Lent is a time for renewal of our faith. It is an opportunity for teachers and catechists to really make a connection between the classroom and the students’ personal lives with effective lesson plans and projects. Spend some time each session reminding students of the importance of Lent and their personal metanoia, repentance for the Kingdom of God.Activities for Lenten Lesson Plans:
Lent Journal
Lent should be an opportunity for you to implement more than just a lesson about the topic. Ask your students to journal about their Lenten journeys at the beginning of each class. Some ongoing topics could be based around their commitments to prayer, fasting and almsgiving. If on the Monday-Tuesday before Lent (or later) you discuss what to give up this year, you should be able to check in with them periodically to see how well they live up to their commitments. For directsions for creating your own journals for class, visit this post on Rosary Journals.
Also, visit the USCCB’s site to pull up the day’s reading and have the students journal about that periodically. Challenge the students: what does this Scripture challenge me to do during Lent?
For a great example of a Lenten Journal visit: http://www.stignatiusreading.org/Forms/LENTEN_JOURNAL_09.pdf
Discussion: What to Give Up for Lent
One thing I always stress with students during Lent is the importance of giving something up for God, not for a healthier lifestyle. Fasting is not meant to be an excuse to give up unhealthy food and drink; the important thing is that we give something up that we will have a difficult time living without. My favorite example is a friend who gives up condiments: ketchup, salad dressing, tartar sauce, salt and pepper – you name it. He doesn’t give those things up as an excuse to lose weight, he gives them up because every time he eats fries without ketchup, he thinks of God. There is nothing wrong with giving up unhealthy foods – but just remind students that fasting during Lent is not a New Year’s Resolution.
Operation Rice Bowl
This is truly one of the best national programs around. If your school/parish does not participate in ORB, then make the change. Order the materials now at http://orb.crs.org/welcome/. Operation Rice Bowl is an excellent program run by Catholic Relief Services. They have some amazing resources on their website for schools and parishes that are unmatchable: http://orb.crs.org/resources/educators/.
Web Resources for Lent
Catechist’s Journey
Joe Paprocki is hosting another webinar. This time the focus is on Lent – don’t miss it!
http://catechistsjourney.loyolapress.com/2010/01/19/free-lenten-webinar/
I Blog, Therefore I am
Amazing Grace has posted some excellent resources for Pre K – K grades. She also has a list of special events for the month of February.
http://catholicblogger1.blogspot.com/2010/01/lesson-plan-pre-k-k-lent.html
Teaching Catholic Kids by OSV
Scroll down the page to find some resources for teaching during Lent.
http://www.osv.com/OSV4MeNav/TeachingCatholicKids/tabid/220/Default.aspx
CatholicMom.com
Great resources from a great site:
http://new.catholicmom.com/kids/lenten-activities-for-children/
Resources for Catholic Educators
Check out this list of resources:
http://www.silk.net/RelEd/lent.htm
Operation Rice Bowl
By far, the best program for Catholic Educators during Lent:
http://orb.crs.org/welcome/
The Religion Teacher
In addition, you can find a number of activities here at The Religion Teacher:
www.thereligionteacher.com/lent-activities
If you like these resources, then check out The Religion Teacher’s Lenten Activity Pack. It is now available to purchase for instant access to lesson plans, activities, worksheets, and more.
About Jared Dees
Thanks for pulling all of these ideas together in one post. I always use Operation Rice Bowl with my 3rd graders. They do a fantastic job with their teacher's guide so it's very easy to use. I also love geography, so we use Google Earth to see where every country they feature is located.
Last year, our whole parish had a project called Journey to Jerusalem. For each activity you did, you earned 1 mile. The 3rd graders also participated but we adjusted it to be kid friendly. We had a great time doing this.
http://smmroom113.wikispaces.com/The+Journey+to+Jerusalem
Barb In Nebraska
What an excellent use of technology! I love the Google Earth idea – it really brings a sense of reality to the giving. And the Journey to Jerusalem idea looks like it worked wonders for motivating those 3rd graders – great ideas Barb!
Thanks, you are blessing from God. I’m The Director of Religion for a cluster Parish(which means we are two churches with one pastor. I am DRE for both parish. We have combined classes and this working out fine. We a in rural small town. With our churches about one mile apart. We are always looking for lesson plans that would reach our children. The only contact with church for some of the kids is religion class. So to have lesson plans that will help us teach our Catholic faith is a blessing. Thanks. Ulysses
Thanks Ulysses! I’m glad you find these resources helpful with such challenges. May God bless you and your ministry.
Lent is a great time to memorize scripture. We did this fun activity with our prayer buddies that emphasizes the importance of scripture in our lives. http://www.allisonwelch.com/myfirstyear/2013/02/new-favorite-activity.html
Have fun!
This is very helpful & informative especially for those who are teaching catechism . May you continue to spread goodnews to others. God Bless!