P p Letter P introduces Joseph Priestly, and his inventions

Welcome. After each person says his or her name, the group responds, “Welcome, (name).” For a child who is attending for the first time this year, add name to the letters that have been posted and to the attendance sheet, and make a nametag during or after the session. Leave an empty chair for someone who is not present or for someone who has not joined the group yet.

The Letter of the Day:

SPECIAL PERSON: Joseph Priestly (March 13, 1733- 1804)

How many times have you made a mistake when you have been writing or drawing? What do you do? Do you erase the mistake, or take another piece of paper? Do you know what you would have done 250 years ago, if you made a mistake?

You would have gone to the kitchen and gotten a dry crust of bread, and rubbed at the mistake, cleaned up the crumbs, and taken the crust back to the kitchen. (Demonstrate. How well does it work?)

Along came Joseph Priestly! He asked questions and tried new things. One day, he was sitting at his desk. He took a little gum off a rubber tree and rubbed it on a mistake. The pencil mark disappeared!

Joseph shared his discovery with all his friends. They saved so much time and mess that every time they used their new erasers, they said, "Thank you, Joseph."

Another day, Joseph took some oxygen, which is part of the air that we breathe, and put it into water. He created a new bubbly drink. He shared it with his friends. They called the new drink 'soda water.' When they had some, they said, "Thank you, Joseph."

Joseph Priestly invented many other things. He discovered the principle that operates refrigerators and fire extinguishers.

Now, when you use something that Joseph Priestly invented -- like an eraser, and soda, and the cold from the refrigerator -- you can say, "Thank you, Joseph."

We remember Joseph Priestly for his inventions. But he was a Unitarian minister as well as an inventor. He lived in England, but some people did not like him because he did not belong to the Church of England. He believed in freedom of religion, or that we believe as we want rather than the way a church said that we have to believe. In fact, some people burned his laboratory where he invented things, and his home. He and his family escaped to the United States. He started Unitarian churches in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Preach, pulpit. In church services, the speaker usually talks while standing behind a "pulpit," or a place at the front of the church. Sometimes we call what the minister or speaker says as "preaching." This means that the person has something important for us to hear that will help us in our living. If you wanted to say something important and have everyone hear, what would you say? (Allow time for each person to say their important message.)

Pew: A pew is a long bench seat that may be used in churches. (Remember that Clarke ended the practice of people paying for their pews.) Talk about different kinds of seats in churches, including pews, if the church has them. If the meeting space has chairs rather than pews, did the church ever have pews? If so, why were they exchanged for movable seating?

CLOSING: Gather around the Special Place where the things related to the letter have been placed. "We give thanks for the Letter P. We have shared and learned about special people and animals and ourselves and our church. May we leave in love and peace. Next week we will meet again. Our letter will be ____ and our leader(s) will be ____________________." Make sure that people take home things that need to go.

P p Letter P introduces Joseph Priestly and his inventions