Heroes And Zeroes

 

A Note 
To Dedicated Teachers

What does this workbook cover?

This workbook takes the students through a study of 25 Old Testament characters, some good and some bad. With each storythe students will learn lessons that will help them as they strive to glorify God with their lives.

What are the learning objectives?

There are two basic things we hope to accomplish with this material.

First and most obvious, we want the student to learn from these Old Testament stories. There are powerful lessons to be found in the lives of these characters. There are lessons about the rewards of living life God’s way. There are also warnings from the tragic stories of those who failed to do so. Each session will highlight one character and one primary lesson to take away from one’s life. Be sure the students get that message.

Second, we want the students to spend a lot of time working with the text. This is the broader purpose behind the layout of these lessons. Students are required to spend time in class reading the text on their own and searching for information. It is our hope that this approach will stimulate their interest in Bible study and help them learn how to study for themselves. We want to begin teaching them the joy of finding things in the Bible.

How do I teach this material?

Each lesson is divided into three parts.

Pre-Game: This involves students reading a portion of text before coming to class to prepare their minds for the study. THIS IS THE ONLY PART OF THE LESSON THAT IS COMPLETED AT HOME. So, don’t give them a “pass” on this advance preparation. It is important. In our classroom, we created a “wall of lame excuses” as a humorous way of encouraging the students to do their Bible reading. Those who did not get it done were asked to write their “lame” excuse on a bulletin board. Keep this light, but emphasize how important it is to be reading these stories before coming to class.

Game Time: At the beginning of every class, students will be divided into several teams and given a project to complete. This project will involve one member of the team reading an Old Testament story while the rest search for specific pieces of information (sort of a spiritual scavenger hunt). After reading, the team members will combine their findings into one team list. This part of the lesson should occupy about 10-15 minutes of your class time. Please do not pass over this part of the lesson. One of the primary objectives of this material is to get the students working with the text on their own. It is this part of the material that most helps us reach that goal. This team work with the text at the beginning of class is a key part of the study.

Post Game: This part of the lesson will fall into two sections lasting roughly 15 minutes each. First, talk over the story your students have just read, incorporating in this discussion the lists they have created. Discussion questions are provided to guide the teacher through this part of the class. Second, make application of the lessons learned from this story to the lives of the students. Once again, questions and scriptures have been provided to guide the teacher.

One word of warning: Do not allow yourself to get bogged down. These lessons divide the class into three sections - the team project, the discussion of the story, the application of the story. Each of these should last about 15 minutes. It may be tempting to spend more time talking over the story. But if you do, you will lose time needed to apply this story to their lives. It’s important to keep the class moving and save time for all parts of the lesson.

 

- David Banning

What We Plan To Tackle

Session [1]Zero: Goliathpage 1
Session [2]Hero: Davidpage 3
Session [3]Zero: Saulpage 5
Session [4]Hero: Noahpage 7
Session [5]Zero: Jeroboampage 9
Session [6]Hero: Josiahpage 11
Session [7]Zero: Prophets of Baalpage 13
Session [8]Hero: Elijahpage 15
Session [9]Zero: 10 Evil Spiespage 19
Session [10]Hero: Joshua & Calebpage 21
Session [11]Zero: Evepage 23
Session [12]Hero: Ezrapage 25
Session [13]Zero: Davidpage 27
Session [14]Hero: Davidpage 29
Session [15]Zero: Cainpage 31
Session [16]Hero: Danielpage 33
Session [17]Zero: Achanpage 35
Session [18]Hero: Nehemiahpage 37
Session [19]Zero: Solomonpage 39
Session [20]Hero: Josephpage 41
Session [21]Zero: Joseph's Brotherspage 43
Session [22]Hero: Josephpage 45
Session [23]Zero: Korah & The Rebelspage 47
Session [24]Hero: Hannahpage 49
Session [25]Zero: Jonahpage 51
Session [26]Wrap Uppage 53