Scripture: 1 Samuel 1-3
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn the story of Hannah praying for a son.
- Students will learn the importance of praising God.
- Students will learn words used to express emotion in stories.
Guiding Questions: How can students learn to use emotion words in writing?
Materials: Children’s books familiar with your students, paper, pencils
Procedure:
Review the story of Hannah praying for Samuel. Review how God granted Hannah with a son and how Hannah went about praising God for His work. Talk with the students about the importance of praying to God for His good work and why it is important for us to praise God when he answers prayers. Remind the students that Hannah was very emotional when Eli found her praying. What words let us know how emotional she was?
Read short excerpts from other stories familiar to students that describe a character who is very emotional. Have students identify the words that help the reader understand the emotions the character was feeling. Have students write about a short incident when the character is experiencing a lot of different emotions. The story can be from real life or fiction. Have students share some of their sentences. What are some of the best examples of writing that conveys emotion?
Additional Questions: How can students learn to use a thesaurus to enhance their writing?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students do a “thesaurus hunt” to find richer words for common emotion words such as “sad”, “mad”, “happy”, etc.