The Complete Guide to Godly Play: Volume 4, Revised and Expanded
216
The Complete Guide to Godly Play: Volume 4, Revised and Expanded
216eBook
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Overview
The Godly Play® approach helps children explore their faith through story, to gain religious language, and to enhance their spiritual experience through wonder and play.
Based on Montessori principles and developed using a spiral curriculum, the Godly Play® method services children through early, middle, and late childhood and beyond. Revised and expanded, The Complete Guide to Godly Play, Volume 4, offers new concepts, new terminology, new illustrations, and a new structure that stem from more than 10 years of using Godly Play® with children across the world. Thirty to forty percent of the text is new or revised, including a new lesson, revised Introduction, and a full Appendix.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780898690873 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Church Publishing |
| Publication date: | 01/01/2018 |
| Series: | Godly Play , #4 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 216 |
| File size: | 9 MB |
About the Author
Jerome W. Berryman is the founder of Godly Play and has a wide experience working with children ages 2–18. Priest, writer, lecturer, and workshop leader, Berryman is Senior Fellow of the Center for the Theology of Childhood. He is the author of The Complete Guide to Godly Play, Teaching Godly Play, Children and the Theologians, The Spiritual Guidance of Children, and Stories of God at Home. He lives in Greenwood Village, Colorado.
The Rev. Cheryl V. Minor, Ph.D., is the Director of the Center for the Theology of Childhood, the research and development arm of the Godly Play Foundation. For over 20 years, she has served as Co-Rector at the All Saints' Episcopal Church in Belmont, Massachusetts, where she is privileged to practice Godly Play with children ages three to thirteen. She is the author of Godly Play in Middle and Late Childhood.
Rosemary Beales has been sitting in circles with children for nearly 30 years, including 12 years as chaplain and religion teacher to 400 children at an Episcopal school in Alexandria, Virginia. She received her DMin from Virginia Theological Seminary and is a licensed Godly Play Trainer and an Episcopal priest, currently serving in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
The Mystery of Easter
Lent, the Mystery of Easter, and the Easter Season
How to Use This Lesson
• Enrichment Presentation — This kind of lesson goes over the same material in a Core Lesson but from a different angle or in a more detailed way.
• Liturgical Action Lesson — Lessons about sacraments or traditions of the church, which primarily use ritual and symbol to make meaning.
• This Enrichment Lesson in Volume 4 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play adds to the Core Lesson for Lent called "The Faces of Easter." The cross in this lesson will remind the children of the cross that Jesus saw when he first looked up into the faces of Mary and Joseph, and of his journey to the cross — a journey we all take with him every year during the season of Lent.
• As the first lesson in Volume 4 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play, it is usually presented at the beginning of Lent.
• It is part of a comprehensive approach to Christian formation that consists of eight volumes. Together the lessons form a spiral curriculum that enables children to move into adolescence with an inner working knowledge of the classical Christian language system to sustain them all their lives.
The Material
• Location: Lent/Easter Shelf Unit
• Pieces: Reversible purple and white bag, six puzzle pieces that form a cross (purple on one side, white on the other), a wooden tray
• Underlay: Use a rug or plain felt underlay
Background
Lent is the season when we prepare for Easter. These six weeks are a solemn time, overflowing with meaning, when we view life from the perspective of our existential limits and the sacrifice of Christ. This lesson gives an introduction to the relationship of Lent to the Mystery of Easter as well as how Easter overflows into the season of Easter.
There are several possible uses for this lesson:
• Present it on the Sunday before Lent.
• Present it at a gathering of the congregation on Shrove Tuesday (the night before Lent begins). If you do this you might consider enlarging the material so it's easier to see in a large group setting.
• Present it as part of a liturgy designed for children on Ash Wednesday. This liturgy might include this presentation, a demonstration of how the ashes are made each year (by burning some of the previous year's palms from Palm Sunday), a song, a prayer, and then the imposition of ashes.
• Present it on the First Sunday of Lent, after focusing on the change of seasons.
– Use The Holy Family presentation (Volume 2, Lesson 3) to change the focal shelf color from green to purple.
– Then tell "The Mystery of Easter."
– The next week (the second Sunday in Lent) you can either present the first two of "The Faces of Easter" (Volume 4, Lessons 2 and 3), or begin the four-part series called "The Greatest Parable" (Volume 8, Lessons 1–4).
Notes on the Material
Find the materials for this presentation on the second shelf of the Lent/Easter Shelf Unit, directly under the lesson called "The Faces of Easter" (Volume 4, Lessons 2–8).
A bag, which is purple on the outside and white on the inside, holds six puzzle pieces, which, when assembled, make the shape of the cross. One side of the cross is purple; the other side of the cross is white. It is much more than a puzzle with pieces that fit together, as you will see at the end of The Mystery of Easter lesson.
Special Notes
Remember that this story is called "The Mystery of Easter," not "The Mystery of Lent." The fullest meaning of Lent is that it gives us time to prepare for the great Mystery of Easter, the principal feast of the Christian Church. Similarly, we recommend that you not call the material a "cross puzzle" but always refer to it as "the material for the Mystery of Easter."
At the end of this lesson the storyteller will put the pieces of the cross inside the bag, leaving it with the white on the outside. It will stay on the shelf like that through the end of that session. However, after the children leave the storyteller should turn the bag back to its purple side so that when the children return the next week they will find a purple bag.
Movements
Go to the basket of work rugs in the room and carry one to the circle. Model how to unroll the rug.
Go to the Lent/Easter Shelf Unit and bring the tray with the bag on it. Put the tray at your side and place the bag in the middle of the rug.
Pick up the bag and explore it from the outside.
Place the bag back on the rug and reach inside. Pull out the first piece with the purple side up, taking care not to reveal the white side.
Place it beside the bag. Turn it this way and that. Encourage the children's guesses, then reach inside the bag and take out a second piece.
Place the second piece on the rug, apart from the first piece. Turn the pieces, but do not fit them together.
Take out the third piece.
Put the third piece beside the other two, but do not fit the pieces together. Move the pieces around and try combinations that do not work.
Take out the fourth piece. Put the fourth piece beside the other three, but do not fit the pieces together. Take out the fifth piece.
Touch the almost empty bag and "find" yet another piece.
Take out the sixth piece.
Look in the bag. It is now empty.
Place the bag on the floor and sit back to wonder about it.
Touch one or more of the pieces as you talk about them.
Begin to move the pieces around, but do not yet fit them together. Experiment. Propose alternative constructions.
Play. Finally, assemble the cross.
Turn the pieces over to make a completely white cross.
Show the purple side of a few pieces.
Turn the pieces back to white again.
Reach inside the purple bag and take hold of the inside. Turn the bag inside out.
Count the white pieces.
Sit back and contemplate the Mystery of Easter for a few moments, and then begin the wondering questions.
When the wondering is finished, put the pieces of the cross inside the bag, leaving it with the white on the outside. Return the material to the shelf and help the children begin to get out their work.
Remember to turn the bag back to the purple side after the children leave so that they will find it that way the next week.
Words
Watch carefully where I go so you will always know where to find this lesson. First we need a rug.
Watch again.
This is the time for the color purple. It is the time for preparing. Purple is the color of kings. We are preparing for the coming of a king and his going and his coming again. We are preparing for the Mystery of Easter. This is a serious time. It takes many weeks to get ready to enter the Mystery of Easter. Let's look inside to see how many weeks it takes and what Lent makes when you put it all together. I wonder what this could be?
Look. Here is a second piece. I wonder what this could be?
Look. Here's a third piece.
They are all so different.
Here is a fourth piece. One, two, three, four weeks in Lent? That's the same as the time for getting ready for Christmas. Perhaps that is all we need for Easter, too.
Oh, no! Here's another one. Lent is longer than Advent. I wonder if the Mystery of Easter is an even greater mystery than the Mystery of Christmas. It takes longer to get ready.
That must be all there is.
No. It is not empty. There must be another week inside.
There is another one! The time of Lent is six weeks. Easter is a huge mystery. Let's see if there is another one.
Now it is empty. Look. The time of Lent is six weeks.
Lent helps us to get ready. It is a time to know more about the One who is Easter. It is also a time to learn more about who we really are.
The pieces are very purple. The One who is coming is very important, like a king. But purple can feel kind of sad, too. Perhaps what is going to happen is sad.
I wonder what these make when you put them all together?
Oh, I see. It makes a cross. But it's a sad cross. Jesus grew up to be a man and died on the cross. That is sad, but it is also wonderful. Now look what happens.
Jesus died on the cross, but somehow he is still with us. That is why Easter is not just sad. It is also happy.
Lent is sad ...
... Easter is pure celebration.
Easter turns everything inside out and upside down. The color of getting ready becomes the color of pure celebration.
The sad seriousness and happiness join together to make joy. Look! You can't keep Easter in just one Sunday!
It goes on for one, two, three, four, five, six weeks! All the way to Pentecost.
Now I wonder if you have ever seen these colors in the church? I wonder what happens when you see these colors? I wonder what part of Lent you like best? I wonder what part of Lent is the most important? I wonder who takes care of the colors? I wonder where these colors are when you don't see them? I wonder if you see the white at some other time in church? I wonder how sadness and happiness can make joy? I wonder where joy comes from? I wonder how you know when joy is here?
I wonder what your work will be today? You might make something about this story, or another story that you know. Maybe you want to work on something else. There are so many things you can choose from. Only you know what is right for you.
CHAPTER 2
The Faces of Easter I
Jesus' Birth and Growth (Matthew 1:18–25; Luke 2: 1–7)
How to Use This Lesson
• Core Presentation
• Liturgical Action Lesson: Lessons about sacraments or traditions of the church, which primarily use ritual and symbol to make meaning.
• As the second lesson in Volume 4 of The Complete Guide to Godly Play, it is usually presented at the beginning of Lent. It is part of a series of lessons meant to be told over the course of the entire season of Lent.
• It is part of a comprehensive approach to Christian formation that consists of eight volumes. Together the lessons form a spiral curriculum that enables children to move into adolescence with an inner working knowledge of the classical Christian language system to sustain them all their lives.
The Material
• Location: Lent/Easter Shelf Unit
• Pieces: Seven plaques illustrated with Faces of Christ, stand or tray
• Underlay: A strip of felt consisting of seven purple segments and one white segment. The underlay is rolled with the white on the inside.
Background
Lent is the season when we prepare for Easter. This lesson (and the whole series of lessons called "The Faces of Easter") helps children prepare for the Mystery of Easter. We move toward the Mystery by hearing the stories of Christ's journey toward the cross and resurrection. This week's presentation focuses on the face of Christ as a newborn child. If you used the presentations of the Holy Family and the Mystery of Easter on the first week of Lent, then you might want to tell two of the Faces presentations today.
Notes on the Material
Find the materials for this presentation on the left of the top shelf of the Lent/Easter Shelf Unit.
The material consists of a set of seven Faces of Christ, mounted on wood plaques. The underlay is a purple and white "scroll" that unrolls to show six purple rectangles and one white rectangle. Roll up the scroll so that the white rectangle is hidden inside.
A special carrier stand for the Faces plaques stands them up, making them visible to a child scanning the room full of materials. This stand for the plaques also holds the rolled-up scroll. If you do not use this stand, put the rolled-up scroll and plaques on a tray.
Special Notes
At the end of each presentation of the Faces stories, you invite children to choose materials from the room that will help tell more of the story. For example, when you tell today's story of "Jesus' Birth and Growth," one child might bring crèche figures to place by the plaque. Another child might bring the Desert Box. Be open to the surprising connections children make as they explore the meaning embodied in the materials. This activity is especially important because it provides movement and action to these stories and integrates the whole room with Jesus' birth, life, death, and resurrection.
Be sure you unroll the scroll so that its roll is closest to you, not to the children. This keeps the roll from blocking some of the children's view of the Faces. (See the illustration). As the scroll unrolls, the rolled up portion stays near the storyteller. It is as if the story is growing out of the rolled-up scroll like a seed, the white part rolled up inside. It also is growing out of the storyteller's life and experiences toward the children. The illustrations in these sessions make this clear. Each time you present any of the Faces of Easter, unroll the first section of the scroll, place the first plaque, unroll the second section of the scroll, place the second plaque, etc.
Movements
When the children are ready, go to the shelf where the Lent and Easter materials are kept. Bring the plaques and rolled-up underlay "scroll" to the circle.
Put the plaques at your side and place the scroll in front of you. Unroll the scroll toward the children to uncover the rectangle for the first plaque.
Pick up the first plaque, with the picture of the infant Jesus, and hold the face toward the children. Point to the figures as you identify them and trace around their faces.
In Mary's face, trace the cross with your index finger along the line of the nose to the mouth and then the line from eye to eye.
Repeat for Joseph's face.
Trace a circle around the whole family.
When you have enjoyed for a moment the idea of the baby growing, put the plaque down on the scroll, facing the children.
Begin to go around the circle, asking each child if he or she would like to bring something to put by the plaque.
Some children may not be able to think of anything, so move on if it looks as if they are stuck. You can come back to them later. If they are still stuck, that is okay. Many children learn by watching as well as by doing.
Sometimes children get up, wander for a moment and bring something at random, without knowing why. That's okay. Be amazed (which is easy) and wonder why with them, together coming up with something relevant. Everything in the room is connected in some way.
Enjoy the items that the children bring to help tell the story. When you have had time to enjoy the entire layout, invite children, one at a time, to return their materials to their places on the shelves. Then take the plaques and scroll back to the Lent/Easter Shelf Unit.
Return to your spot in the circle and begin to help the children get out their work.
Words
Watch carefully where I go so you will always know where to find this lesson.
In the beginning, the baby was born. God chose Mary to be the mother of God. Listen carefully! Listen to the words. God chose Mary to be the mother of God, and the Word was born a wordless child.
When the baby looked up into the face of the Mother Mary, he already saw the cross.
When he looked into the face of the Father Joseph, the cross was there, too.
The Mother Mary and the Father Joseph held the baby close. They kept the baby warm. They gave the baby everything he needed, and the baby began to grow.
Now I wonder if there is anything in this room that you can bring and put beside this picture to help us tell more about this part of the story. Look around and see. I will go around the circle and ask each one of you if you would like to go and get something to put beside the picture of the baby to show more of the story.
I don't know what you are going to get. You are the only one in the world who knows that.
If you don't feel like getting something that's okay. Just enjoy what we make together.
I wonder what your work will be today? You might make something about this story, or another story that you know. Maybe you want to work on something else. There are so many things you can choose from. Only you know what is right for you.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Complete Guide to Godly Play Volume 4, Revised and Expanded"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Jerome W. Berryman.
Excerpted by permission of Church Publishing Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Lesson 1: The Mystery of Easter
Lesson 2: The Faces of Easter I
Lesson 3: The Faces of Easter II
Lesson 4: The Faces of Easter III
Lesson 5: The Faces of Easter IV
Lesson 6: The Faces of Easter V
Lesson 7: The Faces of Easter VI
Lesson 8: The Faces of Easter VII
Lesson 9: The Crosses
Lesson 10: The Legend of the Easter Eggs
Lesson 11: Jesus and the Twelve
Lesson 12: The Good Shepherd and World Communion
Lesson 13: The Synagogue and the Upper Room
Lesson 14: Circle of the Holy Eucharist
Lesson 15: Symbols of the Holy Eucharist
Lesson 16: The Mystery of Pentecost
Lesson 17: Saul Changes – COMPLETELY NEW
Lesson 18: Paul's Travels & Letters
Lesson 19: The Holy Trinity
Lesson 20: The Part That Hasn't Been Written Yet
Appendix A: The Foundational Literature for Godly Play
Appendix B: The Spiral Curriculum for Godly Play