Rotation.org Writing Team

JESUS’ ASCENSION
COMPUTER WORKSHOP

PASSAGE

Story: Acts 1:2-11

Key/Memory Verse: Acts 1:9b “As they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” NRSV

PURPOSE

Objectives for Rotation

Students will be able to:

• locate the story of Jesus' Ascension in the New Testament books of Luke and Acts;
  (Older students will learn that Luke and Acts were written by the same author.)
  
  
• realize that Jesus' Ascension into heaven took place after forty days of appearances by the risen Christ to his disciples and followers;
  
  
• learn that Jesus gave a promise to His followers that the Holy Spirit would come to empower them;
  
  
• understand that Jesus' Ascension is a departure of the physically resurrected Jesus, but it prepares us for Christ's presence in a new way, in and through us;
  
  
• know that God's mission to tell everyone about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection was entrusted to Christ's followers -- the disciples then and to us now;
  
  
• realize that we are still waiting for Jesus' return, known as the Second Coming.
  

PREPARATION

Read Bible Background.

Materials List

• Bibles
  
• Computers with word processing software
  
• Newspaper, Sunday edition
  
• Paper
  
• Printer
  
• Software – Drawing program such as Kid Pix
  

Advance Preparation Requirements

Have all computer turned on and ready to go!

PRESENTATION

Open – Introduction

Greet the children as they enter.

Invite the children to look through the headlines in the different sections of the newspaper. Ask the children what kinds of stories are represented.

Tell the children that for every story that is printed in the paper, there are 100 stories that aren’t. Choose one or two stories and ask the children why they think that particular story was chosen to be in the paper that morning. Tell the children that editors at the newspaper office choose what they think should be in the paper. They use criteria such as how many people the story effects, unusual circumstances, local interest, and timeliness to help determine the stories that will appear in the paper.

Tell the children that today they will be learning about something that happened to Jesus that probably would have made the news if there had been papers in Jesus’ time.

Dig - Main Content

Distribute Bibles and read or have a student read from Luke 24:36-53 or Acts 1:2-11.

Ask the children why this event would have been newsworthy.

Tell the children that they will be acting as reporters and illustrators to report on this incredible story.

Before getting on the computers, have the children go back to the Scripture to answer the following questions and post on the board for their reference:

Who (is involved)?

What (happened)?

Where (did the event take place)?

When (did the event take place)?

Why (did this happen)?
How (did the event unfold, did people react)?

Now have the children use the word processing program, or for pre-writing children the drawing program, to write a short newspaper article on Jesus’ ascension. They should include all relevant facts and may be creative with ‘eye-witness’ accounts. Help the children using the drawing program to write a caption for their picture.

If possible, print the articles and pictures. These may be posted on a bulletin board or copied and collated for each child to take home.

Reflect – Closure

Ask the children to share their work, if they are willing. Remind the children that Jesus wants us to tell others about him until he returns, whether by talking directly to others, writing about him, or even sending an e-mail.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Adaptations - Younger Children

Younger children can work together as a group to write their story. Depending on the skill level of the children, the teacher may want to be the typist with the children all sharing their ideas of what will be written. After the story is written, the younger children could use the drawing program to create their idea of what Jesus’ ascension might have looked like.

Adaptations - Older Children

Older children can look at the style of your local paper and create their own newspaper name, city, and so forth. Encourage older children to cover each aspect of the story in depth in their writing, but to be careful to stick to the facts and be objective. You can also brainstorm other methods of communication and how people today might have shared this story using other media forms

CONTRIBUTOR: Stephanie Smith