As part of a recent in-service day at Notre Dame, several high school theology teachers offered lesson plans to share. Presented below is another in a series of lessons that will be offered from time to time on the Engaging Faith blog.
By Joan Kruger
St. Ursula Academy
Cincinnati, OH
To help celebrate the start of Advent and the birth of a new Church Year, have the students search the Bible for a specific Scripture verse they can make their own. Here is one Scripture search engine that will help with the activity.
The idea is to look through various books of the Bible and find a verse from one of the books that corresponds with the month and day of their birth and also speaks to something particular about the person. For example: January 3=Genesis 1:3 “Then the Lord said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”
Some books will not have enough chapters to handle some of the later months, and some chapters don’t have enough verses for 31 days, so some students will have fewer verses available to them. Nevertheless, the results are always interesting!
After choosing their own Birthday Scripture, have the students make a piece of art to display the passage. They write it out in a decorative way and illustrate it in order to bring out the meaning. Of course, the book, chapter, and verse are included in a prominent place on the art piece.
The Birthday Scripture verses can be used to decorate the classroom, and we get to know people’s birthdays as we see their special Scripture verse.
You might also give extra credit if a student writes her Scripture verse on the test. This encourages the students to memorize a Scripture verse and make it their own.
