looking for good class material for 5th-7th grade...

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  We're having the same problem; can't find a good curriculum for our middle school OR high school classes. We tried the Get Them Talking series, but the kids absolutely hated them; the middle school said it was too simplistic and they felt like they were being talked down to, while the high school said they were so outdated as to be hilarious/distracting/annoying (depending on which kid you spoke to). After two years of using this curriculum, many of the kids voted with their feet and started attending the adult auditorium class. (Publisher really needs to do a redo on these books!) So we're sort of drifting while looking. Any leads would be appreciated!

  by mladyman at 12/23/10 6:02PM
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  That's so frustrating. I was thinking of doing my own material based on Hebrews 11 on heroes of God.

  by indianamom at 12/23/10 10:39PM
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  I gave a rather lengthy description of 3 suggestions for a teenage girl’s study back in October (requested by ^). I’ll repeat it here with some editing because my suggestions were not gender specific (the teenage girls had specifically requested something other than the traditional women’s study material.)
  
  My few suggestions are: 1) If the class has not been exposed to Our Spiritual Heritage chronology, than they would certainly benefit from it. This overview of the Bible has helped to cement the Bible history in my mind, while at the same time emphasizing the theme of the Bible, God’s plan to redeem man from sin. How can we ever doubt the love of God, when we see His faithfulness demonstrated over and over again? Jon and Lea Anne Babcock have developed a High School curriculum “Bible Chronology Lesson Plans” adapted from “Our Spiritual Heritage” (with the author's permission) that includes actual lesson plans, maps, “test” pages (or review questions) plus you can call or email them if you have any questions. It comes in CD format. The memorization assignments may be a little demanding, but it sounds like your kids want a challenge.
  
  2) Study different people in the Bible. You could use Hebrews 11’s, “Hall of Faith,” as a springboard or David Posey (the editor of Focus Magazine) has a workbook (of sorts) “Great Characters of the Bible.” My copy is several years old and he may have revised it, but mine is exactly as the subtitle states: “26 readings with questions.” You are given the Bible text for a particular person and questions to consider and discuss. He does not give you his opinion/conclusion of the different characters he’s chosen to include in his study. It was my springboard to my study on Jehoshaphat posted on my profile page. I love character studies. As I have studied the lives of those deemed righteous by God, I am greatly encouraged. They were not perfect people, but humble, repentant people. Much can be learned from those who failed, as well, e.g., “Pride goes before the fall.”
  
  3) Choose a book of the Bible to study. I would suggest one of the smaller books, like Philippians or Hosea. Avoid workbooks, most are typically superficial and boring. By choosing a shorter book, you can cover it in more depth. For example, take separate class periods to study the background of the book, read it through together, maybe even from different translations, work together to make a broad outline of the book, and then to break it down into a more detail outline. Take another period to study the context of any OT verses that are quoted. (As opposed to looking them up in our Bibles simply to confirm that they do exist.)
  
  When studying a book of the Bible concepts are kept in their context, e.g., when Paul talks of faith, he does not necessarily mean the same thing as James does. Words are defined by their context, the Bible is no exception. The class will see that the same rules apply to understanding the Bible as to any other writing. (If a journalist is taken out of context, people are skeptical. But if the same is done to a Bible writer, people accept it as proof of a contradiction.) You could also take this opportunity to teach the class how to use bible concordances, dictionaries and commentaries, if they have not already been shown.
  
  And finally 4) I am presently using a neat curriculum called “Picture This.” (www.bibledraw.com It also comes on a CD.) It is a VERY broad overview of every book of the Bible (and may be a little young for your age group.) I simply love it. Each book has a student page with a faded dotted line picture that the kids fill in while the teacher talks about how the theme/content of the book is related to the picture. The concept behind this approach is that hearing, seeing and writing the lessons will better instill them in the child’s memory. When the kids are finish with the series (which will take a couple years) they will have a folder with every book of the Bible illustrated by them. When they look at a page, they should be able to recall what that specific book was about. Just a side note: The pictures are cartoon form and may appear too casual for some people, e.g., Exodus has a face of pharaoh with the fist of God “punching” him. On the knuckles of the fist is written, “Let My people go!” (very memorable for kids, though.) I have also run across a few errors, e.g., Queen Athaliah was under the kings of Israel instead of Judah.
  
  I commend your students for wanting more challenging (and not necessarily “teen only” themed) material. Although, God clearly sets up specific roles for us (men vs woman; younger vs older; etc.) biblical principles can only be properly applied to these roles when they are understood within their proper context.
  
  I hope nothing I said sounds preachy. I don’t intend to lecture, but my detailed explanations can come across that way. I wish you well; let us know what you decide to do.
  

  by thejoyoftom at 12/27/10 9:40AM
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  Yes you were very helpful, and I did appreciate very much before when you gave me all that information for the high school class -- I took it to heart, and in fact I'm teaching the life of Joseph the way you said, by choosing a hero of the Bible, and the class is absolutely GREAT. Our problem is that the men who teach our middle school and high school classes -- and please believe me when I say I appreciate their willingness to teach very much and love them for the time they spend teaching -- are not the type who can sit down and take a book of the Bible and teach the kids. They have to have a workbook with pre-printed questions and a definite plan to follow. When the elders mentioned, let's have the middle school class study one of the epistles, these very nice men did it verse-by-verse, which is a disaster when teaching eleven and twelve year olds. It took forever, it was boring, and the kids hated it. We do not have sufficient male teachers who can wing it, who can teach without a workbook. Several of the women in our congregation can do it that way, teach without a pre-printed curriculum, but only a couple of men can do it. So I was not blowing off your very good suggestions; they just don't apply to our particular classes.
  
  The key is to teach the men how to teach, and our elders are working on that, but I don't see it bearing much fruit anytime soon. So, until then, we're just living quarter by quarter trying to figure out what to do.
  
  We did do an overview of the Bible with the kids last year and that went well.
  
  Thank you for all the help you give; you do have a lot of good ideas!!!

  by mladyman at 12/28/10 9:52AM
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  I understand completely. Maybe our best option is to write good workbooks for middle and high school classes ourselves? That’s a daunting thought, probably why we don’t have more choices. But seriously, I am sure there are good options available; We are just unfamiliar with them.
  
  My husband just mentioned L.A. Mott’s books. I know he is well respected. Bob and Sandra Waldron have an excellent series, “Lamp to My Feet Series.” (Published by Guardian of Truth) I have used their material to supplement lessons I was teaching following “Our Spiritual Heritage timeline.” A series I have recently become aware of is “Bible Text Books” developed by Mike Willis, published through Guardian of truth. They cover all the books of the Bible. 14 volumes cover the OT (I conclude from this, it is a brief overview) and 18 cover the NT. Willis did half of workbooks, while the other half is done by a variety of authors. So, the consistency may vary. Another series that looks promising is “Word in the Heart.” Again it is published by Guardian of Truth and each volume in the series appears to have different authors. (I have 2 of the many volumes available and the authors are different; Roy E. Cogdill wrote “Sowing the Seed of the Kingdom” and Cecil Willis “How to Study the Bible.”) This series covers both topical and textual subjects. Finally, I have 2 workbooks on geography. One is titled: “Old Testament Geography”, the other is “New Testament Geography.” They are from the makers of Bible Maps PLUS software and published by Guardian of Truth. The maps, charts and timelines are great. So, as it turns out, we really do have many good choices. No where in any of the books do I see a grade/age recommendation. They look to me to be appropriate for Middle school through adult! Ideal! More challenging than the old workbook series, but not too difficult. Where as, I cannot personally vouch for the quality of these suggestions (except the Waldron series), as I was looking through these books, a desire to study them myself has grown; so many options, not enough time!
  

  by thejoyoftom at 12/28/10 11:46AM
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  What great suggestions -- I'll pass them along to the elders. Many, many thanks!

  by mladyman at 12/28/10 5:09PM