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Intermediate Grades

Entering the Stories of Genesis (Creation, Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel)

For Monday evening’s session, we will begin exploring the stories of Genesis, beginning with Creation, Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel. I’m going hi-tech for this session, showing a number of brief video clips from YouTube. Here’s the plan. BIG IDEA: God creates something from nothing and sin has consequences. Preliminaries (15 mins) Students enter and write down prayer intentions Procession to set up prayer center Opening Prayer ritual Engage (10 mins) Show video […]

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Intermediate Grades

A Laid-Back, Fun Night

Monday’s session turned out very well! I have to say that I had a very laid-back and informal attitude going into this session and my overall goal was to keep it simple which I did. As a result, I actually finished everything I planned to do (for once!) Here’s a summary: Approaching the session, I continued to “downsize” my approach because of the fire drill which would take up time. I decided to set up […]

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Intermediate Grades

Session 5: Keeping it Simple!

 Knowing that we have a fire drill scheduled for Monday evening, I need to keep my lesson plan simple! The fire drill will probably eat up 10 minutes of the schedule which, if you do the math, is nearly 15% of a 75 minute class! With that in mind, I have a simple plan for this lesson which is to tie up some loose ends from the Learning Stations we did a few weeks ago. […]

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Intermediate Grades

Biting Off More Than THEY Can Chew!

If you have been following me here at Catechist’s Journey for any length of time, you know that my biggest chronic problem as a catechist is trying to do too much (biting off more than THEY can chew)! From time to time, I need to make an adjustment to narrow the scope of what I hope to accomplish (not lower my expectations, but just be more realistic). Last night was one of those nights. Overall, […]

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Intermediate Grades

The Bible Tells Our Story

Here is the outline for my session on Monday, October 1, 2012: Big Idea: The Bible Tells Our Story Action Plan Preliminaries: (15 mins) Instrumental music in background (CD/player) Prayer intention slips and pens at places Prayer center objects on side table Hold bowl of holy water at the door Greet students at door with holy water – bless selves Students are seated and write out prayer intentions Take attendance Do Prayer Center Procession Opening […]

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Intermediate Grades

Bible Learning Stations Successful!

Last night, we finally offered our much-anticipated Bible Learning Stations that I have been talking about for the last week or so and I am happy to report that it was a success! Other than the fact that they did not have enough time to finish all of them (so what else is new in the world of RE?), the experience was very positive and the kids were thoroughly engaged (as the pics below reveal). […]

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Intermediate Grades

Opening Mass Tonight; Thinking Ahead to Next Week

Tonight, our religious education program celebrates our Opening Mass in the Church which means that I will primarily be supervising my 6th graders as they gather for Mass and then throughout the Mass. This afternoon, I plan to go over their names so that this evening I will be able to greet them and talk to them by name. As we wait for Mass to begin, I thought I would do some Q & A […]

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Being a Catechist

Happy Catechetical Sunday!

On this Catechetical Sunday, my hopes and prayers are with all catechists and catechetical ministers as we seek to be agents of the New Evangelization! Personally, I’m marking the occasion here in Louisville, KY, where I spent a wonderful day with 100+ catechists and catechetical leaders yesterday exploring Catholic identity and strategies for more effective catechesis. Thanks to the good folks of Louisville for a wonderful experience!

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Intermediate Grades

Off to a Good Start!

I was very pleased with my first session of 6th grade religious education last evening! 🙂 Here’s a rundown of highlights and lowlights: Since I teach in the later session and someone is in the room before me, I don’t have much time to set up (15 mins…if I’m lucky) so it is a real whirlwind trying to get things ready. I have this notion that the kids will walk into this very serene and prayerful […]

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Growing as a Catechist

Getting Ready for My First Session with Sixth Graders

Tonight’s the night! I begin teaching 6th graders (Old Testament)! I’ve put together a little video that shows you some of my catechist preparations not only for tonight but for the year…I hope you find it helpful.   In the video, I mention or show a number of resources. Here are links to all of them: My Session Outline – Session One 9/10/12 My Schedule for the Year PROCLAIMING THE WORD Bookmark in Word Prayer Intentions […]