Tower of Babel
THE TOWER OF BABEL
Objectives:
- Students should be able to identify the Tower of Babel and tell its story.
- Students should identify the source of the many languages we have today.
Possible Lesson Plan:
- Open with prayer.
- Scripture Reference: Genesis 11:1-8. This one would probably be easy to have each student read a verse going around the circle – short and sweet. Why did the people build the tower? Why did God confuse their languages?
- Learning Game: Language Bingo – Make bingo cards for each student with 5 languages across the top (English, Spanish, French, German, and Russian – or whatever you speak) and numbers between one and ten in the spaces; each card can be different. Now call the names of the numbers in the appropriate language and see if the students have any idea which space to mark! You can use the languages below, or those used in your own parish. Make up your own cards, or use the ones below
For reference:
Spanish: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, nueve, diez
French: un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix
German: eins, zwei, drei, vier, funf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn
Russian: adeen,dvah,tree,chetiree,pyaht,shest,syem, vosyem, dyevyet, dyesyet
Discussion: Do you speak another language? Many of the children have no idea what it is like to not understand what someone is saying; indeed, travel to a foreign country is one of the only ways to bring this lesson home. But, give it a try. Begin the lesson in another language, or give the instruction for the crafts in another language. Watch the blank stares and discuss their reactions. Acting is not your thing? Don’t know a language? Discuss war! What similarities do all people share? Differences? What are some reasons for war? How do diplomats try to resolve these differences? How do cultural and language differences make resolving problems hard? What can we do to better understand people of a different culture and language?
- Make a toothpick tower: Do these on a napkin or paper towel with lots of glue! Begin with 2 toothpicks parallel. Glue 2 more on perpendicular near the ends of the first 2. Now glue on 2 parallel to the first 2 near the ends of the second two. Keep going until the tower is the desired height; if you want, you can break the upper toothpicks, having the tower get narrower and narrower. Bend a pipe cleaner to make a hanger at the top.
- Close with prayer, adding a special prayer for any conflict going on in the world today.