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…
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Planning a Catholic Prayer Service (with a Simple Format and Outline)
The following article is an expanded excerpt from chapter 3 of Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind, which describes various ways to use meditation and prayer in class to help students make personal connections to Christ through what they are learning. The goal of planning a prayer service for class is…
The Power of Story in Religious Education
The following article is an edited excerpt from chapter 2 of Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind, which describes various ways to use meditation in class to help students make personal connections to what they are learning. The simplest way to lead students in meditation is to invite them into…
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…
The Religion Teacher’s Lesson Planning Templates
These lesson planning templates can be used in support of The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning and Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind. Lesson Planning Template (Simple) Download: Word / PDF / Google Drive Lesson Planning Template (Advanced) Download: Word / PDF / Google Drive Here are some resources to help…
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…
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…
Lectio Divina Lesson Planning
This concept was so effective for religious educators who started using it in class, that I expanded it into an entire book on lesson planning: Christ in the Classroom: Lesson Planning for the Heart and Mind. How do we help our students know, love, and serve God? How do we teach both the head AND…
Word on Fire’s Exodus & Moses Lesson Plan, Video, and Handouts
This Exodus lesson plan is adapted from Word on Fire’s CATHOLICISM School Enrichment program, which offers resources for middle school and high school religion teachers based on Bishop Robert Barron’s CATHOLICISM DVD Series. Bishop Barron’s team has generously offered to share this lesson to spread the word about their wonderful educational resources. To learn more,…
Hundreds of Print-or-Play Resources for Religious Educators
Imagine . . . A classroom of kids actively engaged in learning about their faith. They work diligently on assignments. They listen to your presentations. They ask questions and are able to go home and articulate what they learned in class to their parents and friends. Now imagine the opposite . . . Students are…