Home / Resources / Pro-Life Curriculum Introduction and Contents / Unit I Preschool & Lower Elementary / Unit III High School & College / Unit IV Parents, Grandparents, All Adults

For
Elementary/
Middle School

Contents of this Unit:

• Introduction

• Preparation

• Lesson I:     God Himself Forms A Child In The Womb

• Lesson II:    God's Jealous Love for the Preborn and Wrongness of Abortion
  Handouts: (Diary of an Unborn Child) and (Fetal Development Fact Sheet)

• Lesson III:  When Things Go Wrong

• Additional Sample Lesson: for the more mature by Kathy Lowers - homeschooler and mother of 6, including one who is autistic

• Additional Material For The Teacher, Parent And Student

Introduction:

The upper elementary and middle school ages have been shown to be one of the most important ages to reach the young student.  Often this can be a crucial time to reach teenagers for Christ.  Touching their hearts for the unborn baby can last them a lifetime. 

Here is what one adult whose parents were very active pro-lifers wrote: “When I was a child, a young friend decided to hide in our garage. She found some pictures of an aborted baby. Many years later, as a high school student, she became pregnant. She told me that she was pressured to abort her son, but after having seen those pictures she could not do it.

It is important for children to become pro-life at an early age because earlier opinions determine what new information they later believe or reject.”

Preparation: 

Materials can be obtained, sometimes free, from the Additional Material listings at the end of this unit. Articles, pamphlets, DVDs and books are listed.

For Sunday school classes the requirement portion wouldn't pertain but most of the other ideas could be followed - especially the showing of the DVDs and/or pictures on fetal development, and other materials such as visual aids and the two handouts Lesson II "Diary of an Unborn Child and Fetal Development.

By Chris Auretto Piper, Middle School Teacher

LESSON I:  God Himself Forms A Child In The Womb

Aim:  

• Know that God is the creator of life, how a baby is formed and know that life begins at conception.

 
• Feel awe at God's workmanship and the preciousness of God's care and love for the preborn.
   
• Respond by defending the preciousness of life and having a foundation laid about the sanctity of life.
   
• Teach Memory Verses - Psalm 139: 13-16, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.
  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Readiness Activity - match baby pictures to students.  When did you begin? When did you become different from anyone else in the world, past and present?

Visual Aids:  fetal models – “Precious One”, “Precious Feet” lapel pins, a pamphlet or pictures on fetal development - even one baby model at 3 months can make a difference – such a model saved a baby when passed around at a youth group and a pregnant teenager held it.

*The “Precious One” is perfect for all ages and is available from www.hh76.com Soft and realistic to the touch, these baby models are an inexpensive yet very effective teaching aid.
*The “precious feet” lapel pins are reasonably priced and available in both gold 100GIL and silver 100SIL from Heritage House 76. These, along with several other styles, are available in the jewelry section on their website.
Heritage House '76, Inc.  919 S. Main St., Snowflake, AZ 85937 1-800-858-3040

Lesson - Based on Psalm 139:13-16

1. Define: conception - sperm and egg - x, y and DNA – depending on the maturity of the group.
    
2. Teach fetal development to birthday. Hand out the fetal development sheet. (See below for the handout sheet. *Good prenatal pictures that can be copied. http://prolifetraining.com/resources/media-library  click on Prenatal Photos.
God's gift of Jesus before we were born.

LESSON II:  God's Jealous Love for the Preborn and Wrongness of Abortion

Aim:  To teach God's love for man and the truth that man is created in the image of God.
To introduce the issue of abortion and ways to help babies.

Teach Memory Verses -

Genesis 1:27 “And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

Psalm 127:3 “Behold children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.”

Proverbs 24:11-12 “Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter.  If you say, "But we knew nothing about this," does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?”

Feel:  Protection for the preborn.

Respond:  Ways to help babies.

Readiness Activity: Cut out pictures of babies from magazines for a collage.

Lesson:  Go over Scriptures. Go over fetal development – give out the handout "Fetal Development". Give out the handout “The Diary of An Unborn Child”. Also see additional materials at the end of this unit.

Depending on the maturity of the group, handout the pamphlet “What Every Christian Needs to Know About Abortion.”

Supplementary Ideas for the Middle School Student:

SUGGESTIONS: Depending on the maturity of the students, more explicit material can be presented.  

DVDs - The DVDs below are available from www.CrusadeforLife.org (click on Resources) at the discount price of $12.95. Must put Life Loving Kids or Prolife Curriculum on order form/check to receive the discount.

"Your Crisis Pregnancy" - true stories of four women who face unplanned pregnancies; two decide to keep their babies; two decide for adoption – not graphic

"Silent Scream" (English and Spanish)  - Graphic - actual abortion shown by ultrasound imaging. 

"Matter of Choice" (29 minutes) –a newspaper women explores the facts about abortion – not specifically Christian, some graphic material

HAND-OUTS:

Diary of an Unborn Child - PDF printable version
 

HANDOUT OF FETAL DEVELOPMENT - PDF printable version

*Good prenatal pictures that can be copied. http://prolifetraining.com/resources/media-library  click on Prenatal Photos.
Life Training Institute,  PO Box 50918, Colorado Springs, CO 80919 719-264-7861 – [email protected]

*The Miracle of Baby Samuel by Dr. Frank Joseph – Depending on the age of  the children – must see for adults!
https://www.seghea.com/dfjoseph/samuel.html

What your baby looks like this week.
http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-fetal-development-index?s_evar2=fetal%2520development&s _prop2=fetal%2520development
 

LESSON III:  When Things Go Wrong

Aim:  To teach God's love and compassion for the weaker person.

Feel:   Compassion and concern for those weaker and that life is sacred no matter what.

Respond:  Care for others.
 
Scriptures:  Bear one anothers burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.

Readiness Activity:  Blindfold each other and lead each other.

Lesson:  Have students present a story about a person with a handicap they know or read about such as Joni Eareckson Tada. Joni Eareckson Tada joniandfriends.org has some excellent materials.

Additional Sample Lesson: for the more mature by Kathy Lowers – homeschooler and mother of 6, including one who is autistic.

Lesson name:  Loving the Weak   -  Levels:  middle school, high school

Objectives:  To inform older children about the history of euthanasia , to make them aware of how it targets the elderly and handicapped, to unmask deceptive vocabulary used by the euthanasia movement, to give children the biblical mandate for taking care of the weak, and to foster a love of
seniors and those with disabilities.

Memory verse:  "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."  Matthew 25:39

Materials:  Article on the history of euthanasia in Germany:
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/euthanasia-program

Short article on the Terri Schiavo case:  Terri's Story
and Matthew 25: 31-46

Procedure:

1.  Ask the students to define “euthanasia” and discuss which states in the US and which countries have legalized it.

2.  Read together the article on the history of euthanasia in Germany and the article on the killing of Terri Schiavo.

3.  Go over deceptive euphemisms for killing the old and handicapped (e.g. mercy killing, right-to-die, etc.)

4.  Go over the passage in Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus talks about the different reactions from the “sheep” and the “goats” towards the weak.

5.  Discuss how euthanasia is in direct conflict with what the Bible teaches about how we are to treat “the least of these”.

Action and Follow Up:

1.  Have each student put their faith into action this week by assisting an elderly or handicapped family member with chores or by having the class or your family visit residents in a nursing home.

2.  Have each student write about their experience helping the weak in this way or to give a verbal report to the class.

Additional Material: for the teacher, parent and student during the upper elementary and middle school   * Highly recommended.        Noted when possibly free.