Old Testament Books and Commentaries HarperCollins Bible Commentary – This commentary is the most popular resource for scholars and students. Every graduate-level Scripture class I have taken has suggested or required this book. The HarperCollins Study Bible – This NRSV translation probably isn’t the best Bible for children, but the footnotes provide a nice supplement…
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New Testament Resources
New Testament Biblical Commentaries and Notes An Introduction to the New Testament by Raymond Brown – The late Fr. Raymond Brown is the most well known Catholic New Testament scholar. This landmark book provides a great overview of biblical scholarship about the New Testament from a scholarly priest. HarperCollins Bible Commentary – Known by most…
Advent Prayer Service Ideas and Tips
‘Tis the season for Advent prayer services. Most Catholic schools and parish education programs take the opportunity to gather students together in prayer in special ways during Advent.
7 Pre-reading Strategies that Will Increase Comprehension
Effective reading comprehension is essential to studying the Catholic faith. Being able to read and understand the Scriptures is an obvious reason for this. Since textbooks continue to be a primary teaching tool at all levels of religious education, catechists and religion teachers should have a number of teaching strategies and activities up their sleeves…
Catholic Religious Education Resources
Lesson Planning Resources The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning by Jared Dees – This is a free e-book that includes tutorials on how to lesson plan effectively. This step-by-step to lesson planning for religion teachers and catechists teaches readers how to prepare a lesson, craft clear lesson objectives, implement effective assessments, and meet the…
Classroom Procedures and the First Weeks of School
Classroom procedures and routines are the key to effective classroom management. One of the earliest and best lessons I learned as a teacher was the importance of classroom procedures above and beyond classroom rules. All teachers have rules in their classrooms, but many teachers waste time and energy enforcing rules instead of practicing procedures until…
Catholic Mass Reflection Questions
Occasionally you will have the opportunity to meet with students either before or after mass. As I mentioned in my post on CatholicMom.com, “How to Get Teens to Participate in Mass,” it is critical that we help young people connect their personal experiences with the Liturgy (“find their feelings”) and learn more about the God…
High School Theology of the Body (Tips for Teaching Teens)
If you have had the pleasure of teaching teenagers about John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, then you will surely agree that it is changing the face of Catholic sex education today. As more resources become available for teachers and as the Theology of the Body continues to grow in popularity throughout the Church,…
An 8th Grade Catechist Reflects on His Year
For catechists, this is a great time to reflect on the past year and look ahead to next year. I did a little reflecting and came up with some observations about the year and goals for next year. This was my first year teaching 8th grade CCD at our current parish. It was an adjustment…
Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel on Vatican Website – Activities
The Vatican has added another interactive feature to their website. Have you ever been to the Sistine Chapel? Have your students been? With so many things to see in Rome, I was never able to block out the time to wait in line to see it. A “virtual” tour may not be as good as…
