The Religion Teacher provides short instructional videos to be used in the classroom or at home for direct instruction, review, or homework assignments. These Catholic videos provide brief overviews of the Church’s teaching on various subjects. Advent Videos See all Advent videos. The Meaning of Advent The Meaning of the Advent Wreath The Second Coming…
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Joe Paprocki on “Evangelizing Discipline”
I am happy to welcome Joe Paprocki, author of The Catechist’s Toolbox: How to Thrive As a Religious Education Teacher, as a guest at The Religion Teacher. Joe is celebrating the fifth anniversary of his very popular blog this week! Joe was an inspiration to me in starting The Religion Teacher three years ago, so…
New Resources to Teach the Changes to the Catholic Mass
I am excited to release The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal Student Activity Pack! If you are looking for resources to teach young people about the changes to the Catholic Mass, you will appreciate the worksheets, lesson plans, PowerPoints in The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal Student Activity Pack. The Religion Teacher’s New Roman Missal…
Catholic Lesson Plans
What Makes Catholic Lesson Plans Different? Teaching in a Catholic school or parish religious education program, you know that lesson planning for religion is different from any other topic. While teaching about God and faith is essential, so too must we strive to teach young people to love God and serve him and others. This…
Use the ROMAN Reading Strategy to Promote your Summer Reading List
I love innovative reading strategies. Most religion teachers recognize early on that despite the fact that they are meant to teach theology, they spend a lot of their time teaching reading. Literature has historically been a key source of our faith and it is critical to the well-rounded Catholic religious education program. In Nick Senger’s…
Building Prayer Habits as a Teacher
Prayer is central to effective catechesis. If a teacher does not pray, how can she or he possibly expect to open students up to the grace of God? But we all know how busy our lives can get as teachers. Finding time to pray is difficult and it can be challenging to set up good…
Rite of Confirmation Lesson Plan
According to the National Directory for Catechesis, there are two approaches to teaching ritual: the inductive method and the deductive method (NDC, 29). I wrote about these two approaches in a general way in a recent article published in the National Catholic Educational Association’s journal, Momemtum (February/March 2011, pp. 22-23). In the lesson plan below,…
7 Practical Ideas for Prayer Before Class
Prayer before class starts is usually a crucial part of every religion teacher’s lesson plan. I included it by default on the lesson planning templates I created to support The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning. Use the tips below to help you remember to pray before every class session and to offer creative opportunities…
Using Inductive Teaching Strategies to Get Students’ Attention
Getting students’ attention and keeping it can be a real challenge for any teacher or catechist. Children are easily distracted and have a hard time sitting in desks and remaining focused. Throughout the school day, most teachers use the same teaching strategies (mostly lecture) again and again. Catechists are faced with the challenge of trying…
Why do I have to confess my sins to a priest in the Catholic Church?
With the recent buzz around the new Confession iPhone App by LittleiApps, I thought it might be a timely discussion about the often asked question, “Why do I need to confess my sins to a priest?” The reasons might surprise you.