Students talking out in class can be one of the most frustrating challenges teachers face on a day to day basis. Whether it is whispering to their neighbors or blurting out questions or comments without a hand raise, talking can be a problem. Usually it is the same students causing the problems day after day…
The Religion Teacher Blog
Using Facebook Questions to Teach Religion
More and more teachers are integrating social media into education. I’m glad to see teachers taking small steps in this direction. One natural tool to do this is Facebook’s Questions function. First, let me admit that when I was a teacher I was very wary of Facebook. I was very afraid of my students finding…
New Resources to Teach the Changes to the Catholic Mass
I am excited to release The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal Student Activity Pack! If you are looking for resources to teach young people about the changes to the Catholic Mass, you will appreciate the worksheets, lesson plans, PowerPoints in The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal Student Activity Pack. The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal…
“And With Your Spirit” Lesson Plan (New Roman Missal)
The lesson below, taken from The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal Student Activity Pack, addresses one of the most striking changes to the new Roman Missal: And with your spirit. The Church community responds to the bishop, priest, or deacon with these words at multiple times during the Mass. What does it mean? How is…
Teachers: Pope Benedict XVI’s Prayer Intention for September 2011
Each month the pope sets forth a set of prayer intentions that are used in prayers around the world. This month, Pope Benedict XVI has selected teachers as one of his intentions: Teachers. That all teachers may know how to communicate love of the truth and instill authentic moral and spiritual values. His prayer is…
Hocus Pocus!: A New Roman Missal Lesson Plan
With all of the changes happening in the Church related to the new translation of the Roman Missal, it is important to make a crucial point about the prayers of the Mass: they are not magic words. We use a translation of the original Latin to make a fitting offering to God in the liturgy….
Exit Cards as Formative Assessment
Last week I shared a very important teaching strategy I use at the beginning of class: advance organizers. Today I’d like to share a teachings strategy that I use very often at the end of class: exit cards. One of the quickest and easiest ways to check a student’s progress toward a learning objective is…
Why Advance Organizers Are A Crucial Learning Strategy (and 5 Examples)
Many teachers use advance organizers without realizing the power of what they are doing. Many just call them agendas. In The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning, I defined advance organizers as “agendas that give students an idea of what they will be learning that day or during a lecture.” It sounds simple enough, but…
4 Lessons All Catechists Can Learn from Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Last week on of the founders of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Dr. Sofia Cavalletti, died peacefully in her home. She and her colleague Gianna Gobbi developed their unique approach to catechesis in the 1950s. In honor of their achievements, I would like to share a few thoughts on this model of catechesis and how…
Genesis Creation Stories Lesson Plan
The first three chapters of the book of Genesis relate important truths about ourselves, our humanity, and our relationship with God. A common pitfall we can run into when teaching about these chapters is the differences between the first chapter and chapters two and three. In this lesson plan, students will compare the first two…
