We Are
Sunday School Curriculum

Exploring Who We Are Through Jesus Christ


Description: This curriculum explores 10 different things we are as Christians: Salt, Light, Sheep, Epistles, the Bride, the Body, the Temple, Children of God, Branches, and Soldiers.

Jump to lesson links at the bottom of the page.

In our Wednesday night kids’ Bible class, we taught the We Are… curriculum directly after teaching the Jesus is…A through Z curriculum. Teaching these two related curricula back to back gave us 36 weeks of lessons (from January into September), which we then followed with 3 weeks of intense review (and celebration!) of all that was learned -- in preparation for an end-of-year presentation to the rest of church. This presentation has become an annual event which has received much positive feedback from the adults! The kids answer review questions, quote verses, sing memory work songs, etc. (Side Note: For the last 13 Wednesdays of the year, another team usually takes over and works with the kids to prepare a Christmas program [play, musical, etc.].)

Goal for the We Are... Curriculum: Help kids understand who we are through, and because of, Jesus.

Overview: The lesson plans for this kids' Bible / Sunday school curriculum are written to cover 1-1/2 hours and follow this basic format:

  • REVIEW - 20 minutes
  • BIBLE MEMORY WORK - 20 minutes
  • RULES & PRAYER - 5 minutes
  • BIBLE LESSON - 20 minutes
  • BIBLE SKILLS - 10 minutes
  • ACTIVITY/SNACK - 15 minutes

Following you will find descriptions of each item. (You will, of course, need to adjust the time allotted to each depending on your class length.)

REVIEW

Review is an important part of our class time. We want the kids to remember the things we have been learning, cumulatively, throughout each quarter and the entire year. We begin each class time with REVIEW. We use questions taken from previous lessons, as well as games, songs, etc., making REVIEW a fun and interactive time. (We often have students arriving late, so the first 15 minutes or so of class is a good time to review with the kids who are there, and it’s easy to include kids as they arrive.)

Since this We Are… curriculum was designed to be used after completing the Jesus is…A through Z curriculum, the review questions from that curriculum are referenced. If you taught a different curriculum immediately preceding this one, use the REVIEW time and ideas to review that particular curriculum.

We Are… Review Questions

BIBLE MEMORY WORK

This is small-group time. A few years ago I realized we could make more progress with Bible memory work if we divided our class of 5- to 10-year-olds into smaller groups and allowed each student to work at his/her own pace. The kids love this time! They enjoy the more individualized time with the teachers. Also, the older kids are not held back by the younger.

You will need to decide what verses you want your kids to memorize. We usually have students work on six verses at a time,  related to general doctrine or to the specific series we are teaching. The basic idea is to have students learn and quote one verse at a time, then two at a time, then three at a time, etc., until they are ready to quote all six at once. This is based on a system found in a series of workbooks called Quick and Powerful Scriptural Concepts for Children by Valda Johnson and Ilene Sargeant (which can be difficult to find and order online).

We make charts for each student to check off verses as they quote them, and we offer prizes for students who are able to quote all six verses at once.

Check out my BIBLE MEMORIZATION page for more ideas.

RULES & PRAYER

Have a basic list of about five rules (Class Promises). Review these quickly and pray with the class to help them focus right before the BIBLE LESSON.

BIBLE LESSON

I wrote the We Are... Bible lessons with an inductive approach, introducing a topic (using a 3D visual if possible) and asking numerous questions of the students. Some answers are open ended, intending to invite discussion, and some have specific answers. Sometimes I ask questions as a way of introducing information (which I plan to provide in the answer) but find students surprising me by giving a very thought-provoking answer (that I hadn’t thought of). The joys of teaching!

I have used the inductive approach and scripted these lessons to make them very easy to teach. Words you are to say are bolded. Suggested answers are given in parentheses. Highlighted words are actions you are to take.

Each lesson has three parts: Introduction, Lesson, and Life Application. The Life Application always includes time for prayer. Please be sure to allow time for the kids to respond to the lesson in prayer. This is so important!

There are printable visuals that go with each Bible Lesson. You will find these (as well as printable “Power Hour Promises”) here.

BIBLE SKILLS

This is where kids get hands-on with the Bible. We purchased a case of Bibles to have on hand in our classroom. However, kids should be encouraged to bring theirs from home so they can become familiar with their very own Bibles.

ACTIVITY/SNACK

This is the part of the class where the kids enjoy an activity, craft, and/or snack related to the lesson. Our goal is that even while they are eating a snack, the lesson will be reinforced.

Some activities involve a coloring/activity page. You will find these here.

Putting all of the above elements together makes for an exciting learning environment. Your students will have fun learning more about who they are to, through, and because of Jesus!

Lesson 1: Salt

Lesson 2: Light

Lesson 3: Sheep

Lesson 4: Epistles

Lesson 5: The Bride

Lesson 6: The Body

Lesson 7: The Temple

Lesson 8: Children of God

Lesson 9: Branches

Lesson 10: Soldiers


Remember, lesson visuals can be found here.

Activity pages can be found here.

(I am planning to add links for the visuals, etc., to this page also, but in the meantime, click above links and scroll to the "We Are..." sections of those pages.)

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