My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #4

Joe Paprocki Approaches/Techniques

magician's hat

As I look back on my favorite lessons, this one really stands out because I love the idea of magic. I think, deep down, I always wanted to be a magician, but I was never any good at it! In this lesson for sixth graders, we were looking at the story of Creation, in which God creates all of creation out of nothing. The first thing I thought of was how magicians try to convince us that they possess the power to create something out of nothing. I found a great clip on YouTube of a magician to use to get their attention, and it worked beautifully, setting the stage for us to cover Chapter 2 of Finding God, Grade 6.

Another highlight of this lesson was inviting the young people to draw a picture of their favorite aspect of God’s creation. Some of their artwork was just so wonderful! Here is the lesson: God Creates Something Out of Nothing.

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
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.

Related Articles

No Picture
Approaches/Techniques

My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #5

Joe Paprocki Approaches/Techniques

One of the things that I enjoyed most about teaching sixth grade with a focus on the Old Testament, was using Old Testament themes to help the kids understand concepts of our Catholic faith. One particularly successful example was a lesson I did about the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, drawing from the Old Testament example of the Jewish people recognizing the Temple as the locus of God’s presence in their midst. I began […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
No Picture
Approaches/Techniques

My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #2

Joe Paprocki Approaches/Techniques

We continue our series of looking at some of my favorite lessons from the archives here at Catechist’s Journey. Today, we re-visit one of my favorite lessons from my sixth-grade catechist days. Sixth grade typically teaches the Catholic faith through the lens of the Old Testament. As I prepared to teach Chapter 16 of Finding God Grade 6, “Prophets Challenge,” I tried to think of people in the lives of my sixth graders who challenge them […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly
No Picture
Approaches/Techniques

My Top Ten Favorite Lessons: #8

Joe Paprocki Approaches/Techniques

When I was a student teacher back in the day, my cooperating teacher taught me that the goal of an effective teacher is to turn the spotlight away from yourself and onto your students. He emphasized that they were here to perform for you, not you for them! I’ve tried to follow that advice as much as possible as a catechist by creating activities that engage the young people in activities rather than having them […]

Print Friendly, PDF & EmailPrint Friendly

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*