The Best Kind of Stories

All classes are different, and even if you teach the same content in the same way, groups of students learn and react differently. My current class has blown me away with their approach to learning the Bible. They seem to view the Bible as more of a story book. A real, life-giving, thrilling, story. I mean, that's what it is, but how often do I view it like that? I shamelessly promote reading in my class, and we cherish a good read aloud and squeeze every class minute for extra silent reading time. I know my students like to read, but the fact that they like to read and learn from the Bible makes me very happy. Usually before I can even tell them to open their Bibles, hands are in the air and the questions come firing:

What is David going to do today? 
When will the temple be built? 
Who is the next king we get to talk about? 
Is this king actually going to make good choices? 
I am getting nervous for Israel, what's going to happen today? 

Most of the time they have already flipped ahead in their Bibles and try to guess what we will talk about that day. Picking up from where we left off, they are ready to read the next installment of the story. We dive head first into our reading, and promptly run into some roadblocks. The Bible was not written at a 4th grade reading level. My class is full of students whose first language is not English. "What just happened exactly?" is a popular question. We discuss. We draw family trees and diagrams. I act out scenes. We create chronological lists of kings in the pocket chart on the wall. We pick apart character traits like it was reading class and discuss war and treaties like it was history class. At the end we always have to stop and think how it applies to us. What can we learn? What is God trying to show us?

As we studied the kings of Israel, we spent a week focusing on the prophet Elijah. He had the tough job of trying to point the wicked, stubborn kings back to God. My students made paper characters and scenes to teach the class about some of Elijah's miracles.

My class cracks me up because they literally cheer for the kings when they make a good choice. They groan when another wicked king takes the throne. They appreciate the prophets and the tough jobs they had. "Seems like they mostly get thrown in jail and get yelled at," one student observed.

Our study of the Old Testament has shown us that God is both merciful and just. We decided that we are VERY thankful he is both. I have decided I am thankful that my students like a good story. I am more thankful they know the Bible is a true story, and the best one we have.