Substitute Lesson Plan

This coming Monday, November 12, I am going to be on the road and will not be able to teach my 6th graders šŸ™ so I prepared a simple lesson plan for the substitute catechistĀ to complete in my place. The focus continues to be on Moses and the Exodus/Passover event. Here’s what I sent to my DRE:

Hi Arlene,

For Monday (11/12), please have a sub do the following:

  1. Distribute Finding God student books (they are in the closet of the library on a shelf) and pens (in the green bin)
  2. Have students read (silently/individually) pgs 40-41 (God Leads a Nation/God Appears to Moses/Moses Accepts His Mission) and 43 (Celebrating the Eucharist) Ā (10 mins)
  3. Have them work in pairs to complete the BLM for session 7 (Moses, Passover, and the Eucharist, pg. T-310) (10 mins)
  4. Review the BLMĀ (answers on T-349) (10 mins)
  5. Have them read (silently/individually) pgs 46-47 (The Great Exodus/God Saves theĀ Israelites)Ā (10 mins)
  6. Have them work in pairs to complete pg. 49 (Exploring the Ten Commandments) (10 mins)
  7. Have them tear out pg. 49 to take home to memorize the 10 Commandments. Distribute the attached Homework Notification Sheet to go with pg. 49 as they leave . (This sheet asks parents to help their child memorize the Ten Commandments)
  8. Collect textbooks and return to the closet in the library.

Thanks so much!Ā  -joe

About Joe Paprocki 2758 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to Godā€™s Gifts and Godā€™s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechistā€™s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholicā€”a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

4 Comments on Substitute Lesson Plan

  1. Wow, Joe. This class does not seem to contain any of the dynamic and creative things that you usually do when you teach a class.
    If I were one of your students I would be pretty disappointed. As a catechist I would not feel comfortable presenting such a totally book centered class.

    • Hi Dianna, I appreciate your point, however, when leaving a lesson for a substitute, one has to take into consideration the fact that the sub, in many cases, may not have ANY teaching experience. Often the sub is a mom helping in the office. It would not be fair to plan a complex lesson to put into someone else’s hands. I posted this plan on purpose to show that, when leaving a lesson in the hands of a sub, one needs to be very basic. If I knew my sub would be an experienced catechist, I’d develop something more complex and creative. I’d be interested in what others think when it comes to leaving lesson plans for a sub.

  2. Hi, Joe. I’ve been wondering what, if anything, you do when your students don’t complete the assigned homework? Even when parents are aware of homework, my return is about half. Thanks.

    • Hi Kate. My return has been between a half and three quarters. At present, I have no mechanism in place for dealing with uncompleted homework other than making mention of it on the “report card” we send home at the semester and end of the year. Hopefully, they will see the value of completing homework since it always pertains to what we are reviewing or moving onto next.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*