last
updated
2 March, 2007
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WHY
USE STORIES? |
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Storytelling
is a very important activity than can be carried out children's
classes. Many stories illustrate how ethical and moral principles
can be applied. Other stories show the rewards for good deeds and
the consequences of undesirable behavior.*
Below
are some samples of stories that we are currently using. Each story
comes with a set of related discussion questions. Let
us know if you know of any stories that we can use in our lesson
plans. |
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SAMPLE
STORIES |
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THE
BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT |
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The
people who lived in a small village were always arguing and
fighting among each other about God and different religions.
They could never agree to a common answer. So they came to
the Buddha to find out what exactly God looks like. The Buddha
asked his disciples to get a large magnificent elephant and
six blind men. He then brought the blind to the elephant and
asked them to describe what an elephant looks like. The first
blind man touched the elephant leg and reported that it "looked"
like a tree trunk. The second blind man touched the elephant’s
stomach and said that the elephant was a wall. The third blind
man touched the elephant ear and said that it was a fan. The
fourth blind man touched the elephant’s tail and described
the elephant as a piece of rope. The fifth blind man felt
the elephant's tusks and described it as a spear. And the
sixth blind man rubbed the elephant’s snout and got
very scared because he thought it was a snake. All of them
got into a big argument about the "appearance" of
an elephant... |
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DISASTER
STRIKES |
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Trina
was going to school for the first time. She was going to kindergarten
and she was a bit afraid. When the students went into the
classroom the teacher was not there, so some of the students
started to play. They did not know how to act in school because
it was their first time in school. Some of the kindergarteners
took chalk and wrote on the walls. Others started to use crayons
to draw pictures on the desks. Trina tried to tell some of
the children to clean up the room and sit down in the chairs,
but no one listened to her because she is not a teacher ... |
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TEDDY'S
WISH |
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Teddy
was at home feeling unhappy. His sister, Emma, had a new toy,
but he didn’t have one. He wanted to take Emma’s
toy and hide it from her; then he would feel better ... |
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THE
RINGSTONE SYMBOL & THE CALLIGRAPHER |
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There
is an old saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
It would take more than a thousand words to properly explain
the relationship between God, His Messengers, and us. About
a hundred years ago, Baha’u’llah’s son,
Abdu’l-Baha, designed the Ringstone Symbol to ‘paint
a picture’ of this relationship ... |
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ALICE
AND HER TEACHERS |
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Alice is going to kindergarten this year. Her sister Audrey
is going to fourth grade. They are both learning how to write…
Alice is learning how to print while Audrey is learning cursive
script. One afternoon, while they were sitting together and
doing their homework, Alice said, “Audrey, your writing
is bad; let me show you how to write.” ...
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ALL
THAT IS BEST IN LIFE |
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Mirza Mahmud and Aqa Rida were like lamps - lamps lit with
God's love. They served others in every imaginable way. Their
services were many – too many to count ...
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ABRAHAM
& THE IDOLS |
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As a boy, Abraham lived with his family, who like other people
in the area called Babylonia worshipped idols. These idols
were made of stone or wood. Some people during that time worshipped
the stars the sun or the moon; others worshipped their king
or other leaders ...
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FROM
A DROP TO AN OCEAN |
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Mr. Olinga traveled around the world. He would tell all the
Baha’is he met to carry Baha’u’llah’s special message to others
in their families, their towns, and around the world. He was
reminding them of Baha'u'llah’s words: “The first duty prescribed
by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the
Dayspring of His Revelation... Whoso achieveth this duty hath
attained unto all good… It behoveth every one … to observe
every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These
twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without
the other” ...
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THE
TEST OF GOLD |
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... Baha’u’llah always knew that Haji Muhammad’s desire for
wealth would bring him pain. But He gave Haji Muhammad vast
riches anyway. Why would Baha’u’llah allow us to suffer pain?
Because, like He says in the Hidden Words, “Busy not thyself
with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with
gold We test Our servants.” ... |
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*
From the Ruti Institute's Book 3 ("Teaching Children's Classes
- Grade 1"), the Ruhi Foundation, Columbia, 1987, Palabra Publications
(www.palabrapublications.com).
For more Ruhi resources, visit www.ruhiresources.org. |
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