Thursday, January 12, 2012

January 2012 Week 4 LDS Primary Sharing Time Reader's Theater: Jesus Christ created the earth as a place where I can learn to choose the right.


A World of Choice to Gladden the Heart
A Reader’s Theater by Sofia Lykes
Please feel free to use this in a home or church setting. Not intended for commercial use and if you do, to quote Blondie, "One way or another, I'm gonna find ya... I'm gonna getcha getcha getcha, one way or another..."

Speaking Parts:
Narrator 1, 2, 3     Angel #1,2, 3    Joseph Smith
  Non speaking parts:
Sign holder   Sun, Moon, Stars   2 helpers to make “waves”
A child to plant seeds and a child to be a plant and grow
Sidenotes:
* Click HERE to see tips on how to do a Reader's Theater... be confident, it will be fun! 
And seriously, choose your reader's wisely! Make sure the readers don't hold the papers up in front of their face, no one will be able to hear them or see their beautiful faces!
* When the sign holder holds up signs, the primary children in the audience can read what it says out loud together- you'll have to make the 6 signs for the sign holder to hold up.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *

(Sign holder holds up sign WELCOME TO OUR READER’S THEATRE)
Narrator 1: God the Father once said, “For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the eternal life of man.”
Narrator 2: That’s a lot of work!!
Narrator 1: It sure is! There are gazillions of people that have lived on the earth. I don’t know how He does it!
Narrator 3: It’s not that important for us to know how He does it, but WHY He does it… because He loves us!!
Narrator 2: Yes. Because Jesus loves us, He created the earth as a place where we can choose the right.
(Sign holder holds up sign PRE-MORTAL WORLD)
Angel #1: Hey man, did you just hear that!!
Angel #2: What?
Angel #1: Heavenly Father has a great plan. In fact, it’s not great… it’s awesomely perfect! He needs someone to help Him with His plan and has asked, “Whom will I send?”[1]
Angel #2: Oh yeah! And our elder brother Jesus said, “Here I am, send me.”[2]
Angel #3: I know who I’m choosing to follow! Lucifer also said he’d do  the job but his plan didn’t sound too great.
Angel #1: No it didn’t! No one should have to be forced to do anything! Agency is such a blessing.
Angel #3: What is agency?
Angel #2: Agency is the gift to choose!!
(Sign holder holds up sign Hip! Hip! Hooray!!)
Narrator 1: We all shouted for joy because we had choices and a plan where we could be saved.
Narrator 2: We were excited for new experiences and for everything to happen, we’d have to leave the pre-mortal world and get bodies.
Narrator 3: But where would everyone go??
(Sign holder holds up sign WELCOME TO EARTH!)[3]
Narrator 1: Under Heavenly Father’s direction, Jesus organized like crazy!
Narrator 2: I wish He’d come help me with my toy closet.
Narrator 3: Jesus divided light from darkness to create day and night. He formed the sun, moon, and stars.
(Sun, Moon and Star friends wave to audience)
Narrator 3: He divided the waters from the dry land to make seas, rivers, and lakes.
(2 primary children can hold a blue sheet and shake it like waves)
Narrator 2: He made the earth beautiful and productive. He made grass, trees, flowers, and other plants of all kinds. These plants contained seeds from which new plants could grow.
(A primary child pretends like they are planting seeds and another primary child pretends to be a plant and grows)
Narrator 1: Then He created the animals—fish, cattle, insects, and birds of all kinds. Hey primary friends! Raise your hand and I’ll call on you. You can share what your very favorite animal is!!
(Sign holder holds up sign ALMOST TO THE END)
Joseph Smith: When I was writing one day, the Lord gave me this revelation which I wrote down in D&C 59:18-19 “Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart; Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.”
Narrator 2: Wow Joseph! We know that Jesus has given us everything!! Not only His life, but this beautiful world to gladden our hearts.
Joseph Smith: “We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom.”[4]
Narrator 3: I guess it means we better choose the right and use our agency wisely!!
(Sign holder holds up sign WE CAN CHOOSE THE RIGHT)
EVERYONE: WE CAN CHOOSE THE RIGHT!!!
(Sign holder holds up sign THE END)

[1] Abraham 3:27
[2] Abraham 3:27
[3]Most of  the following parts spoken by narrators come from the Gospel Principles Manual
[4] From Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 211, 213–14.

7 comments :

New Brunswick Russells said...

I was recently called as the 1st counsellor in primary. I'm eager to try out your Reader's Theater with our senior primary children. Wish us luck! Thanks for the idea!

Janet said...

You are truly inspired! Thank you for all that you do to put these ideas together. They are wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Thankyou soooooooo much for this wonderful and inspired idea! I am really struggling for this lesson because it will be my first time teaching sharing time and I think I am so nervous that I have a creativity block! What a wonderful and creative idea! Thankyou again!

Kari said...

THIS is AWESOME and I am SO EXCITED for sharing time tomorrow!
Thank you so much!
Kari

Sofia's Primary Ideas said...

Thanks everyone very much for your kind words!! Hope it went well!! I always found the children were super excited about Reader's Theaters... but it does take a bit of effort to pull it off!

Noelle @ Mesa AZ Photography said...

Thank you for finding this, it's perfect for my senior primary.

Anonymous said...

I was a little unsure about how this would turn out, but it was awesome! Thanks so much for making this available!