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Presenter view · Grades 1–2 · Hands of History · Coins and the people who held them

Whose Hands Held This?

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Before you start

Learning objectives

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

  1. match each coin to the person who held it, using picture clues
  2. tell the story of the widow’s two tiny coins, and why Jesus called her gift the biggest
  3. say how the emperor’s census brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
  4. Go deeperspeak or write as one of the people, telling what is in your hands

Why this matters Every coin here was held by someone, two thousand years ago, in the land where Jesus lived. Their stories reach us through hands just like yours.

Materials

  • Page 3 of this plan, projected or printed: the four people and their coins
  • A few coins from a pocket or purse
  • Four signs for the corners of the room: Widow, Merchant, Mother, Priest
  • Differentiated handouts, one per child; crayons

On the classroom screen

MIn Their HandsWhose Hands Held This?

Lesson · Grades 1–2 · Hands of History · Coins and the people who held them

Whose Hands Held This?

Why this matters

Every coin here was held by someone, two thousand years ago, in the land where Jesus lived. Their stories reach us through hands just like yours.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

  1. match each coin to the person who held it, using picture clues
  2. tell the story of the widow’s two tiny coins, and why Jesus called her gift the biggest
  3. say how the emperor’s census brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem
  4. Go deeperspeak or write as one of the people, telling what is in your hands
30minutes

Press Start when the class is ready

Hook 4 minStory time 10 minActivity 12 minClose 4 min

Up next

Who held this before you? 4 min

Pass a coin from your pocket around the circle. “Before this coin came to me, whose hands held it? A shopkeeper? A bus driver? Someone’s grandma?” Let children guess. Then: “Some coins are very, very old. Today we will meet people who held coins two thousand years ago, in the land where Jesus lived.”

Ready

30:00

Print

  • Green Level handout More Support (PDF, opens in a new tab)
  • Yellow Level handout Grade Level (PDF, opens in a new tab)
  • Red Level handout Go Deeper (PDF, opens in a new tab)
  • Poster 2 Projector mode (opens in a new tab)
  • Lesson plan Teacher (PDF, opens in a new tab)
Questions for story time
  • Look at each person’s hands. What are they doing — giving, counting, holding, working?
  • Which coin is the smallest? Why do you think the widow’s tiny gift was the biggest to Jesus?
  • Herod’s coin has no face on it. Whose face is on our coins? Why did Herod leave the face off?
  • If you could ask one of these people a question, what would you ask?

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