Lesson 5.1 God Made the World

Steps

1. Warm-up

   Do this together: Go outside, or look out the window. What can you see that God made? The sky, the trees, the sun, birds, flowers... Today you learn to name God's world in Spanish.

2. Teach the new idea

   Read aloud: The story. In the beginning, there was nothing at all but God. Then God spoke, and there was light. On the second day He made the sky, el cielo. On the third day He gathered the waters into the sea, el mar, and let the dry land, la tierra, appear, and He covered it with grass and trees, los árboles, and flowers. On the fourth day He made the sun, el sol, to shine by day, and the moon, la luna, and the stars, las estrellas, to shine by night. On the fifth day He filled the sea with fish and the sky with birds. On the sixth day He made the animals, and last of all He made man and woman in His own image. And God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good. About four hundred years ago, painters of the Brueghel family in Flanders loved to paint the Garden of Eden as a green, shady paradise full of every kind of creature: horses, deer, lions, swans, peacocks, parrots and ostriches, all living together in peace.

   Read aloud: How Spanish sounds. In tierra, the double rr is rolled: TYEH-rrah. Árbol leans on the first part, as the accent shows: AHR-bohl. And hizo has a quiet h and a z that sounds like s: EE-soh.

   Read aloud: Say it and move. Reach up high: el cielo. Touch the ground: la tierra. Make a big circle: el sol. Make a small crescent with your hand: la luna. Twinkle your fingers: las estrellas. Make waves with your arms: el mar. Stand tall like a tree: el árbol.

3. New words

   Do this: Say each word clearly; your child says it back twice. Point to a picture or the real thing when you can.

   • el cielo [ehl SYEH-loh]: the sky, heaven
   • la tierra [lah TYEH-rrah]: the earth, the land
   • el sol [ehl SOHL]: the sun
   • la luna [lah LOO-nah]: the moon
   • las estrellas [lahs ehs-TREH-yahs]: the stars
   • el mar [ehl MAHR]: the sea
   • el árbol [ehl AHR-bohl]: the tree
   • Dios [DYOHS]: God
4. Picture study: The Earthly Paradise

   

   Do this: Look at the picture together for a quiet minute before anyone talks.

   Read aloud: This little painting of the Garden of Eden was made by Pieter Brueghel the Younger, copying a design by his brother Jan, who was famous for painting animals and flowers in tiny, careful detail. It belonged to the kings of Spain and now hangs in the Prado.

   Point and find:

   • Find the parrots in the tree. What colors are they?
   • Find the white horse (el caballo blanco).
   • Find the swans in the water.
   • Find a tree (un árbol) and the sky (el cielo).

   Ask:

   • “Why do you think all the animals are living together in peace?”
   • “What part of God's creation do you love most?”
5. Show how

   Show: Who made the sun? Answer with Dios hizo...

   Say this: “Made is hizo; the sun is el sol.”

   Answer: Dios hizo el sol.

   Show: What did God put in the sky at night? Say two things in Spanish.

   Say this: “At night we see the moon and the stars.”

   Answer: La luna y las estrellas.

6. Practice together

   Do this: Ask out loud. Let your child try first; help only after a real try.

   Ask: What is el sol?

   Listen for: The sun.

   Ask: What is el mar?

   Listen for: The sea.

   Ask: How do you say tree in Spanish?

   Listen for: El árbol.

   3 more on the lesson page.

7. Project: Seven days of creation wheel

   Read aloud: Make a wheel showing what God made on each day, labeled in Spanish.

   Steps:

   1. Divide the plate into seven slices.
   2. Draw what God made each day: 1 light, 2 the sky (el cielo), 3 the sea, the land and the trees (el mar, la tierra, los árboles), 4 the sun, moon and stars (el sol, la luna, las estrellas), 5 fish and birds, 6 animals and people, 7 God rested.
   3. A parent writes the Spanish words in each slice. Trace them.
   4. Write Dios hizo el mundo in the middle.
   5. Turn the wheel and tell the creation story, naming things in Spanish.

   Tips for you:

   • Use the numbers you know in Spanish for the days: día uno, día dos...
   • On day seven, draw a resting picture: God rested and blessed the day.

   Done when your child can say:

   • My wheel shows all seven days.
   • I can name the sun, moon, stars, sea, earth and tree in Spanish.
8. Sketchbook

   Do this: Your child picks one or more; you write the date.

   1. Draw the sky with the sun, the moon and stars, and label them in Spanish.
   2. Draw the sea and a tree, and write el mar and el árbol.
   3. Copy: Dios hizo el mundo.
9. From history

   Read aloud: The first verse of the Spanish Bible, En el principio crió Dios los cielos y la tierra, has been read in Spanish for more than four hundred and fifty years, ever since Casiodoro de Reina finished translating the whole Bible into Spanish in 1569.

10. Watch for
    • Saying tierra with a single r. It is a rolled rr: TYEH-rrah.
    • Saying the h in hizo. It is quiet: EE-soh.
11. Game: Creation charades

    One player acts out something God made: flapping wings for a bird, swimming for a fish, rising arms for the sun, waves for the sea. The other guesses in Spanish: ¡El sol! ¡El mar! Then switch.

12. Narration

    Say this: “Tell me what you learned today.”

    Listen for: Name parts of creation in Spanish: el cielo, la tierra, el sol, la luna, las estrellas, el mar, el árbol.; Say Dios hizo... (God made...).; Learn the first verse of the Bible in Spanish.

13. Scripture

    In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

    In the Spanish Bible this verse says En el principio crió Dios los cielos y la tierra. Crió is the old word for created; today Spanish says creó. You know cielos and tierra!

Spread over the week

3 sessions of 15–20 minutes. Stop while it is still going well.

1. Session 1. Warm-up, then read and teach the new idea and the new words. Picture study and show how.
2. Session 2. Practice together, then start the project. Finish the project, then the sketchbook.
3. Session 3. Narration, the game and the Scripture.