Welcome to my laboratory. You’ve caught me right in the middle of an experiment, and I could really use some help. I’ve invented this highly intelligent robot name Curly-Lari-Mobot. I thought he was capable of answering any question I asked, but I have found a glitch in his programming. When I asked, “What is the meaning of Christmas?” Curly-Lari-Mobot simply did not know! Can you help me teach Curly-Lari-Mobot the true meaning of Christmas?

I have developed four fool-proof methods of teaching Curly-Lari-Mobot. We must:

• Read the Christmas story to him out loud
• Define some of the words he might not have been programmed to use
• Input in his memory banks an analysis of the Christmas Story as an historical event, which we can do by…
• Preparing some research and presenting it to Curly-Lari-Mobot.

Method to My Madness

1. Read these verses aloud from the King James Version of the Holy Bible: Matthew Chapter 1 and 2:1-23, and Luke Chapter 1 and 2:1-21
2. Note the differences between words of Old English and today’s English language. Pick out 5 Old English words and translate them into modern English.
3. Now define some of the other difficult words you read: barren, begat, begotten, behold, bidden, conceived, diligently, espoused, exalted, exceeding, forth, generation, lamentation, mercy, mourning, perceived, privileged, privily, regarded, salutation, shewed, slew, stricken, tarried, wroth
4. And for the final component of your presentation for Curly-Lari-Mobot, complete one, two or even all of the following activities:

• Draw a timeline of the Christmas story
• List 5 differences how Matthew and Luke tell the Christmas Stories
• Create a mathematical word problem using the generations prior to Jesus
• Write a five-paragraph essay (introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and concluding paragraph) about one of Jesus’ genealogical relatives in the Bible
• Discuss the traveling characters of the Christmas Story then go on a mile hike and discuss how the traveling characters would have survived during their journeys. What would they have done for water, a place to sleep, preparing their meals?
• Build a nativity scene out of something edible (marshmallows, potatoes, asparagus?)
• Google search the Star of Bethlehem and present your findings in a three-minute speech

Congratulations! This new information entered into Curly-Lari-Mobot’s memory banks will enable him to correctly and thoroughly answer the question about the true meaning of Christmas! Looks like even a machine can have a Merry Christmas!       

Elementary

• Define/discuss the words “scene” and “character” as they pertain to the Christmas Story
• Go on a long walk pretending to be one of the characters in the Christmas Story and discuss what that character would have seen, heard and smelled
• Draw a picture of a scene in the Christmas Story

High School

• Research and report (in either a speech or research paper format) on the history of taxation referring specifically to Judea at the time of Christ’s birth and current taxation in America (search “taxation in Judea”  and “easy explanation for taxation in America today” for several sources); also provide a Works Cited page for research.
• Create a dynamic Powerpoint presentation about the Star of Bethlehem (ChristianityToday.com is a good starting point)