On this feast of St. Charles Borromeo, the patron saint of catechists, I am proud to bring you my first e-book: The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. This guide provides teachers and catechists with a simple system for lesson planning success. Included in this 63 page e-book are:
- Unit planning and lesson planning templates
- Lesson objective keys
- Assessments for various learning styles
- An introduction to the Learning PROCESS
- and 250 activities and teaching strategies!
The Religion Teacher’s Four Steps to Lesson Planning
Step 1: Know the Topic (What should I teach?)
Take an appraisal of the material you have at your disposal. Learn your curriculum. Read the textbook. Organize the information. Focus on what is important.
Step 2: Create Lesson Objectives (What do I want them to learn?)
Begin with the end in mind. Think actively not passively. Encourage higher levels of thinking. Think ahead to an assessment.
Step 3: Determine the Assessment (How will I know they have learned it?)
Know what they have learned. Focus on mastery. If they fail, it is time to re-teach.
Step 4: Choose the PROCESS to Reach the Objectives (How will I get them there?)
Meet a variety of learning needs. Differentiate instruction. Use the PROCESS. Don’t be predictable.
The Background to the E-book
I started working on this resource months ago. Its started with a sort of epiphany about the word PROCESS. I strongly believe that both learning and faith formation is a process. Prior knowledge is an essential starting point, how students receive new information is important, critical thinking is too often overlooked, and without assessment how can we know if students have learned anything?
The Learning PROCESS is:
P—Prior Knowledge
R—Receive New Information
O—Organize the New Information with the Prior Knowledge
C—Clarification and Critical Thinking
ESS—Assessment
And to apply this to a faith formation perspective, the Conversion PROCESS is:
P—Prior Experience
R—Receive God’s Grace
O—Openness to God’s Grace
C—Conversion
ESS—Witness
In the coming weeks I will be developing and sharing additional resources built around the concepts within this guide. These resources will include sample lesson plans, video tutorials, and expanded discussions in blog posts.
You can receive your copy today by signing-up for The Religion Teacher newsletter by entering your name and e-mail below:
