Lesson Overview
Students will choose to imagine that they are a particular person living in the time of the New Testament around 0 A.D. They will have concise background information about their "character" and will then use internet tools to become integrated into the world of the New Testament, create their own story sharing their experience through their avatar, and then assess what they learned through a voice thread.
Objectives
- Students will gain a greater vision and appreciation for learning the context of the birth of Jesus Christ as found in the New Testament.
- Students will also be able to identify key scriptural landmarks and individuals in the New Testament.
- Students will be share their thoughts and experience with their classmates.
- Students will have a greater desire to study the New Testament.
Description of the lesson idea
Part 1-Avatar creation and Google Earth
The idea for this lesson is to help students picture themselves in the world of the New Testament. This will help students understand the context of the New Testament. Students will first create an avatar using DoppelMe.com. Using their Bible Dictionaries they will look for a Bible name to use to name their avatar. After creating their avatars students will choose 1 of three options to determine where their avatar was born; Capernaum, Bethlemhem, or Jerusalem. Using Google earth students will then explore the modern day locations of their home town. Students will also use Bibleplaces.com to look up information about their particular city.
Part 2-Scripture Study and Storyboards
The next part of the lesson will be to have students further immerse themselves into the story of the birth of Jesus Christ by reading about the accounts found in the Bible (Luke 2, Matthew 1:18-24; 2:1-12) imagining they were actually there as their avatar. Students will then tell their story using storyboards following the instructions from digitalstorytelling about the experience their avatar had as a witness for the events.
Part 3-Class Discussion and Assessment through VoiceThread
The final part of the lesson will be the assessment by students sharing their thoughts and experience with their classmates using VoiceThread. This type of "class discussion" will show how much the students were able to take from the experience.
The idea for this lesson is to help students picture themselves in the world of the New Testament. This will help students understand the context of the New Testament. Students will first create an avatar using DoppelMe.com. Using their Bible Dictionaries they will look for a Bible name to use to name their avatar. After creating their avatars students will choose 1 of three options to determine where their avatar was born; Capernaum, Bethlemhem, or Jerusalem. Using Google earth students will then explore the modern day locations of their home town. Students will also use Bibleplaces.com to look up information about their particular city.
Part 2-Scripture Study and Storyboards
The next part of the lesson will be to have students further immerse themselves into the story of the birth of Jesus Christ by reading about the accounts found in the Bible (Luke 2, Matthew 1:18-24; 2:1-12) imagining they were actually there as their avatar. Students will then tell their story using storyboards following the instructions from digitalstorytelling about the experience their avatar had as a witness for the events.
Part 3-Class Discussion and Assessment through VoiceThread
The final part of the lesson will be the assessment by students sharing their thoughts and experience with their classmates using VoiceThread. This type of "class discussion" will show how much the students were able to take from the experience.
Online links and resources
Assessment tools
Using VoiceThread it will be possible to analyze and assess what the students were able to take from the lesson.