2. Welcome to Life Together!
Keep Everyone on the Same Page!
Overview of Life Together
Structure of Life Together
Components of Life Together
Planning and Preparation
Enrichments

3. Overview of Life Together
“Life to Bible to Life”
Life Together is based on connecting a person’s life to the Word and then linking back to daily life.
Life Together is more than a curriculum — it is an integrated family of resources that connect primary activities of congregational life around a common core.

4. Overview of Life Together
In Life Together, kids encounter God's word and respond to God's gifts in many ways and places:
In the learning environment
In the worship community
In other gatherings of Christians for support, service, and witness
In daily life

5. Ages & Components Curriculum for Pre- through Upper Elementary
Learners are grouped by age/grade:
Pre-Elementary (Age 2- Kindergarten)
Lower Elementary (Grades 1-3)
Upper Elementary(Grades 4-6)
Main components
Leader Guide
Learner Resource
Class Kit

6. Using Life Together
Three-year cycle of resources which follows the Revised Common Lectionary
Three quarters each year:
Autumn
Winter
Spring
Sessions are dated

7. Life Together: Everyone on the Same Page!
Each session is based on readings from the Revised Common Lectionary The Bible story is reinforced when learners:
Hear the Bible story in Sunday school and worship
Sing hymns and listen to sermons based on the Bible story during worship
Learn the same Bible story across all age levels

8. Scope and Sequence
Full Year Scope and Sequence: in the beginning of Living and Learning: Education Planner
For each session:
Dated sessions
Space for notes
Bible story and text
Heart of the Matter
All stories are the same between all age/grade groups

9. Life Together Components
Teacher Guide
Learner Resource
Class Kit

10. Components: Leader Guide
Page 1: Leader information – contains Bible Insights, the Driving Question, Heart of the Matter, and a Leader Prayer
Page 2: Gather With Friends – contains welcoming activities for learners
Page 3: Hear God’s Word – contains the Bible story and follow-up questions
Page 4: Celebrate Our Faith – contains craft and other activities related to the Bible Story
Page 5: Send to Serve – contains activities to help close the session and send learners out
Pages 2-5 of each session follow the format for worship: Gather, Hear, Celebrate, Send

11. Components: Leader Guide
Lots of support for Leaders before and during sessions
Support for session preparation
Bible Insight – for digging into the story
Leader Prayer – for using as a personal devotion
Heart of the Matter – for summarizing the Bible text in kid-friendly language
Driving Question – for connecting the scripture text and the Heart of the Matter

12. Components: Leader Guide
Support throughout the session
The Driving Question/Heart of the Matter – on each session page for easy reference
Purpose – for achieving the objective on each page
Something More – for learner enrichments and extra time
Looking Back – for help with session evaluation
Looking Ahead – for special preparations needed for future sessions
Learning Links –for three designated sessions in the quarter: an activity that links all age levels

13. Components: Learner Resource
Pre-Elementary Sheets
Page 1: Bible Story
Page 2: Bible story and family activities, student prayer
Lower Elementary Sheets
Page 2: Activities to connect the Bible story to daily life
Upper Elementary Sheets
Page 1: Bible Story, Question of the Day, Bible Verse
Page 2: Bible story activity, Worship Tip, Challenges for This Week, Prayer

14. Components: Class Kit Posters: Bible art, contemporary images
Activity Sheets: Storytelling, game cards
Reproducible Sheets: Church Year Calendar, family letter, coloring, and other activities

15. Finding Your Materials
Make sure you have necessary materials to plan and prepare
Age/grade level Leader Guide
Age/grade level Learner Resource
Take-home sheets
Class Kit (posters, activity sheets, reproducible sheets)

16. Getting Ready
Review the Scope and Sequence chart for the quarter (inside front cover of the Leader Guide)
Check with your education planner to determine if all age/grade levels will use the Learning Link during the designated sessions
Check the materials list to make sure you have everything needed for each session

17. Preparing your mind and heart
Read the Bible Text
Review the Driving Question and Heart of the Matter
Read the Bible Insight
Use the Leader Prayer
Review the Purpose for each session page

18. Planning Your Session
Review the materials list to identify needed materials and preparation
Review each part of the session
Gather With Friends: How will you make learners feel welcome In the classroom?
Hear God’s Word: How will you present the Bible story to learners?
Celebrate Our Faith: How will you help learners apply the Bible story to their own lives?
Send to Serve: How will you send learners into the world with God’s blessing?
Make sure you have your own copy of the Learner Resource – look for when and how it’s used

19. Highlights
In addition to teaching the Bible story, plan how you will use…
The Heart of the Matter to sum up the story in a sentence
Age-Level Insights to understand how learners relate to the day’s topic
Bible Connection to enable both you and your learners to better understand the Bible story
Worship Connection to integrate learners into worship
Mission Connection to empower learners to spread the good news

20. Use Your Class Kit Review Class Kit contents Posters
Some posters can be used during every session
Some posters are specific to one or two stories
Prepare the Activity Sheets before the session
Make copies of Reproducible Sheets before the session

21. “Keep Everyone on the Same Page!”
Enrichments
Life Together is so much more than just great Sunday School material.
Life Together is an entire family of materials for worship, music, home faith enrichment, and education for all ages, all built around the Word of God as heard in weekly worship lectionary readings.
By uniting your whole church’s experience around the Bible, Life Together helps you…
“Keep Everyone on the Same Page!”

22. Enrichments
Living and Learning: Education Planner – Published quarterly, this book is a concise overview of how Life Together resources connect to the lectionary and to daily life.
Faith Life Weekly – Published annually, this reproducible book provides ideas connecting the Bible stories through prayer at home, Bible readings, children’s stories, and more.
Six Seasons of Fun – This book has over 50 ideas for seasonal crafts, games, activities, and more for teaching the church seasons.

23. Enrichments
Lifesongs CD and Songbook – A compilation of new and familiar music complete with directions on how to teach the music and use the easy-to-learn actions. The CD contains 2 volumes (2 CDs), one for pre/lower and one for upper elementary singers. The songbook contains a full piano score and guitar chords for each song.
Sundays and Seasons – The complete annual worship planning guide for lectionary-based worship. Perfect for pastor, musician, or educator.
Kids Celebrate – An annual reproducible volume containing dated worship bulletins that engage children in worship rather than distracting them from it. CD-ROM included.