Lesson Plans for Bold Girls

 

 Lesson Plan Ideas for Bold Girls Speak: Girls of the Bible Come Alive Today
by Mary Stromer Hanson

Below are several activities to preview the stories before they have been read or review the Bold
Girls after all have been read. These ideas will pull together the information learned and place
new knowledge into the larger context of the biblical world.

1) Map: On a large map of the Middle East, find the location of each of the Bold Girls. Use this
matching exercise to get started. Note that in some stories the girls moved from one country to
another. Can we visit these places today?

2) Timeline: Draw a time line either on a classroom whiteboard, bulletin board, or your own
paper. Graph paper is ideal. Starting with 1400 B.C., mark off 100 year increments until 100
A.D. Find the approximate years when the stories of the Bold Girls take place.

3) Books of the Bible: Make a list of all the books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Find the book in the Bible where each of the Bold Girls are found. Who is the author of each of
these books?

4) World History: On your time line, note other events that took place in the world outside the
Bible during these years. Who were the important kings and which countries were strongest?

5) Costumes: What would the Bold Girls wear in each of these settings? How does that change,
depending on the country, climate, time of year, their activities, or their economic status?
Students in a class could dress as one of the Bold Girls and then have the class guess which
character they are. Boys could dress as any of the male characters.

6) Work and Recreation: The Bold Girls are involved in many different activities. What would
be your daily occupation as a Bold Girl in the various stories? Students can pantomime the
different activities for the rest of the class to guess from clues. How are these activities different
from those of girls in our time and place?

7) Foods: Find books about foods of the Holy Land or recipes from the Bible.
What foods would you eat as a Bold Girl? How is the food produced and prepared? Who would
do the various stages of preparation during the times of the Bold Girls?

8) Art: Draw pictures of the Bold Girls or make illustrations for the stories.

9) Cultural and Geographic: Find books about ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Holy Lands.
Look for illustrations and information about daily life in those times and places.

10) Families: For each of the Bold Girls, determine the identity of other family members. Look
for hints in the original passage from the Bible. Remember that the Bold Girls stories are mostly
fictional, but built on information available from the Bible.














Matching Quiz
1. Jerusalem: The home of Mary Mark                         A. The Girl Whose Hand Jesus Held

2. Caesarea                                                                        B. The Servant Girls Who Questioned

3. Egypt                                                                             C. The Girl Who Found Her Voice

4. Jerusalem: Quarters of Zadok                                    D. The Daughters Who Prophesied

5. Damascus                                                                     E. Rhoda Who Persisted

6. Capernaum                                                                   F. The Daughters Who Built

7. Jerusalem: Palace of Caiaphas                                  G. Miriam Who Negotiated

8. Philippi (Greece)                                                          H. The Girl Who Spied

9. Sinai                                                                              I. The Daughters Who Inherited

10. Jerusalem: Walls                                                        J. The Servant Girl Who Witnessed







Answers 1. E 2. D 3. G 4. H 5. J 6. A 7. B 8. C 9. I 10. F









Quiz Your Knowledge of Bold Girls of the Bible
 
1) Does the Bible ever indicate that women inherited property?

2) Who bravely approached the daughter of a powerful monarch?

3) Name a woman in the Bible whom we meet both as a child and an adult?

4) Whose daughters in Jerusalem used non-traditional skills for girls?

5) Who was the Bold Girl who witnessed to an enemy soldier?

6) Who was entrusted with carrying an important message?

7) Which Bold Girl is possibly named after her place of origin?

8) Which Bold Girls are given spoken words which are recorded in the Bible?

9) Which Bold Girls are actually named in the Bible?

10) Which Bold Girls had contact with Peter?






1. Yes, the daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27:5 and the daughters of Job 42:15
2. Miriam, in Exodus 2:7
3. Miriam, assuming the sister in Exodus 2:4 is Miriam
4. The daughters of Shallum in Nehemiah 3:12 who repaired the walls of Jerusalem
5. An unnamed servant girl of Naaman in 2 Kings 5
6. An unnamed servant girl in 2 Samuel 17:17
7. Rhoda in Acts 12:5:7
8. Miriam, Ex 2:7; Servant of Naaman, 2 Kings 5:3; Servant girls in the house of Caiaphas Matthew 26:69-71; Rhoda in Acts 12:14; Unnamed servant girl in Philippi, Acts 16:17
9. A sister of the baby is introduced in Exodus 2:4 and is not named in the passage, but traditionally this sister has been connected with Miriam. The daughters of Zelophehad in Numbers 27:1; Rhoda in Acts 12:13
10. The servants of Caiaphas, Matthew 26:69; Rhoda Acts 12: 5-17

Daughters of Zelophehad

Excerpt from Bold Girls Speak: Girls of the Bible Come Alive Today

 Author: Mary Hanson

Illustrator: Lisa Guinther


from chapter two: "Five Sisters Who Asked for their Inheritance"

“The priests are counting the entire population of Israelites for when they divide up the promised land between the tribes,” Milcah reported to us.

“Oh, they are taking a census all right, but only of the men. They are the only ones who will receive land,” Mahlah, our worldly oldest sister said.

“What do they mean we will draw lots for land which we will actually own?” Hoglah added, “I can’t imagine actually owning anything and living in a house.

“We are only girls, what will happen to us?” young Tirzah suddenly understood the bigger issue. “And we will no longer have manna to eat? How can this be a promised land?”

“We will grow our own food. We will stay in one place long enough to plant grains and then harvest them,” added in Noah. “The elders are already drawing maps with sticks in the dust. They write their names on stones and rearrange them endlessly like game pieces.”

“But our names are not on the stones. As women we won’t get land and our father is dead,” Hoglah predicted.

“Well, we will certainly marry, then husbands will take care of us,” our idealistic littlest sister piped in. She knows her stories about how our ancestor Jacob met Rebecca at the well, and how Moses also found his wife at a well.

“Hey, get realistic sister,” said Hoglah. “Look at us. We are sunburned. Our skin is like leather, sand-blasted from the wind. No eligible young men will ever give us a second look, even if we are struggling with heavy jars to pull water up from the wells. We have to get land in order to eat.”

“Our father never regretted that we were all born female, at least he never expressed it,” Noah sighed. “Yet he knew he would never live to see the Promised Land and receive his allotment of land. What would he want us to do?”

“It is a matter of justice,” Milcah hands planted on her hips. “Without a son, his family inheritance promised by Yahweh will disappear unless we advocate for ourselves.”

 “Father knew Moses and said he was a fair and good man. Maybe he would help us preserve our father’s memory,” Mahlah lightened up.

“Not to mention, provide us land to keep some sheep and grow crops for a living,” Noah added.

“Do you know anything about planting a field?” Hoglah asked.

“Well then, we have two problems, no land, and we don’t know wheat from a weed. All we have seen in this barren wilderness is manna and thorns that poke through our thin sandals,” Milcah added.

So which one of us is going to approach the great Moses and ask for an inheritance? I have heard that he actually talks to Yahweh, and once received the commandments from Yahweh on Mt. Sinai,” we fell silent at that thought.

“So, will Yahweh condemn us for daring to ask and will he remember our loss?” Hoglah asked the hard question. We all looked at each other. One of us will have to be very brave. Better yet, all of us together.

We hesitated at the gate of the tabernacle when the curtain was pulled aside for us to enter. Compared to the dullness of our dusty, everyday lives, we seemed to be looking into the splendor of heaven. The morning incense had already been burned, leaving behind a fragrance that assaulted our noses with a heady sweetness.

 “We are the daughters of Zelophehad,” Mahlah told the guard at the gate of the enclosure. “May we approach Moses with a special request concerning our father’s inheritance?”

“Come nearer, Daughters of Zelophehad,” we heard a voice from within call us. We hesitated to put one foot ahead of the other and progress into the enclosure. “I knew your father, I am sorry for your loss, is there anything I can do?”

This was the first time that we had seen Moses close up. He wore the years of desert life in his deeply creased face. He and several other priests formed a line of gold-trimmed, heavily embroidered robes. Eleazar, Aaron’s son as the high priest, was dressed in the ephod, or a sort of apron that was decorated with large gems of precious stones, each represented one of the twelve tribes. We had never seen ruby, topaz, and sapphire stones, which reflected the morning sun with dazzling light. The whole effect of the tabernacle made us quite dizzy with awesome majesty.

“Our father died in the desert and he was a good man. He did not participate in the rebellion of Korah but died of old age,” Mahlah dared break the silence.

“He taught us well to serve Yahweh with fear and reverence. He told us all the stories of the Exodus and forty days at Mt. Sinai when you, Moses, received the law from the hand of Yahweh,” added Noah.

“We are five sisters, without any brothers. Why should our father’s name disappear from his clan because he had no son?” Hoglah continued.

“The tribe of Manasseh should not lose this land. We wish to receive our father’s portion along with his male relatives in the Promised Land of Canaan,” Milcah finished the request.

“Well, it is rather irregular that women would receive an inheritance of land. I will have to ask Yahweh about this unusual request.” Moses thoughtfully replied.

“When do you next talk to Yahweh?” our littlest sister piped up. We had forgotten to tell her not to talk.

“Ahem,” Moses had a rather shocked look on his tired old face. We were horrified that our whole cause could be lost. After an impossibly long pause, Moses spoke up again, “I can’t really say, Yahweh speaks in Yahweh’s own time, but I should get in one more talk before I see him face to face.”

“What did he mean by that?” we gazed at each other. No one sees God face to face and lives to tell about it.

We retreated backwards a few steps before turning around somewhat dejected. “Well what kind of answer did we get? Moses did not refuse us. We have to wait on Yahweh,” Hoglah broke the silence on the way to our tent.

“Were we too bold to ask for this exception?” we questioned among ourselves.

“You know women don’t inherit land,” some men taunted us. “There will be more land for us if you don’t inherit. After all, do you know what to do with land?”

“Well none of us knows how to plant grains and vineyards. Our generation has never been settled in one place,” Milcah reminded them.

Easter Play

Excerpt from "The Maids in the Courtyard of Caiaphas" from the book, Bold Girls Speak: Girls of the Bible Come Alive Today
by Mary Stromer Hanson  Art by Lisa Guinther

SCENE FIVE

(Liz on stage right notices the solitary man, elbows Abby and points.)

Liz:  (loud stage whisper)  “Hey Abby, did you let that guy in?  Who is he?  Did he come in with the soldiers?”

Abby:  “I don’t know, I think he is OK.  I recognize him as a follower of Jesus.”

Liz:  “You are too trusting, now go find out for sure.”  (Liz pushes her in that direction.)

“We need to know who is in here or we could be in big trouble.”

Abby:  “Does it have to be me?  Well, if he is one of the followers of Jesus, maybe I can find out something.”

(The other servants watch out of the corners of their eyes as Abby approaches the withdrawn figure.)

Abby:  “Sir, I need to ask.  You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?”

Peter:  (abruptly)  “I do not know nor understand what you are talking about.”

(He then exits to stage left with haste.)

(Sound of rooster crowing)

Aaron:  (Looks up into the tree)  “There goes that rooster again.  Of course with all the

activity and light around here, even though it must be well past midnight, the dumb bird probably thinks it is daytime.”  (The other servants look at him and moan at his bad joke.)

(The soldiers keep up their discussion around the fire.  The talking stops every time the roar of voices is heard from the house.  Then they all look at the house.)

Abby:  “Whatever could be going on?  I do hope they at least give Jesus a fair chance.”

Joe:  “Oh, I am very afraid that Caiaphas, Annas, and the other big shots have their minds already made up about Jesus.”

Simon:  “I heard him say, ‘Better to have one person die for the people, than have many perish.’  We are going to have riots here if something isn’t done quickly.”

(Peter comes back on stage, sits on  stool at stage left unnoticed.)

Abby:  “But Jesus is not the one getting the people all riled up.  If the authorities would just really listen to him.  He is talking about another, eternal kingdom.  I am convinced he is an innocent man.”

Aaron:  “Hey, there’s that guy again.

Abby:  “Someone else go up to him.  I don’t think he is up to any good.  Liz, your turn, see what you can find out.”

Liz:  “No way, he seems to be in a foul mood, come with me.  All right, I’ll just shout from here.”  (She turns toward Peter)  “Hey you, surely you are with Jesus, you talk like a Galilean.”

Peter:  “I swear, I do not know what you are talking about!”  (Additional profanities and he abruptly walks off the stage.)

(sound of rooster crowing)

Simon:  “Whoo!  And I thought we got earthy once in a while.”

Abby:  “He does seem like something is weighing very heavily on his conscience.  He is a troubled man.  No doubt he is very concerned about Jesus.”

(A roar of voices from the window above.  Everyone in courtyard looks up at lighted windows.)

Voice from back stage:  “You have heard his blasphemy.!”

Joe:  “That is Caiaphas, I know it is him.”

Voices from back stage:  “Death to him!  Death to Jesus!”

The Maids Who Questioned

This is an excerpt from a play included in my book, Bold Girls Speak designed for a small group ideal for an Easter performance. Available in the Christians for Biblical Equality catalog and from Amazon. May you find it a blessing and inspiration.

The Maids Who Questioned

Stage Version

Stage:  Stone wall on left and right.  Gate in the wall at stage right.  Stage left a tree.  In the middle a fire pit.  A bench against the wall stage left.  Backdrop has a painting of a large two-story stone palace with functioning door in the middle.  Windows are cut out and covered with a translucent fabric screen.  Lamps behind so they can be later lit and shadows formed behind.

Characters:

            Abby:  Serious girl, believes in Jesus

            Liz:  Fun-loving, skeptical about Jesus

            Aaron:  Doesn’t believe in Jesus.  Aaron and Liz like each other.

            Joe:  Believes in Jesus.  Interested in Abby

            Simon:  Knowledgeable, undecided

            3-5  Important looking priests

            Soldier 1,  Soldier 2,  Soldier 3, Soldier 4

            More non-speaking soldiers and priests as available

            Peter:  Mature man, moody, deeply disturbed

            Jesus: (Non-speaking part)

           

SCENE ONE

Abby, Liz, Aaron, Joe, and Simon are doing work in the courtyard.  Liz is sweeping, Joe walks on stage carrying a basket of charcoal and then starts to prepare the fire,  the other three are doing some kind of household or garden tasks.

Abby:  “This Jesus of Nazareth, do you think he is the promised Messiah, the son of David?”

Liz:  (Jabbing her broom into the ground)  “No way, he is a rabble rouser, he preaches insurrection!  Master Caiaphas says that if Jesus is allowed to continue teaching in the temple, a riot will start.  Then the Roman soldiers will move in and there will be plenty of trouble.”

Aaron:  “You bet, you should have been there the other day in the temple.  He just kicked over the tables of the merchants who were selling doves for the sacrifices.  Tempers were rising and angry words echoed throughout the temple walls.  Feathers and coins flew    everywhere.  Who does he think he is to disturb the peace in this way?”

Simon:  (leaning against the old olive tree)  “Annas and Caiaphas looked plenty hot under their itchy beards on that day.  Our masters are the chief priests of the Sanhedrin and are responsible to maintain order in the temple.  Now, with crowds of the country people coming into Jerusalem for Passover, they have to be sure there is no trouble.  Those hicks from Galilee, they are so easily swayed.”

Joe:  (setting down a basket of charcoal)  “Jesus is not a violent man at all.  I saw him entering Jerusalem on the Sabbath past, riding a donkey.  The crowds were cheering him with songs,  ‘Hosanna in the highest…Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’  They were waving palms and laying their coats on his path.  He was the most gentle man you could imagine, but his eyes were so sad.”

                Sudden crackling sound like branches breaking.  The actors all look up.  Leaves and twigs fall on the stage to appear like they are falling from the tree.  Chicken sounds.  A stuffed chicken falls on the ground in front of them and is pulled off the stage by a string.  Aaron takes a few steps towards the chicken to appear to try to catch it.

Liz:  (to Aaron)  “That old rooster again, didn’t you get him for the Passover dinner?  I thought the cook wanted a good fat chicken for the stew.”

Aaron:  “That bird is even tougher than you!  You would have to stand by the fire a week to cook him tender in the pot.”

           

Liz:  “Well then, I hope he keeps waking you up nights with his crowing outside your loft.  He seems to be attracted to guys who talk too much!”

Abby:  “There will be a lot of guests in the house for Passover.  We are going to need every bird and lamb in the yard to feed all the men that have come through the gate this afternoon.  Many of them are the chief priests and scribes that I recognize from my many errands to the temple area.  They really seem to be preoccupied, not in the mood for any celebration.”

Simon:  “It’s that Jesus fellow.  I spied Pontius Pilate approaching the palace this morning with a group of Roman soldiers.  You can be sure that when the governor comes to Jerusalem something is going on.  There are rumors of a trial.”

Abby:  “What can they try him for?  Jesus has healed people that are lame and driven away evil spirits.  Everyone is talking about how he raised Lazarus from the grave.  He teaches forgiveness and love.  I would like to learn more about him.”

Aaron:  “Don’t forget, he heals on the Sabbath!  That is clearly breaking the law.  What

will he try to do next?  It has been one absurd thing after the other!”

Insistent knocking at the gate interrupts the argument.  All the servants stand straight and pick up their items to leave.  Abby smoothes her clothes and moves to stage right toward the gate.

  Aaron:  (To Liz as he moves to stage left)  “Now Liz, be sure to keep that courtyard swept up so these high and might visitors don’t step in it and get their sandals soiled.”