Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects · Materials: • Chalk board, white board, or poster board to write on and ... Read a book, fly a kite, eat an ice cream cone, get dressed, wash

Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects

Grades 2–6

Description:

A story and simulation activity for established readers that includes a

word search puzzle to demonstrate the benefits of doing Bible

translation through cluster projects. It also includes an optional coloring

page.

Aims:

• Children will learn how God used a huge tragedy to change the way

Bible translation teams worked in Papua New Guinea.

• Children will learn the advantage of teamwork in Bible translation

cluster projects.

Audience:

Grades 2–6

Minimum Time Requirements:

20–25 minutes

Scripture:

Ecclesiastes 4:9–10

If you have any questions or problems related to this lesson, please contact Wycliffe’s Children’s Communications team at [email protected]. No part of this lesson may be republished or sold without permission. Copying for classroom use is encouraged! © Wycliffe 2013 More curricula to engage children in Bible translation are available at www.wycliffe.org/kids.

Materials:

• Chalk board, white board, or

poster board to write on and

appropriate writing implements

• Copies of the word search

puzzle found on page 8 or 9

• Pencils

• One copy of the answer key

found on page 10

• Bible marked at Ecclesiastes

4:9–10

• Optional: globe or world map

• Optional: minute timer

• Optional: clipboards or

magazines to serve as writing

surfaces for the children

working alone

• Optional: picture on page 11

• Optional: picture to color from

page 12 and crayons

• Optional: computer, data

projector, and projection

surface.

Pre-class Preparation:

• Prepare a chalk board, white board, or poster board with two

columns—at the top of one column draw a single stick figure and

write the word “alone” and at the top of the other column draw

several stick figures and write the words “together on a team.”

• Decide if you want to include the picture from page 11. If so, either

make a copy of it, or arrange to project it through a data projector.

• Decide which version of the word search puzzle suits your students

better. The one on page 8 is geared for older students, and the one

on page 9 is geared for younger students. Make enough copies of

the word search you select for half the class to work on individually

and the other half of the class to divide into teams of three or four to

work on one copy per team.

• Optional: If children working on the puzzle alone need a writing

surface, consider providing clipboards or magazines for them.

• Make one copy of the answer key found on page 10 for reference.

• Consider which students in your class would work best alone and

which students would work best in a group, so you can assist them

to get into the appropriate group for solving the puzzle.

• Optional: Decide if you want to include the Sleeping Coconuts

coloring page on page 12, and if so, make a copy for each child and

gather green and brown crayons.

Class Time:

Display the two-column chart, and say,

We want to fill in both sides of this chart, but first let’s just focus on

activities we do best all by ourselves. What comes to your mind?

If children have a hard time getting started, you might provide a few

suggestions like,

Read a book, fly a kite, eat an ice cream cone, get dressed, wash your

hands, drink a soda, play solitaire, ride a bicycle, ride a skateboard,

text someone, play a musical instrument.

After you have several items listed in the “alone” column, begin filling

the “together on a team” column. Say,

Now it’s time to make a list of what we do best working together with

other people on a team. Tell me what to write down in this column.

Materials:

• Two-column chart with a single

stick figure and the word

“alone” at the top of one

column and several stick

figures and the words “together

on a team” at the top of the

other column on a chalk board,

white board, or poster board

along with appropriate writing

implements

Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects, Grades 2–6, Fall 2013, page 2

If children are having a hard time getting started, you might provide a

few suggestions like,

Play a game like soccer (or Uno), go to a movie, sing a duet, eat a

whole watermelon (or a whole pizza), run a relay race, march in a

parade, celebrate Christmas (or Thanksgiving).

When the children seem to have the idea about some activities

working better when you’re alone and some when you’re working

together on team, ask,

In which column do you think translating the Bible falls?

After some responses, say,

That’s kind of a trick question because the very first Bible translators

worked alone or with one other person. In fact that’s how the Arop

translation project began in Papua New Guinea. Listen to this story.

Optional: Point out where Papua New Guinea is located on a globe or

world map.

Read the following story as background for the word search puzzle

that will follow. The highlighted words appear in the word search:

Sleeping Coconuts* Sleeping coconuts—what in the world are they? In Tok

Pisin, a trade language** of Papua New Guinea (PNG),

anything that lies down is called “sleeping.” “Kokonas” is

the word both for the coconut fruit and the palm trees they

grow on. Coconut palms normally stand straight and tall.

They don’t “sleep.” In this story you will learn what made

some coconut trees in PNG look like they were sleeping.

John and Bonnie Nystrom studied how to do Bible

translation when they were a young couple. Then they

packed up or sold their possessions. They asked friends

and family to pray for them and their new work. Some

people wanted to send money to help them too. John and

Bonnie looked forward to living in PNG. Right after they

arrived, they attended a course that helped them learn to

live in an unfamiliar country like PNG. They discovered

that the Arop people needed a Bible translation, so they

chose to live and work in Arop village, and they began to

learn the Arop language and culture.

Materials:

• Globe or world map

*Adapted from a book of the

same name by John and Bonnie

Nystrom, published by Wycliffe

Bible Translators, Inc., 2012,

available at

www.sleepingcoconuts.com or

https://shop.wycliffe.org/.

**Many countries have at least

one “trade language,” a common

language that people from

different language groups can

speak. It makes it easier to do

business if everyone speaks the

same language.


Arop and a few other villages sat on a narrow sand spit

(strip of beach) between a sea and a lagoon (salt water

lake). That long, thin spit measured only 100 yards wide

and 3 miles long. The Nystrom’s didn’t think big storms

like typhoons or hurricanes would affect Arop, so they felt

safe there.

For ten years John Nystrom worked with some Arop

speakers translating God’s Word into the Arop language.

Then disaster struck! Three huge, successive waves

called tsunamis hit the sand spit on which Arop and the

other villages perched. Canoes and people tumbled into

the lagoon. Buildings—like the Nystrom’s house—

crumpled and washed into the lagoon as well. The storm

broke and uprooted coconut palms. The people said they

were “sleeping.” A third of the Arop moms, dads, and

children died that day.

At first this tsunami seemed like a huge roadblock that

might stop the translation work. Could God bring good

from something so horrible?

Yes! God had a plan! He turned this tragedy into an

unexpected opportunity. The Arop people couldn’t rebuild

their village on the same sand spit because it had gotten

even smaller. So, they decided to re-build their village

inland—closer to other language groups that also needed

the New Testament. John began to wonder if maybe he

could work with more than one language community from

this new location. God put all the pieces together so that

now John assists translation teams from eleven different

languages to translate the Bible into their own languages!

They call this type of translation work a language cluster

translation project—or “cluster project” for short.

By June 2011 several Aitape West Translation Project*

teams had published the book of Luke. They joyfully

prepared to distribute copies. It had taken many years of

hard work to reach this point, so, the translation teams set

aside the entire month to celebrate.

*The Aitape West Translation

Project includes eleven

languages from three language

families. You can find out more

about this translation cluster

project at

www.thenystroms.org/awtp


Optional: Show the children the picture from page 10 before finishing

the story.

Today if you were to visit that narrow spit of sand where

Arop village once stood, you would notice that many of the

coconut trees have a dramatic bend in them. People

called the trees that the storm left standing at odd angles

“sleeping coconuts.” But over time their trunks began to

grow toward the sky once again—just as God designed

them to do. Now they stand bent but beautiful and

fruitful—a testimony to God’s ability to transform a

tragedy into something amazing that brings Him glory.**

Answer questions and allow comments related to the story.

Optional: Let the children find the sleeping coconut in the coloring

picture from page 12, and color it according to the directions before

you finish reading the story.

Then introduce the word search puzzle by saying,

Now we’re going to do an experiment to see whether we can solve a

word search puzzle better alone (like when John Nystrom and his team

began translating the Bible into one language—Arop) or in teams (like

when the Aitape West translation teams worked together after the

tragedy.) What do you think we will find?

Allow some comments. Then, as you take the students across the

room to form two equal groups, ask an adult volunteer to put one

copy of the word search puzzle and a pencil on each table for the

teams of three or four, and to spread the rest throughout the room for

individual students to work on. You may want him/her to include

clipboards or magazines to use as writing surfaces for the children

working alone. Say to the students,

For our little experiment we need to form two equal lines. One line will

be made up of those who will quietly work on the puzzles by

themselves. The students in the other line will work in teams of three

or four to solve the word search puzzle together.

Assist the students to form two lines. Then have your volunteer across

the room point out where the puzzles are for those who will work on

their puzzle alone. Secondly have your volunteer point out the tables

where groups of three or four will work together on one puzzle per

group. Explain that those who work alone should work silently. Those

who work in a group may talk to the others in their group quietly.

Materials:

• Optional: Either project picture from page 10, or show the picture of the sleeping coconuts.

**For other information and

pictures related to this story click

on “Media” at

www.sleepingcoconuts.com. You

can also view an interview with

John Nystrom at

http://video.foxnews.com/v/19744

26927001/missionary-family-

brave-tsunami-to-help-

community/?playlist_id=162726.

Materials:

• Optional: copies of the coloring

picture from page 12 and

green and brown crayons

• Copies of the word search

puzzle from page 7 or 8 for the

children to work on, reserving

one copy for the teacher to use

while he/she explains the

game

• Pencils

• Optional: clipboards or

magazines to serve as writing

surfaces for the children

working alone



Hold up a copy of the word search puzzle, and say,

See the words listed under the word search puzzle? These words

come right out of the “Sleeping Coconuts” story you just heard. You

will look for those words in the puzzle. They could be written

horizontally (back and forth), vertically (up and down), or diagonally

(from corner to corner). When you spot them, draw a circle around

them, and then check them off the list below. Do you have any

questions?

Answer all questions to be sure everyone knows where to go and

what to do when you say “go.”

Give the signal. Optional: Set a timer to go off in 3–5 minutes

(according to your students’ attention spans and speed).

When time is up, instruct the individuals and teams to put their

pencils down and count how many words they checked off the list at

the bottom. Adults may need to assist in this step as you say,

Now let’s see what our experiment shows. Raise your hand if you or

your team found 3 or more words in the puzzle. Raise your hand if you

or your team found 4 or more words?

Continue in that manner increasing the total until no one raises a

hand. Write on your chart in the “alone” column the highest number

of words the children working independently found. Write on your

chart in the “together on a team” column the highest number of

words the teams of 3 or 4 found. (Should questions arise over the

answers, refer to the answer key from page 10.)

Then ask,

Did our experiment show that we solve word search puzzles better

alone or in teams? Can anyone explain why that might be so?

Allow time for discussion. Then continue,

After working only on the Arop Bible translation for 10 years, God used

the tragedy to help John Nystrom consider training and assisting

several translation teams working in different languages at once. John

discovered that teamwork sped up Bible translation for the 11 groups

in the Aitape West cluster—but not at first! With more people working

together, problems arose. Misunderstandings surfaced. Schedules

didn’t match. The team members had to learn to trust each other and

work together. Everyone on the team had to learn how to express their

opinion without fear and listen to their teammates’ opinions. Over time

they learned that listening to criticism improved not just their own

translation. It improved all 11 translations!

Materials:

• Sample copy of the word

search puzzle

• Optional: minute timer

• Copy of the answer key from

page 10


John now gives the translation teams training and assistance as

needed. He is not their leader. His goal is no longer to finish one New

Testament. Now his goal is to help the Aitape West translation teams

improve their translations. With that new goal in mind, John helps the

teams learn how to use new computer programs. Sometimes he

advises them over the Internet from far away. He says that at first it felt

like the translation process was moving backward rather than forward.

But in 2011 when they celebrated the arrival of the book of Luke in

eight different languages, they all knew that it was worth all the

struggles they had experienced.

Closing and prayer:

Open your Bible, and continue,

Did you know that God’s Word also has some advice about teamwork?

Listen to this verse from Ecclesiastes 4:9–10.

After reading the verses, allow a time for comments. Then invite the

children to pray for the Aitape West Translation Project based on

what this verse says about working together.

Materials:

• Bible marked at Ecclesiastes

4:9–10


D J U S O B M G Y M U L L K H S K

X T A L Z P E K T T F I G N O E O

P R H U B O V R A O L C B M K G K

C A P C S T Z B I O D D N F R V O

A N P L I H C E L E B R A T E O N

L S T U E N A M Z A X D T E C N A

O F A S A B N C L J A H U A O R S

Y O T T R N O G S A S G Z M T P O

W R A E O U E F R A N S O S N I K

Y M E R P G S W F F R G B S I S W

F N M X E G B U G N A K U L V E L

H K U N C D H Y V U O P C A A Q O

J X T R A N S L A T I O N H G M G

Q V S D R A L A E H S N N O L E A

S M U M I N E G V X C E E E S W K

E K N D M S E O L E I V F A I H Q

A H A K W A P O G E T G N L M H S

U R M X A M I N I L F D L S R Y N

N P I B F R N P O K S M O B O G M

S M S S E G G V L P V M U N A L F

R P P I S T J J I B W J R O D W C

S Y R U P C S T E L X O B I B L E

T I A M B U O U L L L A A T L Y D

I F T N K L B C E M D A Z A O I H

N E E H L T I R O E E S G R C O R

G K E R A U C S M N R I N E K S Y

C D O S P R D O H W U N L E S A Y

B M A Y D E A C Q E C T R L N B E

C F N X R I E V U O D O S K L C K

G C O M M U N I T Y A M O C P T W

KOKONAS SLEEPING TRANSFORM TRANSLATION BIBLE

LANGUAGE CULTURE VILLAGES CELEBRATE TEAMS

AROP SAND SPIT LAGOON COCONUTS

TSUNAMIS ROADBLOCK CLUSTER TRANSFORM PUBLISHED CANOES COMMUNITY PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Sleeping Coconuts Word Search Search up, down, across, and diagonally for each word.
































Sleeping Coconuts Word Search The shaded box indicates the beginning of each word. Words

may go up, down, across, and diagonally.




TSUNAMIS ROADBLOCK CLUSTER TRANSFORM

PUBLISHED CANOES COMMUNITY PAPUA NEW GUINEA
































Sleeping Coconuts Word Search Answer Key




TSUNAMIS ROADBLOCK CLUSTER TRANSFORM PUBLISHED CANOES COMMUNITY PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects, Grades 2–6, Fall 2013, page 11 Photograph courtesy of David Scorza

Sleeping Bent Coconut Tree

Find the “sleeping coconut.” Color the trunk brown or tan. Color the leaves green.

DCDES3057 Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects, Grades 2-6, Fall 2013, page 12

Documents

Sleeping Coconuts Cluster Projects · Materials: • Chalk board, white board, or poster board to write on and ... Read a book, fly a kite, eat an ice cream cone, get dressed, wash