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Intermediate Grades

Session 5: God Creates Something Good out of Nothing

Tonight, we are going to focus on the gift of God’s creation as presented in Genesis, chapter 1. Here is my plan. Big Idea: God Creates Something Good Out of Nothing Preliminaries: (25 mins) As students enter, have them work immediately on a Scripture search worksheet, using their Bibles and their Bible bookmarks from The Bible Blueprint. Allow 10 minutes total and then review. Invite a volunteer to review how to pray the Rosary. Do “Ave […]

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Intermediate Grades

“I Pray for All Those Affected by the Government Shutdown.” – 6th Grader Prayer Intention

Who says that kids don’t know how to pray? Not me! Last evening, as part of our usual opening prayer, we shared prayer intentions (which I usually have the kids write down as soon as they enter the room). One young man shared the following:  “I pray for all those affected by the government shutdown.” Wow. There’s someone who is not only in touch with current events, but also knows that these are the kinds […]

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Liturgy and Sacraments

Sacramental Readiness and Initiation – Developing New Habits

We’ve had a good conversation here about sacramental readiness over the last few days thanks to a plea for help from “Monica.” Thank you to all who have so generously shared their wisdom. Our discussion got me thinking about the notion of readiness and the fact that all of our catechesis takes its cue from the process of Initiation which is an apprenticeship into a way of life. Assessment of knowledge of the faith is […]

teaching sixth grade
Intermediate Grades

Closure

Tonight is the last session that I will be teaching for my 6th graders this year (next week is our closing Mass). I’ll reflect soon on what this experience has been like for me (in brief, it’s been wonderful!) but for now I’d just like to offer a glimpse of what I’ll be doing tonight. Preliminaries (15 mins) Gather, attendance, misc. – young people write prayer intentions Opening prayer ritual/procession Engage (10 mins) I plan […]

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Intermediate Grades

Prophets Rock!

We had a wonderful time last night learning about the Old Testament Prophets! Three of my most rambunctious students were absent last night and while I was disappointed they missed the experience, it certainly made for a very calm evening! After welcoming the young people back from the holidays, we did a little review about the Ark of the Covenant and I showed them how I placed many of their prayer symbols in our own […]

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Intermediate Grades

October 29 Session Summary – Part III: Getting Down to Business

Here’s the third installment of a summary of this past Monday’s session on Abraham and God’s plan for salvation. About a half-hour into the session, after prayer and reviewing the previous session (and a ton of Q & A!), I then arranged the kids in pairs and assigned them a passage about Abraham that they were to read in their Bibles and report on (using this worksheet). As I suspected, they were loathe to move […]

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Growing as a Catechist

What Challenge(s) Are YOU Facing This Year?

 One of the things that I take pride in about my blog is the fact that I always try to give an honest account of how my sessions go: the good, the bad, and the ugly! So, it’s no accident that my post yesterday included an honest self-assessment of my Monday evening session with a focus on a couple of the challenges that I face (trying to do too much; dealing with a child exhibiting […]

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Catechetical Leaders

Catechist Formation and Certification – Rochester (NY) Style

On my recent trip to the Diocese of Rochester, NY, to do a couple of presentations, I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of long car rides with  Jonathan Schott, the Coordinator of Adult, Family, and Catechist Formation. Our conversations were wide-ranging: sports, movies, TV, and, of course, catechesis! In particular, we talked about catechist formation and I was particularly impressed with the online approach that the Diocese of Rochester takes for catechist formation. Their […]

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Catechists in Action

Catechists in Action – Len Astrowski Teaches About the Sacraments of Initiation

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 7th grade catechist Len Astrowski discusses the Sacraments of Initiation with his class. Watch for the following: Len asks if anyone can recall the 3 Sacraments of Initiation a student responds correctly Len joyfully and enthusiastically affirms her correct answer!!! Len reviews other important points from the chapter, explains them in his own words, and asks students to explain their understanding. This is a good example of informal […]

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Intermediate Grades

Telling the Greatest Story Ever Told

Yesterday was my last teaching class for this year! Next week, we’ll have a closing Mass and then a little time left in class for a small celebration and farewells. I was pleased as punch, then, to have had a wonderful class last night! Here’s the scoop. Seven of my students still needed to complete their final assessment so I had them go over to an empty classroom with my aide Daneen where they completed […]