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Joys and Frustrations

A Little Help!

I received the following email from a catechist named Frances who finds herself facing a tough situation. Let’s help her out! Please offer your comments and suggestions! Thank you for all your e-mails. I need some help, I teach CCD I have a 12 year old boy who has an attitude and no matter what I say he says he doesn’t believe in God, when he asked so who made God, I said Himself, he responded how convenient, […]

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Intermediate Grades

A Little Rusty

Last evening’s class went very nicely, however, I really felt like I needed to ovecome some “rust” after a few weeks of not teaching (because of interruptions in the schedule). For one, I forgot to include our little ritual gesture of marking our foreheads, lips, and hearts with the sign of the Cross at the start of class! Didn’t think about it till I got home and was reviewing in my mind how the class […]

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Intermediate Grades

Ten Commandments

It feels as though I have not taught my 4th graders for a few weeks now, because of guest speakers and Presidents’ Days, etc. Tonight, that all changes as I get back to the basics with my li’l ones and focus on the Ten Commandments one last time! As you may recall, back in January, we made a DVD of the kids doing mini-presentations on the Ten Commandments. For tonight’s class, I put together the […]

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Joys and Frustrations

Picture This!

I don’t post photos of my class here on my blog but my class is pictured in the latest newsletter (pg. 2) of the School of Religion on the Most Holy Redeemer Parish Website. Take a look at the happy faces! Also, take note of the very nice newsletter that the program secretary, Lilian Trasko, puts out (electronically) each month! February Newsletter P.S. I’m flattered that they also included one of my articles on the Roman Missal […]

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Intermediate Grades

4th Graders on the Red Carpet

Last night was the successful premiere of the Ten Commandments DVD that my 4th graders filmed over the past few weeks! It opened to an audience of about 8-9 parents who visited my classroom as part of the Open House. The parents enjoyed watching their little stars on the big screen and the kids were tickled to see themselves. All in all, it was very successful. I made a copy of the DVD for each […]

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Technology in Catechesis

Using SKYPE in Catechesis

My friend Victor Valdez, a DRE in Mountain View, CA, sent me this link about an 8th grade language arts teacher in Iowa who invited his students to select a name from the CNN Heroes finalists so that he could arrange for them to speak with him or her using SKYPE. Eighth Graders Learn Big Lessons from CNN Heroes Assignment Victor astutely suggests that this would be a great idea for a religious education class in […]

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Intermediate Grades

Scripts for Ten Commandments Video Presentations

As I mentioned yesterday, I plan to videotape my students doing brief presentations/demonstrations on the Ten Commandments and then showing the video to the parents who attend the Open House later this month. Here are the scripts that I’ve prepared: Ten Commandments Video Scripts These scripts are adaptations of the Ten Commandments Two-Minute Drills that I did with my Confirmation class last year. Some of the adaptations were to make the activities more appropriate for 4th […]

teaching fourth grade
Intermediate Grades

Lights! Camera! Action!

I’ve decided that I’m going to produce a video starring my fourth-grade class. Later this month, we have an open house for parents to attend part of their children’s class. I thought it would be a nice idea to film the students over the next couple of weeks as they do mini-demonstrations on the Ten Commandments and then show the video to the parents who attend the open house. Last year, I put together Two-Minute Drills for […]

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Intermediate Grades

“Please, Mr. Paprocki! Pleeeaase!!!”

I had planned to be a “Grinch” last evening and skip taking my class to the Christmas pageant that the first-graders were putting on. I figured that my kids wouldn’t know about the pageant since I hadn’t said anything about it and I would have one more full session before Christmas break to complete the seven Sacraments. I forgot that many of my students have younger siblings! The first girl that came in asked, “Are we […]

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Intermediate Grades

The Healing Effect of Oil

Here’s a little tweak on the part of my lesson scheduled for tonight that focuses on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and the healing effect of oil. I planned to show the healing effect that baby oil can have on a dried leaf. On my way to the train last week, I picked up a few dead leaves to bring home and allowed them to dry out for a day. Of course they […]