to list anyannouncements or classroom rules. If adry erase board or chalkboard is not avail-able, cover posterboard with Con-Tactpaper to make your own dry erase board.

Another wall option is to draw a townscene to show the start of the Iditarod. The racestarts in town and passes through villages along itscourse. Create a small street scene with buildingson each side and a START banner stretched acrossthe street.

Rather than painting these buildings, usecolored paper as the main building and adddetails with chalks or paint. This will serve two

purposes. One, it will save time. Two, by notpainting on your outdoor background, the build-ing scene could be taken down after the start ofthe race on the first Sunday and saved until theFINISH line is reached at the end of the race onthe last Sunday. If desired the building/streetscene or a portion of it could be used occasion-ally during the quarter in different places in theclassroom to indicate a different village alongthe trail, since the class will be progressing fur-ther along the race each week.

Whether or not a building scene is used, aSTART banner should be used on thefirst Sunday of the quarter to helpemphasize the start of the race. Use alarge strip of white paper to create thebanner and apply it to a wall. Maketwo poles of brown paper to resemblewooden poles and attach them to thewall at each end of the banner. Use ablack or brown chalk/pastel or markerto add the wood grain to the poles.Use a mixture of yellow and brown

pastels to make the banner look weathered.An integral part of the Iditarod is the

Iditarod Air Force, a group of volunteers andtheir prop planes that deliverfood and supplies tothe mushers and theirteams along the trailin addition to transport-ing any dropped dogs. Withthis thought in mind, add aprop plane somewhere in the room. Use thetransparency provided to draw a large planeand have it flying close by or a smaller one offin the distance.

To complete your classroom, hangsnowflakes from the ceiling. Paper or foilsnowflakes may be purchased for a nominal feefrom school supply stores or make your own. Ifyou prefer, hang a few snowflakes yourself andthen let the students make their own snowflakesto hang in the classroom once the quarter actu-ally begins.

Place the theme posters provided in theteacher’s resource packet in appropriate placesaround the room or on the doors.

3-D VariationsFor the mountain/forest area, use chicken

wire to shape mountains. Chicken wire can bestapled to a wall using heavy duty staples and ispliable enough to allow you to shape it nearlyany way you want. Once the wire mountain hasbeen shaped and stapled to the wall, use whitepaper to cover the wire going from the top tothe bottom (not side to side) and then spraypaint the mountain a shade of gray. Cap the

Tip:When using a projector to enlarge

the pictures, coordinate the color ofpaper with the color of the animal toreduce painting and coloring time. Usebrown paper to make a brown bear orcaribou and then use brown, black,and white pastels to add details. Sincepastels are basically chalk, they canbe blended much easier than paint toachieve a more realistic look in ashort amount of time. Use a tissue orpaper towel to blend chalked colors.Once you have the desired look ofyour creations, add a layer of aerosolhairspray to the chalk/pastel area tohelp set the colors. Depending on thesize of these pieces, it may be possi-ble to laminate them at your localschool/office supply store. Not onlywill lamination help keep the chalksfrom rubbing off on students’ clothing,but it will also help preserve thepieces for use at another time.

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tops of the mountains with cotton/Polyfil snow,using double-sided tape if necessary to hold thesnow in place. Randomly add sprigs/sprays ofpine branches to resemble small bushes andyoung trees around the mountainside.

At the base of the mountain assemble artifi-cial Christmas trees in different sizes. Artificialtrees could also be placed in other areas of theclassroom if space allows and if the trees areavailable. If the trees are not flocked, use moreof the cotton/Polyfil to flock them yourself.Around the trunks of the trees, scatter and pilecotton/Polyfil to hide the stands for a realisticlook. If a garden statue rabbit is available, paintit white and place it near a tree in the snow.

To make the water wall three dimensional,build the water so that it spills out onto the floorof the room. Place aluminum foil on the carpetand extend the blue Saran Wrap or fabric fromthe wall down onto the foil. It may be necessaryto use multiple layers of blue Saran Wrap toachieve the desired look. Place large pieces andchunks of Styrofoam around the edge of thewater to resemble ice and snow. Depending onthe size of your room and the lake or ocean,place a Styrofoam glacier so that it floats in the

middle. If Styrofoam isnot available in a largequantity, use smallcardboard boxes orstacks of books drapedin white material orsheets to form thesnowy banks of thewater’s edge.Completely surround-ing the water will helpdisguise any roughedges of foil and SaranWrap in addition tokeeping the water inplace and the childrenout of the water. If pos-sible locate a realisticlooking stuffed polarbear, walrus, or seal toposition around thewater. Use more cot-ton/Polyfil to accenthere as well.

Enhance the mush-er and dog team wallby adding fake fur tothe dogs and the brim of the musher’s hood andboots. Apply fabric or tarp to the cargo area ofthe sled. Add more sprigs of trees randomlyalong the wall. Pile more cotton/Polyfil along thebase of this wall as well as all of the other wallsto help tie the room together and blur the linebetween wall and floor.

To go the extra mile, hide the carpet. Useyards of white material or sheets sewn togetherto cover the floor. A painter’s drop cloth mayalso work. Staple the covering to the baseboards of the room. Such a floor covering willnot vacuum like carpet, so if your classroom isnear an exterior entrance to the church, thismay not work well due to wetness and mud dur-ing the winter season.

Use cardboard to create freestanding build-ings. Large appliance boxes should be availablefrom local retailers. Cardboard is light enoughto require little framing and will stand with card-board bracing on the backside. As mentionedearlier do not make this a permanent fixture of 7


the classroom, but definitely use the buildingsfor the first and last Sundays of the quarter anda few sessions in between. Whenever the build-ings are in use, add snow drifts at the base ofthem with cotton/Polyfil.

To go along with the freestanding build-ings, make a freestanding START banner tobegin the race. Use fabric and paint for thebanner and tie it to poles with rope at theends. For the poles use long, heavy cardboardtubes that have been anchored in cinderblocks. Set the block on a piece of paper orcardboard sized to fit the block, place the polein the block opening, and then fill the openingwith sand. Pour sand in the top of the polesuntil the sand is approximately six to eightinches deep in order to better stabilize thepoles. Wrap the poles with brown paper andadd wood grain or paint the poles. Hide thecinder block bases with white material or cot-ton/Polyfil. After the first Sunday ends, movethe poles and banner to storage until the endof the race. At that point use the same methodto create a finish line.

If possible, obtain a mannequin to use as amusher in the classroom, or assemble your ownby stuffing a pair of pants with chicken wire legs.Nail or staple a pair of old boots to a piece ofboard and place the pants in the boots. If neces-sary, use wire to secure the pants to the boots.Use chicken wire to stuff a shirt and wire it to thepants. Add a large winter coat. The only thing leftis to add hands and the head. For the head pur-chase a Styrofoam wig stand from a beauty sup-ply store and paint the nose and eye area. Therest will be hidden with a scarf, wig, and hood.Add a pair of goggles to hide a bad paint job onthe eyes and nose. Stuff a pair of gloves with cot-ton and attach to the sleeves. Add fake fur to theboots and the edge of the hood. Hide the woodbase with more cotton or material. You couldeven go a step further and spray fake snow on themusher and the edges of his goggles as though hehas been in the weather for some time.

Make an inexpensive sled for the musherusing cardboard for the main front section. Usegift wrap rolls for the runners and attach thecardboard front portion using vertical toilet tis-sue tubes. The back portion of the sled could bemade of cardboard, too. For the back portion ofthe sled where cargo is kept and covered orwhere a rider would sit, use chicken wire to forma lumpy top and cover it with tan, brown, orolive fabric or tarp. Add ropes to look as thougha load is being tied in to keep it from fallingalong the trail. To make the curved handles ofthe sled, run a piece of strong wire through apiece of a garden hose and connect it to the sled.Perhaps hula hoops could be cut and used in

place of the garden hose if necessary. Place thesled in front of the musher and position themusher’s arms and gloved hands so that theygrasp or connect to the handles of the sled.

Since creating a team of freestanding dogswould prove difficult, turn the musher and sledso that he is facing the corner. In front of thesled, draw or paint the hind view of a team ofrunning dogs on the wall so that it looks likethe musher and his team are driving off into thehorizon. Use two leather straps or old belts toattach the front of the sled to the wall so thatthe leather straps connect to the painted ordrawn straps on the wall.

The musher, sled, and team setup would lookespecially great if the freestanding buildingswere placed on each side of the corner and thestarting line is placed just behind him. The greatthing about this theme is that if you have someimperfection to disguise, you can easily do sowith fake snow. Apply the fake snow atop andaround the sled as necessary. The more snowadded, the more the room will look like Alaska.

Another option is to do away with the sledand team and simply use the freestanding mush-er outside the classroom door to greet the chil-dren or inside the classroom along the walllisting the week’s announcements or lesson aim.

To complete the winter look of yourroom, spray glitter on the snow areas of thewalls to make the snow glisten. Spray orsprinkle white glitter onto the cotton/Polyfilscattered around the room.

Place the theme posters provided in theteacher’s resource packet in appropriate placesaround the room or on the doors.

Bulletin Board IdeasUse the transparencies from the teacher’s

resource packet to enlarge and create the fol-lowing bulletin boards.

GET IN THE RACE or THE LAST GREAT RACE TO THE THRONE

This bulletin board lists the plan of salvation;“Repent, Be Baptized in Jesus’ Name, Receive theHoly Ghost, and Live Holy!” Find time each weekto review this plan with your students or intro-duce it to visitors who have not seen it before.8


This board refers to an injured dog that is“dropped” from his team during a race by hismusher. A dropped dog is left behind at a check-point while the rest of the team continues on therace. The Iditarod Air Force flies dropped dogsback to their team’s designated handlers to becared for until the dogs can be reunited with theirmusher and team when the race concludes. In anutshell, a dropped dog is not up to par and is leftbehind. Encourage students to stay in the race.

Since a musher is in full control of and caresfor his or her team at all times, the ability to saythis phrase and have it be true is to be desired.Without a musher to care for its wounds, satisfyits hunger and direct its steps, a dog will notsurvive the harsh conditions of the race.

This bulletin board is an obvious play on thephrase “thin ice.” It reminds students that sinwill drop you into icy situations that extinguishthe fire of the Spirit.

OfferingThere is no designated section in the lesson

outline for taking offering, so use the followingideas in whatever manner and time frame thatsuits your class best.

In keeping with the Iditarod sled dog theme,use a clean empty dog food can to receive theoffering. Other unique offering plates mightinclude a fur-trimmed snow boot, a knitted hat,or a bootie (to remind students of booties thatmushers put on their dogs’ feet).

If you incorporate the Lead Dog of the Weekcontest, allow that student to receive the offer-ing using one of the special containers.

Attendance/Memory Work ContestStage your own version of a sled dog race

called the I-did-it-God Race on wall four. Labelthe wall at the top with large cutout letters.Create your own trail to track the students’progress. Use wooden craft sticks and orangefelt or construction paper to make the startingline, checkpoint pennants, and finish line, pro-gressing from one side of the wall to the other.Although the Iditarod has twenty-six or twenty-seven checkpoints, use only eleven, plus thestart and finish lines, to coincide with the thir-teen Sundays in the quarter. If you want yourtrail to vary from a straight line, useinclines/declines, but it is not recommended thatthe trail double back as this makes the mushersdrive upside down.

Make copies of the musher and sled gametokens from the teacher’s resource packet on tocardstock. Let each student color his gametoken before placing it on the wall.

Instead of earning points, students add totheir dog teams and progress across the gameboard. Each Sunday during the quarter movethe mushers and sleds to the next checkpoint,assuming they have earned a dog to pull theirsled. At the end of the quarter the student withthe largest team will be awarded top prize sincehis team was the fastest and most powerful.

Each Sunday the student is in class, he earnsanother dog for his team.

If he can recite the memory verse and hasbrought a Bible or a friend to class, he moves tothe next checkpoint. In addition you couldaward dogs for bringing offering, doing a gooddeed, helping someone during the week, invitingpeople to church, visiting the prayer roomsbefore other services, having a good attitude,and participating in class. Tracking such eventsmay be difficult, and you may have to use thehonor system for some of them, but be creativein the actions you reward. Another thing to keepin mind is discriminating between those whoattend services all week and those who must 9


ride the bus or van on Sunday mornings. Thosewho receive church transportation would behindered in some of the above areas. It may benecessary to have two separate categories. Youknow what will work best for your situation.

Each week the student who is in the leadcould be named that week’s Lead Dog andshould be given some sort of special treatment.Sometimes something as simple as a specialchair, or leading the class in some activity, mayprove to be motivating to the students.

At the end of the quarter, each student whocompletes the race will receive a special I-DID-IT-GOD badge and certificate. See the teacher’sresource packet for these items.

Review lesson 13 includes a time for anawards ceremony.

Memory WorkIn an effort to help students retain

Scripture in their long-term memory and applyit to daily living, the memory verse portion ofthe lesson has been modified. Instead of learn-ing one Scripture per week, often at the lastminute for easy recitation, students will

rehearse a Scripture passage (two orthree verses) for each unit of thequarter. In most cases students willnot be learning less Scripture thanthey would if a new verse werelearned every week.

The intent is to improve the stu-dents’ retention of the Bible verses, aswell as their understanding of what theyhave learned and how the Word applies

to their lives today. Students may putshort-term information to use to earn

rewards, but implanting Scripture intotheir long-term memory will provide under-

standing and inspiration for a lifetime to come. Teach the Scripture passages in small seg-

ments each week, then review the next week tomake sure students understand and retain theScriptures. More time is allotted in the classsession for memory work.

For teachers and students who desire morememory work, a special memory passage pro-

ject is included. See the teacher’s resourcepacket for ideas to help students learn ICorinthians 12:7-11, the gifts of the Spirit.

Musher’s JournalEach week on the trail a writing prompt is

given for students to journal about the day’s les-son and Bible point. Use the master sheet of theI-did-it-God Musher’s Journal cover from theteacher’s resource packet and copy one per stu-dent onto construction paper or heavy card-stock. Distribute the covers to the students onthe first Sunday of the quarter and let them puttheir names on their individual journals.

Copy the complete set of journal pages onregular copy paper (double-sided) and assiststudents in assembling the journals in the cor-rect order.

Copy week 12/week 1 on the back of week2/week 11; week 10/week 3 on the back ofweek 4/week 9; and, week8/week 5 on the backof week 6/week 7.

Theme-related ActivitiesHere are some brief suggestions for theme-

related activities. Include them as you haveextra time or instead of other activities offeredin the lessons.

• Serve snacks that tie in with the themeof winter, racing, Alaska, and dogs whenpossible. A few suggestions are KlondikeBars, Eskimo Pies, Puppy Chow, TrailMix, Sno Cones, and Hostess Sno Ballcupcakes. Another option is camp foodsuch as canned foods that can be openedand eaten with little preparation. Bringin canned fire and a manual can openerand cook a snack some week as thoughyou and the class were actually out onthe trail.

• Use the song “Every Move I Make” byDavid Ruis to reinforce the message thatJesus is our guide (musher) and everystep we take on the trail must be directedby Him.

• Create an Aurora Borealis picture toremind students of the beauty God dis-plays even in the harshest regions. Givestudents a plain white piece of paper andplace a black piece of construction paperof the same size on top of it. Staple thecorners at the top. Instruct students totear off a thin strip of the black con-struction paper, from top to bottom.Provide pastel chalk and allow studentsto select one to color on the white paperrevealed. Next, tear another strip fromtop to bottom and color the white piecewith the desired color. Continue in this10


fashion until the entire white page isstriped with pastel chalk. Instruct stu-dents to use a tissue to gently blend thecolors. Provide black construction papersilhouettes of arctic animals. Let studentschoose one animal to place in the centerof the picture.

• See www.Iditarod.com for more infor-mation about the Iditarod including pic-tures, videos, route, history, weather, andmusher data.

Characteristics of 8 and 9 year old children.8 Year Old Students

• Active and on the move • Create excuses with ease• Overzealous and overconfident• Love catching adults in mistakes• Emotionally volatile (dramatic tears)• Want to be treated as adults• Easily offended when sensing conde-

scension• Appreciate a factual but fun teacher• Short attention span• Industrious but not attentive to detail• Frequently create and disband friend-

ships and secret clubs

9 Year Old Students• Self-paced and self-motivated• Prefer planning and step-by-step

instructions• Enjoy repetitive activities to perfect a skill• Loyal and committed to friends• Value teamwork in games and respect rules• Cooperation and fairness of utmost

importance• Voice decidedly strong opinions about

people• Display annoying physical habits such

as tapping/humming/bouncing leg• Boys are vocal while girls whisper and

giggle in groups• Require constant reassurance and one-on-

one assistance to prevent discouragement• Begin developing moral conscience with

acceptance of consequences

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Aurora BorealisStep 1

Step 2

Step 3


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For questions andcomments, checkout our group “WordAflame Primary

Curriculum Teachers” on Facebook. Post yourpictures and praisereports for all to enjoy!

Photos provided by Lisa Readout Dupuis. From the Apostolic Church of Enfield, Enfiel, CT. Pastor Clifford H. Readout, Jr.

http://the-apostolics.com/primary.html


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