Forty days. We have forty days to help young people grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ during Lent. How do we make the most of our time with them? First, think about some ongoing Lenten projects you can do with the students this year. How can you check in with them each time…
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The Act of Contrition Prayer and Meaning Video
The Act of Contrition is a prayer to express our sorrow for committing sin and desire for God’s mercy, forgiveness, and help in our fight against sin. In the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation we make an Act of Contrition with a prayer expressing 1) sorry for sin, 2) hatred for sin, and 3) the…
Why Don’t Catholics Eat Meat on Fridays during Lent? Video
Why don’t Catholics eat meat during Lent? Jesus was crucified on a Friday and, therefore, we make special sacrifices on Fridays to remember his suffering and death. According to canon law, Catholics are called to abstain from meat as a special sacrifice on all Fridays of the year, but the Church leaves it up to…
Christmas Tree Lesson Plan
Christmas trees can be a great tool for catechesis whether at home or in a classroom. This lesson plan will help you unpack the symbolism of the Christmas tree customs with your students. They will be able to see their trees in a new way and even be able to teach their parents about what…
Eucharistic Adoration for Kids
The following article is an expanded excerpt from chapter 4 of Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind, which describes various ways to use contemplation in class to help students make personal connections to Christ through what they are learning. For many Catholics, myself included, the Eucharist and specifically eucharistic adoration played…
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…
Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind
Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Ave Maria Press If the goal of catechesis is to cultivate an encounter with Christ, why do religious educators spend so much time focused almost exclusively on ideas and not experiences? The reason is that many have never been shown a method that inspires the heart while also…
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…
