Old Testament Survey (Core A) Syllabus

2015-2016 School Year

Instructor

Email

Website

Stephanie Howald

steph.howald@gmail.com

www.stephaniejh.weebly.com

General Information
Description
Our study of the Old Testament will be a general overview of the first 39 books of the Bible and how they fit into the
larger picture of Gods story of redemption. We will be moving chronologically through the books, stopping at key
narratives to zoom in and then zoom back out and see how these narratives fit into the larger story of the Bible.

Expectations and Goals

My hope, and I believe your own, is that each students heart will be drawn into the love of God and into the
steadfastness of Christ. I pray that their love may abound more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so
that they may approve the things which are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ,
having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
That was Pauls prayer for the church at Philippi and I ask that you join me in praying that for you student as well.
Parental involvement is a must for this class, not just simply in checking homework, but in developing a students
Biblical worldview by connecting the coursework to all areas of their life, whether that is through personally
challenging them, encouraging them to ask hard questions, or spawning open and honest conversations about the Bible
and how it should guide us.

Class Time
Our class time will primarily be spent in discussion and lecture of the material. Class participation will be required and
a significant part of the students grade will be based on his/her efforts to be included in the discussion. Also as part
of class participation, students will have the opportunity to occasionally select a scripture verse to memorize.
Students will be expected to bring their workbook, Bible, notebook/folder, and a writing utensil to each class. There
will be a deduction in the class participation grade for coming to class unprepared or tardy.

Coursework
The weekly coursework will consist of completing the assigned workbook pages and reading the corresponding passages
in the Bible. The assignments are to be completed according to the schedule and will serve as an additional study aid
in preparation for the weekly quizzes. Unless otherwise specified, every question in the workbook should be answered.
Parents will be responsible for checking the homework for correctness using the Answer Key. Parents must use RED INK
to correct the answers. If there is no red ink I will assume the student did not finish the assignment in time and/or the
parent did not check the answers. If there are incorrect answers, the students should make the necessary corrections.
In addition to completion of the questions, students will be asked to interact with the workbook assignment by
occasionally making notations (such as a question mark indicating something they dont understand, a star for
something they found important or new to them, or a heart denoting something that impacted their heart personally).
These notations will be a part of the workbook grade. The workbooks will be collected in class on the due date,
checked for a completion grade, and then returned to the students folder in the study hall by noon.

Notebook
Students are required to keep all notes, handouts, and returned quizzes organized in a binder. They may use the same
binder for another class just as long as they section out where one class ends and/or begins. This will aid students in

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note-taking and organizational skills, study prep for quizzes, and leave them with an awesome resource to reference at
the end of the course. Be reminded that this notebook will be ten percent of their final grade each quarter.

Quizzes
Every Thursday there will be a short quiz given at the beginning of class that will cover, as a review, on the previous
lecture and reading material. Students should practice taking good notes in class, as well as reviewing the material
read throughout the week, as these quizzes will be taken closed-book, closed-notes. Additionally, during the 3 rd
Quarter, students will be required to write from memory all 39 books of the Old Testament, spelled correctly.

Grading
Each quarterly grade will be determined following this grading rubric:
40% - Workbook Assignments
30% - Quizzes
20% - Class participation
10% - Notebook
Extra Credit will be awarded for reading Bible passages not required in the workbook assignments which will then result
in them reading through the whole Old Testament!
Late assignments will not be accepted. If an unexpected situation arises that prevents a student from turning in his/her
assignment, please have a parent contact me by email so that we may discuss how to work together to get the student
caught up.
A= 100-90 B= 89-80 C= 79-70 D= 69-60 F= 59-0

Course Materials
Required Materials
3 Ring Binder with loose leaf paper for note taking and quizzes (this binder may be shared with another class as long
as there is clear class separation. EX: 5 subject binder with dividers
Pen and/or Pencil
Red pen for parents to check homework assignments

Required Text
The Most Important Thing Youll Ever Study: A Survey of the Bible (Vol. 1 & 2 with Answer Key, vol.5) by Starr Meade,
Crossway Books (June 2010), ISBN 978=1=43352=028=0
The Bible (must be a literal translation)(prefer either NASB or ESV)(textbook uses ESV)

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