Palm Sunday

As Palm Sunday approaches I was looking for a new idea to use with my students. I found some inspiration when I came across an idea on Pinterest that was from the website ministry-to-children. They even have a video to demonstrate the idea. It basically involves paper, water colors, and masking tape. The students make a cross out of tape and then paint all around it. The result is a beautiful painting with a simple cross in the middle. (Don't forget to peel the tape off!) After the paintings were dry the students looked at the Gospel reading for Sunday and picked out a quote that stood out to them.  It was interesting to look at the different quotes and hear why they chose them. Here is an example:

These crosses are a beautiful reminder of the Lenten season! After Easter we plan to color in the cross with a bright highlighter and then write Alleluia in black. I hope you enjoy doing this project with your students!

In the Desert with Jesus- The first week of Lent

Tomorrow we will reflect on the Gospel from today. I am going to focus on the line, "He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan;". We will discuss the temptations that we face today that might lead us away from God. Since we have already written our Lenten promises in our notebooks, I thought we would make a visual reference to put up in the room. I'm going to have each student draw a picture of one of the modern temptations we discussed and put it next to our picture of Jesus in the desert on the bulletin board.
*I have been reading some articles on the online ministries website from Creighton University. It is a great resource that includes daily meditations and reflections. One thing that struck me was the idea that during Lent we should not only focus on what we are giving up, but what is it that God wants to give us? Something to think about this week.

40/40 – Lenten Activities: Walk the Lenten Path

I can't believe Lent is almost here! I am spending Sunday trying to find some new resources to use this year. I am thinking about starting with the theme "Called by faith to act with generous hearts." A theme I found looking at a website from New Zealand! This is truly a great time to be a teacher, you never know where a Google search might lead you.
I also came across this link:
40/40 – Lenten Activities: Walk the Lenten Path
Lots of great ideas!
I'm going to keep working and will post other thoughts and ideas soon.

Our "Conversations" with God-Bulletin Board idea

This week in Religion I began a lesson by asking the kids to tell me what types of candy they like to receive on Valentine's Day. After writing down several different types on the Smartboard someone mentioned conversation hearts. Next I had the students write down some of the sayings that they remember on the hearts. (Examples- Be Mine, Call Me, Sweetheart) Then I asked the question, "How do we have a conversation with God?" Several students mentioned going to mass, praying, and reading the Bible. We then got out the bibles and looked at various psalms where the message was a positive phrase about our faith and trust in God. We cut out hearts out of different colors that were like those of regular conversation hearts and each student chose a verse from a psalm to write on it. Then the students added some glitter to them before putting them up in the hallway!  Here is an example:

                               

Gospel Reflection- Answering God's call

This week I am going to show the students how the readings are chosen to compliment the gospel. The first reading (1 Samuel 3:3b-10,19) is the familiar story about God calling Samuel  while he is asleep. The gospel reading(John 1:35-42) this week talks about the call of the first disciples. I am going to have the students read these on their own and see if they can figure out how they are similar. During Religion class we have been learning about the Corporal Works of Mercy. What a great tie in to what God is calling us to do as Catholics today. The students created beautiful collages to represent each of the actions. They were asked to show them in pictures and words. Here is a wonderful example:

St. Francis de Sales and Selena Gomez

I know what you're thinking, St. Francis de Sales and Selena Gomez seem like an unlikely pair, but leave it to 10 year olds to find a connection. Each month in my classroom, the students who have birthdays get together and choose a saint for us to study. This month we are learning about St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). He was a bishop who lived in France. To read a short biography go to www.americancatholic.org.  After giving my students a brief overview of his life I decided to focus on a quote of his that I had read :  "Do not wish to be anything but what you are, and try to be that perfectly." Wow, what powerful words to live by! I divided the kids into groups and had them brainstorm what that quote means to them and then they wrote it on a dry erase board. Amazingly one group came up and said that they had put their quote to music and wanted to sing it for me. "Do not wish upon a star to be anybody else, na na na na na na na na na." They were using the Selena Gomez tune, Who Says! Basically the message of that song is the same one that St. Fraincis was trying to convey all those years ago. After each group was finished, I took their picture with them holding their quote and I'm going to make a bulleting board with their wonderful ideas. Here is my favorite quote:

Hope this will inspire you to learn more about St. Francis de Sales!

Julie

Focus on the Gospel- Epiphany

Happy New Year! This first week of 2012 is the beginning of my blog, Catholic Classroom. It is my hope that I can help other Catholic school teachers and homeschoolers make real connections to their faith and share ideas. Each week I hope to write about how I plan to reflect on the Gospel reading for Sunday with my students. I have found this practice has really enhanced my own experience at mass on Sunday and hopefully my students as well. Whether you have time to quickly read the Gospel together or have time to make some real life connections, I hope that what I do will help you find the time in your busy school schedules. Along the way I will add other great teaching ideas that I incorporate in my classroom.
This Sunday, January 8th, the Gospel reading comes from Matthew 2:1-12. We will celebrate the Epiphany. I plan to begin the lesson by asking my students what "epiphany" means and  make a graphic organizer on the smart board of their ideas. I usually do this on Friday so that it's fresh in their minds for mass. However, this semester I am going to try and pick one word to talk about earlier in the week just to peak their interest for what is to come. After we reading and discussing the Gospel, I will have a wrapped box in my prayer corner. Each student will have an index card and they will write what "gifts" (kind words and actions) they can bring to Jesus this week. Since I am also the English teacher, I plan to have my students do a journal writing activity as if they were one of the wisemen who had just returned to their own country after seeing the baby Jesus.
Have a wonderful week!