Visual Ideas for Teaching the Esther Bible Story
- Use images to teach the book of Esther in the Bible.bible image by charles taylor from Fotolia.com
The book of Esther in the Hebrew Scriptures describes a thwarted genocidal plot against the Jewish people. The author of Esther intended to communicate a dramatic rescue to readers, according to "The New Jerome Bible Handbook." Use visual teaching aids to teach the book of Esther's themes about God's promises to protect the people and the late winter Feast of Purim. Visual aids to bring Esther's lessons alive may include engaging in visualizations, creating story maps and using a simple t-sheet. - Using visualization helps bring Esther's story alive in your students' imaginations. When you engage your students in visualization experiences, they experience learning in a relaxed and open state of mind and body. Using key scenes from the book and leading your students through the scene brings the scene alive in each student's mind. Children settle into relaxed but alert states, listening, for example, to the story of Mordecai's dream in Esther 1:1-12. Tell the story so that your students visualize the earth trembling and the people as they cry out to God for help in the chaos. Words convey color, shapes and sounds. Bring Mordecai to life as the passage describes him. He is an important Jewish man serving in the king's court. The website Holistic Online provides step-by-step instructions for practicing guided imagery.
- Story maps provide visual representations of story elements such as characters, conflicts and settings. By creating story maps, students interact with the story and form interpretations they can bring to class discussions. Students gather in small groups, drawing characters, conflicts and settings in assigned events in the book of Esther. As students draw, they reflect on the lessons characters, conflicts and settings highlight in the story. For example, ask students what it means in the final verses of Esther, that Mordecai's dream came true. Allowing students to visually interact with the story gives them opportunities to reflect on Esther's spiritual lessons such as that God allows people to discover personal strength, but never abandons them. (See Resources.)
- T-sheet visual aids allow teachers to present material and student responses. The website Teacher 2B.com provides an idea for a visual aid related to considering Esther as literature. When teaching the book of Esther, draw a large "T" on the board. As you engage students in explorations of spiritual elements of the story, note how they interpret the meaning of events and character experiences. Placing passages from Esther on one side of the "T", encouraging students to brainstorm why characters act in certain ways, and writing responses on the right side of the "T" give students visual hooks for recalling their impressions of the spiritual value of the story. For example, include Mordecai's and Esther's courage contrasted with God, whom the author represents as hidden. Ask students to brainstorm what this presentation achieves in the story. Jump-start student responses by suggesting, with God in the background of the story, that the main characters are allowed to express a full range of human experience. Esther, you might explain, learns to rely on her basic trust in the goodness of life. Exploring select elements of the story helps students understand the richness of biblical literature.
