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Share a biblically integrated assignment or assessment you use in your classroom. In what way(s) does it work well? Is there room for improvement? If you don’t currently have any biblically integrated assignments or assessments, share an idea you have for one.
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When we discuss weather in science in my second-grade classroom, we also study Noah’s Flood. We discuss that God has used violent weather in the past to cleanse the Earth and has promised never to do so again. We also look at different patterns for weather and how that influences different people and cultures. We often discuss the different storms mentioned in the Bible and how Jesus used them to teach lessons to his disciples. Depending on the group and their understanding depends on how we apply these lessons. I’ve had groups understand that storms of life and like weather storms and God is with you through them.
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In our health course, we have a whole unit dedicated to nutrition. We talk about how we should care about nutrition to learn how to take care of the bodies God perfectly created for us, not to achieve our “perfect body” or to try and change our appearance in hopes of more acceptance from the world.
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I am still working on biblical integration but the one lesson that I use that is great with integration is science. Because man sometimes believe that it is all science for creation, I find it very helpful to add the “Beginning” story in the book of Genesis to the science lesson when talking about creation. In my first grade course, they learn about the seven days of creation and how God only spoke things into existence. I use this story to also let them see the importance of speaking positive things in their lives. Words makes a big difference.
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Science is one course in which Biblical integration feels more natural. There was a lesson on reduce, reuse, recycle. During this lesson, I talked to the students about our duty to be stewards of God’s creation. I am continuing to work on Biblical integration for other courses. For example, in ELA, I can discuss the traits of various characters in the story and discuss fruits they may or may not be displaying. In math, I have shared the parable of the talents. Thinking in terms of money, we can discuss how God entrusts us with different things and we must use these gifts to bring Him honor. These teach skills that extend far beyond the classroom walls.
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One of my favorite assignments was a midterm project for Environmental Science in which they had to research the plagues of Egypt and explain how God might have used extreme natural phenomena. They discovered that the order in which the plagues occurred made sense with how nature would respond from one to the other, only on an extreme measure led by the Lord. It was a fun exercise which used many of the ideas we had discussed so far in course, and showed how God is always in control. There were a few resources provided which eliminated much of the self-guided research I had hoped for. I would want them to do more of their own “puzzle assembly” in the future.
