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Domain.456 helps 4th, 5th and 6th graders look at important issues from a biblical perspective so they can learn how to make Christ-centered decisions to strengthen them and benefit them for the rest of their lives! As adults, it's easy to close our eyes and see the days of childhood as carefree and innocent as they might have been in our day. But when we open our eyes and see the world as our kids live in, it becomes clear life causes them a lot of stress and anxiety. Instead of wishing for simpler days, it's time to take reality by the horns and tell our children, "Let's talk about it . . ." Domain.456 was designed to help you do just that. Each topic in the series represents issues Middlers are concerned about, and in many cases learning about from their peers, the media or in school. With Domain.456, you can provide an opportunity for them to discuss their concerns in a Christian context. For many of your kids, this may be the first chance they have to hear that the Bible has a lot to teach them about each of these contemporary life concerns. And as you teach the lessons in this series, you'll have an opportunity to: • Introduce and teach topics of concern to Middlers in a distinctively Christian context.
• Provide a safe place to learn about, talk about and express feelings about each issue.
• Teach practical skills and biblical principles Middlers can use to cope with each concern in their daily lives.
• Provide a tool to help parents facilitate family discussion and coping in the home setting. Four-Part Lesson Plan Each lesson follows this format: 1. Setting the Stage (5-10 minutes). Each lesson begins with an activity designed to do two things. First, it is a gathering activity, meaning that you can involve your students in it as soon as they arrive. You do not need to have the whole class present to begin your lesson time. By arriving early and having the Setting the Stage activity set up and ready for the kids as soon as they walk in the door, you will communicate a sense of excitement about the lesson and set a tone of orderliness for your class.
Secondly, the Setting the Stage activity is purposeful in that it will draw the students into the subject for the day. It is more than just something to keep the kids busy while everyone arrives. The activity will provide a fun and interesting way to draw the kids' attention to an area of interest in their lives. Most of the time, it will also raise questions which will lead them into the next section of the lesson. 2. Introducing the Issue (20 minutes). Building on the Setting the Stage activity, this section of the lesson will involve the kids in an active discussion of the topic of the day. The material provided for you contains information the kids need to know, anticipating key questions they may have. It also includes one or more learning activities particularly designed to encourage your students to talk about the issues most on their minds, while in the context of a Christian community. To make this time as effective as possible, you will need to establish your class as a safe place where everyone's feelings and questions are welcomed and treated seriously (some suggestions for doing that are listed on page 5). Once that has been accomplished, you may be surprised at how much your Middlers have to say, and the depth of their thinking! 3. Searching the Scriptures (20 minutes). This section of each lesson takes your class to the Bible to discover what God has to say about the topic being discussed. Your students may be amazed to find out just how much the Bible says about subjects that seem so modern. Through a wide variety of creative teaching methods, your class will study people and principles of Scripture that speak directly to the concerns gripping their hearts and minds. As you study together, you will also be acquainting them with the most valuable resource they can have for coping with these contemporary issues: their Bibles. 4. Living the Lesson (5-10 minutes). The final section of each lesson challenges the kids to take what they've learned and apply it to their own lives. It's the so what section. The class members will be encouraged to ask themselves, "So what am I going to do with what I've just learned?"
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