NOTES to accompany Powerpoint presentation

Transcription

1 Meaningful Chocolate 2014 Resources for Advent Assembly Title 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 NOTES to accompany Powerpoint presentation Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 1

2 Aim To provide an opportunity to introduce the season of Advent, to share the Christmas story and reflect on the importance of the Christmas story. Notes give a guide to: 1. find out how much the children know about the Christmas story and the main characters 2. narrate the nativity story using images from the Advent Calendar activity booklet with additional details 3. discuss how the story of Jesus birth is remembered and celebrated and how important it is to Christians 4. reflect on what it would be like if the nativity story was taken out of Christmas celebrations 5. be thankful for Christmas and all that it means to us Resources: PowerPoint with illustrated version of the Christmas story based on the characters used in the Real Advent Calendar activity booklet Notes for narration, points for reflection and song/prayer suggestion Technical: Please familiarise yourself with the presentation beforehand and make any adjustments necessary. The fonts used are Arial or Helvetica. The first slide gives opportunity for you to add your school name, logo and ethos statement. 2 Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2

3 Assembly notes: 1. Invite the children to see if they can identify the main characters (not necessarily human) in the Christmas story in order of importance. You may like to divide the children into two teams and award points. The list is straight from the Bible accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the Bible. We suggest the following: JESUS MARY JOSEPH ANGELS KING HEROD WISE MEN SHEPHERDS 2. Ask the children how well they think they know the Christmas story. You may like to take a simple vote on this and make a graph later as part of a cross-curricular approach to the Christmas story. You can also refer to the statistics presented by (below) which state that 36% of 5-7 yr-olds don t know whose birthday is celebrated on December 25th. Further statistics are available from the Evangelical Alliance Christmas facts and surveys page Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 3

4 3. The Christmas story. Narrate the nativity story by opening the PowerPoint resource and using the slides provided (from the Advent Calendar 2014). You may like to choose several narrators to help and add any additional pieces of information yourself. Your school logo here Name of your school Ethos statement here This is the story of the birth of Jesus. He s not an ordinary baby. Not at all. Nothing about him is ordinary. It happened like this This is the story of the birth of Jesus. He s not an ordinary baby. Not at all. Nothing about him is ordinary. It happened like this More than 2000 years ago in the Holy Land, people were very sad because their country was ruled by the Romans. The people hated being ruled by the Romans. They wanted God to send them a King to free them. More than 2000 years ago in the Holy Land, people were very sad because their country was ruled by the Romans. The people hated being ruled by the Romans. They wanted God to send them a King to free them. 4 Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2

5 Additional information Does anyone know where the Holy Land is (Northern Israel)? A globe or map may be useful to point out where the UK is and then where the Holy Land is or you may like to add a slide to the presentation. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. An angel called Gabriel visited Mary. Meeting an angel was very scary. It certainly changed EVERYTHING. You are going to have a baby the angel told Mary. He will be called Jesus, he will be the one that everyone is waiting for the promised King. Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth. An angel called Gabriel visited Mary. Meeting an angel was very scary. It certainly changed EVERYTHING. You are going to have a baby the angel told Mary. He will be called Jesus. He will be the one that everyone is waiting for the promised King. Additional information: You may like to explain the birth of the miracle baby like this. Ask who Jesus mum was. Then ask who Jesus dad was. Explain that it wasn t Joseph. The angel tells Mary that God is giving her HIS son and that it will be a miracle. The angel s name is Gabriel. One day the Roman Emperor decided to count everyone and find out how much money they had He ordered everyone to go their home town. Mary and Joseph had to travel with everyone else to their home town to be counted. One day the Roman Emperor decided to count everyone and find out how much money they had He ordered everyone to go their home town. Mary and Joseph had to travel with everyone else to their home town to be counted. Additional information: Joseph and Mary had to go back to Joseph s home town - the place where all his relatives were born. Do you know where your relatives live? Joseph and Mary had to go to Joseph s home town as the Romans were conducting a CENSUS. Every so often it s important to find out lots of information about people and the way that they live. In this country we have a census every ten years and it helps the government to plan all our services: roads, hospitals, schools etc Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 5

6 Nobody wanted to go to their home town. Everyone was grumpy. And Mary was tired. Even the donkey was tired after all, he was carrying two people Nobody wanted to go to their home town. Everyone was grumpy. And Mary was tired. Even the donkey was tired after all, he was carrying two people Hundreds of miles away, wise men saw a special star in the sky. That star means a new King, they said excitedly. They saddled their camels and left right away. The star shone ahead of the wise men as they travelled. Hundreds of miles away, wise men saw a special star in the sky. That star means a new King, they said excitedly. They saddled their camels and left right away. The star shone ahead of the wise men as they travelled. Additional information: The wise men were called magi (which is where we get our word magicians from) and were very clever men who studied the stars. They came from the Far East from a country called Persia which is now the country of Iran. 6 Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2

7 What do you give a new King as a present? The wise men packed some very unusual presents. One wise man carried a gift of gold for the baby. He thought, Money is always useful One wise man carried a gift of frankincense for the baby. What would a new King want with holy smoke? What do you give a new King as a present? The wise men packed some very unusual presents. One wise man carried a gift of gold for the baby. He thought, Money is always useful One wise man carried a gift of frankincense for the baby. What would a new King want with holy smoke? One wise man carried a gift of myrrh for the baby. This is the ointment to put on very sick people. Very odd indeed. The wise men went to the palace. That s where you go to meet a newborn King. One wise man carried a gift of myrrh for the baby. This is the ointment to put on very sick people. Very odd indeed. The wise men went to the palace. That s where you go to meet a newborn King. King Herod was surprised to hear who the wise men were looking for. A new King?, he said, I d love to meet him. King Herod was a very bad King and he wasn t to be trusted. He did not want Jesus to be King and wanted to get rid of the baby. King Herod was surprised to hear who the wise men were looking for. A new King?, he said, I d love to meet him. King Herod was a very bad King and he wasn t to be trusted. He did not want Jesus to be King and wanted to get rid of the baby. Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 7

8 If you find that baby let me know, he said to the wise men. The star led the wise men towards Bethlehem. In a dream, an angel told the wise men not to go back to King Herod. If you find that baby let me know, he said to the wise men. The star led the wise men towards Bethlehem. In a dream, an angel told the wise men not to go back to King Herod. Additional information: King Herod was known as a very cruel and evil King and he was worried that the new baby would be a rival so he was determined to get rid of him. Mary and Joseph and lots of other travellers had arrived in their home town of Bethlehem for the census. There weren t enough rooms for everybody. What are Mary and Joseph to do? My wife is having a baby Joseph begged. isn t there a bit of room for us? Mary and Joseph and lots of other travellers had arrived in their home town of Bethlehem for the census. There weren t enough rooms for everybody. What are Mary and Joseph to do? My wife is having a baby Joseph begged. Isn t there a bit of room for us? Mary and Joseph were so tired they would have slept almost anywhere. At last, someone said, I have a stable. It s not very clean but it s warm and dry. You will have to lie down with the animals. But then there was something else the baby was coming Mary and Joseph were so tired they would have slept almost anywhere. At last, someone said, I have a stable. It s not very clean but it s warm and dry. You will have to lie down with the animals. But then there was something else the baby was coming 8 Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2

9 In the hills above Bethlehem there were shepherds looking after their sheep. An angel appeared. It was a quiet night when another angel appeared and then the whole night sky lit up with angels singing and praising God for the birth of the newborn King. In the hills above Bethlehem there were shepherds looking after their sheep. An angel appeared. It was a quiet night when another angel appeared and then the whole night sky lit up with angels singing and praising God for the birth of the newborn King. We ve got to see him, the shepherds all said. Without leaving anyone to guard the sheep, off they went down the hillside in the dark, towards the lights of Bethlehem. The shepherds did not expect to find the new King in a stable with sheep and cows But they knew this would be no ordinary baby. He was their new King, the one they had been waiting for. We ve got to see him, the shepherds all said. Without leaving anyone to guard the sheep, off they went down the hillside in the dark, towards the lights of Bethlehem. The shepherds did not expect to find the new King in a stable with sheep and cows But they knew this would be no ordinary baby. He was their new King, the one they had been waiting for. Where were you born? Bet it wasn t in a stable. That s where Jesus was born with smelly animals all around him. Where were you born? Bet it wasn t in a stable. That s where Jesus was born with smelly animals all around him. Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 9

10 The shepherds were poor and smelled a bit. The wise men were rich and important. It doesn t matter. All that matters is that they came to see Jesus. They wanted to say You are my King to kneel and thank him for coming. The shepherds were poor and smelled a bit. The wise men were rich and important. It doesn t matter. All that matters is that they came to see Jesus. They wanted to say You are my King to kneel and thank him for coming. On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Happy Christmas On Christmas Day we celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. Happy Christmas Additional information: There is a special word used to describe the time when we prepare for Christmas ADVENT. It s where we get our Advent Calendar from. Jesus was later called Christ which means God s chosen one and later when he was grown up he said that he had come to bring peace to the world. Having heard the story, ask the children How well do you think you knew the Christmas story? You may like to take a simple vote and make a graph later as part of a cross-curricular approach to the Christmas story. You can also refer to the statistics presented by which state that 36% of 5-7 yr-olds don t know whose birthday we celebrate on December 25th. 10 Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2

11 4. Time for reflection: Imagine what Christmas would be like if we took the Nativity story out of Christmas. What would we miss? Things you might like to point out are: We couldn t call it Christmas. We couldn t celebrate Jesus coming into the world or bringing peace into the world. We might find that there is more emphasis on presents and parties rather than thinking of others We wouldn t sing Christmas hymns and carols What are the things about the Christmas story that you would miss? Song suggestion: Every Christmas from Songs for Every Christmas by Mark and Helen Johnson, Ages Prayer Lord God Thank you for Christmas Help us to understand all that it means to others And help us to discover what it means to us Assembly 1: Which parts of Christmas do we celebrate? KS1-2 11