A Lo-Tech Session; High on Props – David: Shepherd and King

Last evening was thoroughly enjoyable and, for the most part, very effective, as we focused on David as shepherd and king who points the way to the Good Shepherd/Christ the King. I decided to give the technology a rest since I’ve been using PowerPoints and videos a lot in recent sessions. Instead, I went all out on props which the kids loved. 6th graders are very much into this kind of theatrics! Here is one of the young ladies as David the Shepherd.

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Next, is one of the boys as David the King, holding the symbols of his royal office. To his right, you can see a student on bended knee presenting the scales of justice.

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Finally, as we read from the Finding God textbook, we passed the shepherd’s staff around to indicate whose turn it was to read. The kids loved that.

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The highlight of the class was when they read aloud their ideas of what they would do if they were king or queen for a day (If I Were King or Queen for a Day)! They were so imaginative and so selfless and philanthropic! I’ll share their ideas tomorrow.

The reason I said that the session was effective for the most part is because the handout (Symbols of Royaltythat we worked on toward the end of class was a bit beyond their level of comprehension. At that point, however, I felt satisfied that we had driven home the “big idea” of David as shepherd and king who points the way to Jesus, the Good Shepherd and Christ the King!

Finally, the kids seem excited about bringing in songs next week that capture various emotions/feelings, which we will use as a lead-in to the Psalms. This is the first time I’m having kids bring in music (the note sent home to their parents states clearly that lyrics must be appropriate). It’ll be interesting to see what they come up with!

About Joe Paprocki 2742 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 God’s Gifts and God’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 Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—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.

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