Scripture: Genesis 3-4
Learning Objectives:
- Students will review the story of the first sins, paying special attention to the surroundings of the stories
- Students will learn/review the concept of beginning sounds in words
- Students will participate in an activity which allows them to practice identifying the initial sounds of words and connecting them to a letter of the alphabet
Guiding Question: Can you identify the first letter of a word by listening carefully to the word?
Materials: large “soup” pot, plastic or real fruits and vegetables or pictures/drawings of various fruits and vegetables, plastic letters of the alphabet or letters of the alphabet written on separate bits of paper (optional additional ingredients to make soup) link to tasteofhome.com – simple Italian vegetable soup recipe
Procedure: Review the stories in Genesis chapters three and four. Explain to the students that although the Bible does not tell us exactly which kinds of fruits and vegetables were in the Garden of Eden, we know Adam and Eve had to work harder to grow them outside of the Garden after the Fall. Show students the fruits and vegetables (or drawings) you have gathered. Review with students how to isolate and identify the beginning sound of a word. (Ex. Pep-per — Ppp — “P”). Have students come up to the soup pot in pairs. One student places a fruit or vegetable in the pot. The other student must identify the correct first letter of the ingredient. For large groups, you may want to have multiple soup pots going at the same time. (Please note these are pretend soup pots and are not on any heat for cooking.) Have students take turns choosing ingredients and letters. To extend the activity, you can either serve the students real vegetable soup or work with them to make soup and then eat it. (Please take all necessary safety precautions. You may want to have vegetables pre-cut and have students place them in a pot of cold water. The pot can then be placed on a stove and cooked by an adult.)
Additional Question: Can you correctly identify all of the letters in a word by listening carefully?
Supplemental Activity: Repeat the activity, but encourage the students to identify all of the letters in the word by listening carefully to the sounds. You can also add additional “ingredients” to the “soup” pot to extend the activity.