You want to help your students connect what they study and what the Bible teaches. But you’re having difficulty developing an effective lesson plan.
 
Question: Is there a lesson model that can help?

Answer: Yes! You can use Harold Klassen’s 1-2-3-2-1 lesson model, which includes these components:

• 1 story
• 2 connections
• 3 questions
• 2 objectives
• 1 assessment

These components must be present in the lesson and may be used in any order.

Let’s explore the components of 1-2-3-2-1 lesson further:
*1 story you will tell about your lesson content. Stories (biographies, anecdotes, fables, parables, proverbs, personal experiences, case studies...) help students understand lesson content and make connections to the Bible
 
*2 connections between your “lesson story” and God’s creation-fall-redemption-restoration/fulfillment story.

1. Making connections helps you and your students develop a Christ-centered worldview.
2. These connections should flow from God’s story, from an understanding that our world belongs to God, from a Biblical perspective of the subject area. These connections should take the form of Biblical principles (each of which is supported by 3 Bible passages). Here are samples.
3. Here’s a process and a set of questions you can use to identify your 2 connections.

*3 questions you will ask about your “lesson story” to help students make connections to God’s story. As you work to identify your 3 questions, you may find it helpful to consider the following questions:

1. Why does God ask questions? (discussion questions)
2. Why use questions? (discussion questions, video)
3. What makes a good question good? (discussion questions)
4. What question do you want to ask your students? (discussion questions) Might you want to use creation-fall-redemption-restoration questions, questions used by teachers at Christian Academy in Japan, WHWW questions, or 5 Ws and an H? (Who? What? Why? Where? When? How?)
5. How can you help your students sincerely respond to questions? (discussion questions)
6. How can you use your questions effectively? (discussion questions)

*2 objectives for this lesson.

*1 assessment you will use to find out if your lesson objectives were met. For example, you could have your students tell, show, make, write, do…

1. What type of assessment can you use?
2. Kim Essenburg, English 10 teacher at Christian Academy in Japan, uses a variety of assessments.

 
To develop your 1-2-3-2-1 lesson, answer these questions:

• What’s your lesson about?
• What’s 1 story you could tell about your lesson content?
• What are 2 connections between your “lesson story” and God’s creation-fall-redemption-restoration/fulfillment story?
• What 3 questions could you ask about your “lesson story” to help students make connections to God’s story?
• What are 2 objectives of this lesson?
• What’s 1 assessment you could use to find out if these lesson objectives were met?

 
Or you could answer these questions:
What’s your lesson about?
 
If Jesus taught this lesson…?

• What’s 1 story Jesus could tell about the lesson content?
• What 2 connections might Jesus make between the “lesson story” and God’s creation-fall-redemption-restoration/fulfillment story?
• What 3 questions could Jesus ask about the “lesson story” to help students make connections to God’s story?
• What might 2 of Jesus’ objectives for this lesson be?
• What’s 1 assessment Jesus could use to find out if these lesson objectives were met?

Now, teach your 1-2-3-2-1 lesson! Target Biblical perspective. Today.