Were you there when they crucified my Lord?Were you there when they crucified my Lord?Oh…sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.Were you there when they crucified my Lord?The passion and death of Christ is at the center of the Christian faith. We have the advantage of being able to witness reenactments of the Paschal…
The Religion Teacher Blog
Danielle Rose Music: Mysteries of the Rosary CD
In 2002, Pope John Paul II put out the apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (RVM). In this letter the Pope reiterated his personal devotion to the rosary and power of praying the rosary. This letter was the inspiration for a beautiful collection of prayerful songs written and performed by an amazingly talented young musician Danielle…
6 Reasons for Teaching Children the Rosary
Why is it so important to dedicate the time to pray the rosary during class? My wife and I both capitalized on October, the month of the rosary, by teaching our students how and why we pray the rosary. These are the reasons we feel so strongly about praying the rosary with your children or…
The Month of the Rosary is October
As teachers, during the month of October my wife and I always dedicated a number of class prayers to praying the rosary. October is a perfect opportunity to teach children how to pray the rosary in their own lives. She found that with her fourth graders and I found with my middle school and high…
Catechist Magazine Blog and Facebook Page
Catechist Magazine recently embraced Web 2.0. Catechist Magazine is written for catechists, religion teachers in Catholic schools and parish religious educators. As one of the leading publications in the field of catechesis and religious education, Catechist Magazine is leading its readers into the new generation of Catholic social media. Beginning in September of 2009, the…
Alliance for Catholic Education: Fighting for Schools and Children
Notre Dame’s latest installment of the “What Would You Fight For?” campaign during Notre Dame Football games on NBC featured Notre Dame’s Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE). ACE was founded in 1994 by Fr. Tim Scully and Fr. Sean McGraw as a teacher training program serving Catholic schools in the South and Southwestern United States….
How Catechesis and Religious Instruction Differ
The recent circular letter released by the Congregation for Catholic Education brought back to my attention the relationship between religious instruction and catechesis. “[Religious instruction] is different from, and complementary to, parish catechesis…” (Circular Letter to the Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences on Religious Education in Schools, 17). According to the General Directory for Catechesis, “there…
Circular Letter on Religious Education in Schools Summary
Last week the Congregation for Catholic Education released a letter sent out to the presidents of bishops’ conferences in May 2009 titled Circular Letter to the Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences on Religious Education in Schools. This letter is a reminder of the Church’s teachings about religious education in Catholic schools that can be found in…
How to Assess with No Test (Formative Assessments)
Old-school teachers like to teach and test, teach, and test. Tests and quizzes can be effective measures of a student’s progress, but they are rarely used to their full potential. If a quiz or test reveals that there were concepts that students did not master, then teachers need to re-teach. This concept defines the term…
Using Bloom’s Taxonomy to Create Lesson Objectives
In order to expand on a previous post titled “Creating Lesson Objectives,” here is a short introduction to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Many teachers use Bloom’s Taxonomy to select an action verb for lesson objectives. Bloom’s taxonomy categorizes different levels of learning to allow teachers to think about what level they want their students to learn: knowledge,…
