This article is adapted from a section in chapter 2 of Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind. To get more teaching strategies like these, get your copy of the book wherever books are sold. The goal of Christian meditation is to make connections between a mystery of faith and our own…
The Religion Teacher Blog
The Seven Scaffolding Strategies for Teachers
This article is adapted from chapter 1 of Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind. To get more teaching strategies like these, get your copy of the book wherever books are sold. What is a Scaffolding Strategy? Imagine, for a moment, the construction of a building. As each new level is…
Start Your Lesson with a Hook Strategy
As soon as I read about the idea of using a “Hook” at the beginning of a lesson to get students’ attention, I immediately added it to every lesson I planned. I got the strategy from Doug Lemov’s Teach Like A Champion book and I include it as an important strategy in the learning process…
Lesson Planning Checklist
The following checklist is from The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. It includes the three-step process to sitting down and planning a lesson that will engage your students in learning about their faith. To help your students experience an encounter with Christ during your lesson, check out Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the…
First Day of School Worksheets & Printables
The first day of school is a great day for you to get to know the students and for them to get to know each other. You also want to introduce them to the class and the items in it as quickly as possible. There are so many printable templates available online to help you…
Between-the-Bells Evangelization
The way you interact with students in between the bells is just as important if not more important than the lessons you teach during class. Those moments before and after class when you get to speak with students on a personal level have the potential to be transformative experiences for them. When you deliberately talk…
May Crowning Activities, Worksheets, and Crafts
May is the month of Mary and one of the most popular activities to venerate the Mother of God during this month is to participate in a May crowning ceremony. I put together this collection of activities ideas from around the web to prepare your students for a May crowning or to organize your own…
Holy Week Lesson Plan & Worksheets
You can use this lesson plan during Holy Week to teach about the Triduum. Holy Week Lesson Objectives Holy Week Lesson Activities 1. Holy Week Prayer Service Start the lesson or each day of Holy Week with one of these Holy Week Prayer Services. 2. Presentation There are many unique ways in which we celebrate…
12 Ways to Encounter Christ in Class
Every Day, Every Class, Every Student, an Encounter with Christ That is the vision we aspire to at The Religion Teacher. So much of what religious educators do, however, focuses almost entirely on education and not encounter. As a result, Christ becomes just another idea to learn like everything else in school. As catechists and…
The Lord’s Prayer Lesson Plan
Use this lesson plan to teach about the meaning of each part of the Lord’s Prayer (the Our Father). Students will learn the meaning of the prayer and apply it to their lives so that praying it becomes more meaningful and not mindless and memorized. This lesson plan format is based on the Lectio Divina…
