The Psalms: The Sound of Music Returns!

No, I’m not showing the Julie Andrews classic! I’m simply referring to the fact that my session for this evening will include a return to the use of music as a key feature. I’ve done a lot with video this year so I thought it would be a good idea to do something more auditory. For tonight’s session, I’m going to focus on the Psalms. Due to a quirk in the calendar, this is really […]

A Lesson Plan on the Sacraments of Initiation

For the past week, while traveling from coast to coast, I’ve been rambling about my lesson for this evening on the Sacraments of Initiation (and a connection to the Old Testament) and posting bits and pieces here and there as I came up with them. Now, I’ve put it all together into a coherent (hopefully!) lesson plan for this evening! Here ’tis: The Sacraments of Initiation Big Idea: We pledge allegiance to God through the Sacraments of […]

Sacraments of Initiation: I Pledge Allegiance…

I’m on my way to Brooklyn, NY, for a presentation this evening, however, here’s my latest thinking about  teaching the Sacraments of Initiation this Monday and tying it to the Old Testament. I plan to introduce the session by inviting the kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance and to talk about what it means to pledge one’s allegiance to someone or something (loyalty, obedience). I’ll use that as an opportunity to talk about how […]

Winter Doldrums?

 This is the time of the year when many of us begin to experience the winter doldrums. As mild as winter has been in Chicago this year, the lack of light and color still gets to you after a while. My students came into class last night with a collective case of the doldrums! Several had just come from basketball practice and were a bit tuckered out but got their second wind a half hour […]

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 […]

Happy New Year! My First Lesson of 2013

As we begin 2013 and continue with our Year of Faith, I wish you abundant blessings! It’s time to get back to work as a catechist! New Year’s Day proved to be a good day for me to plan my lesson for this coming Monday evening. Here is the outline of our session for Monday, January 7, 2013: The Prophets of Israel Challenge the People Big Idea: Prophets “get in the face” of the People […]

Tonight’s Session – Advent Prayer Service

This evening’s session will be an Advent Prayer Service in the Church and my guess is that by the time all is said and done, it’ll be at least 45 minutes before we get back to the class room. This, of course, does not leave me with too much time, so instead of trying to cram in a lesson on the Old Testament, I plan to spend the remainder of time focusing on Advent. I […]

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 […]

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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