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Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
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Family Rosary 2012 “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest

Family Rosary, part of Holy Cross Family Ministries, is sponsoring a national competition for students from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Students are encouraged express their faith through art, poetry and prose. The “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest is open to students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The 17th annual national competition attracts more than 3,000 entries from more than 50,000 participants nationwide. Children and teens from Catholic schools, parishes, home schooling and other Catholic organizations use their talent to convey their beliefs. This year’s theme—Fear not, I am with you!—focuses on The Visitation. In the Second Joyful Mystery, Mary visits Elizabeth after the angel Gabriel tells her of God’s plan. During the visit, Mary comforts her cousin and helps her as she awaits the birth of her child. How do you visit with people? Why do you visit them? Whom do you visit? Do you see Christ in others—like Mary and Elizabeth when they visited with each other? “The lesson of The Visitation helps us understand the importance of friendship and service,” said Father John Phalen, CSC, President of Holy Cross Family Ministries, of which Family Rosary is a member ministry. “Visiting with others is an opportunity to share God’s love and to offer ourselves in charity and service to our neighbors when necessary. When we do so, we know we can count on Jesus and Mary to be there with us.” The “Try Prayer! It Works!” Contest asks entrants to use creativity to depict their thoughts and feelings to show how they visit with family and friends. Children in grades K-12 enrolled in a Catholic school, religious education program, parish, home school or other organization are eligible to participate. Download an application here. All entries must be postmarked by Feb. 1, 2012. Questions? Call Holy Cross Family Ministries at 800-299-PRAY (7729).

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Assigning Oral Histories to Your Students

Teens have great resources available to them for unpacking history, especially related to how history impacts lessons within and related to the Church. For example, related to the new translation of the Roman Missal, consider having students interview older Catholics who lived through a more dramatic change in the translation, from Latin to the vernacular after the Second Vatican Council. They may ask questions like “How were you informed and instructed in the changes?” and “What were some of the reactions of parishioners to the changes?” With the presidential elections coming up in November, interviewing older friends and family members about previous elections and the ethical issues associated with them may help soon-to-be first-time voters sort through the competing strengths and weaknesses of the various candidates in primaries, caucuses, and the general election. Interviewing veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or the first Iraq war about the end of those wars can help students make parallels or contrasts with the quiet end of the Iraq war in 2011. Julia Letts, a former BBC reporter and producer, has facilitated many oral history projects with students. In addition to the value of the information gained from the interviews themselves, she has seen oral history projects create rapport between generations, teach various skills, form friendships, and promote goodwill. Oral history need not be technical but rather involves creating an opportunity for students to speak with people from different generations. Preparing students for the interviews and using clear recording equipment is important. Depending on the assignment, students can find people to interview themselves, or you can invite the adults to your classroom. In the latter case, a class of thirty might have ten students assigned to each adult; the ten form five pairs who then ask questions about distinct eras of the interviewee’s lives or on different topics. Students can use the results of these interviews to create dramatic performances, CDs, exhibitions, and websites, and otherwise learn skills about editing audio or video and archiving. Research the copyright implications of these interviews prior to publishing them. (See the “Resources on the Guardian Teacher Network” for additional ideas for projects and tips for using the interviews effectively. Christine Schmertz Navarro

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Celebrate the Christmas Season!

Enjoy your time off with your family and friends this holiday season, but come back ready to share the joy of Christmas after the break is over! In the Catholic liturgical calendar, Christmas begins on Christmas Eve night and extends to the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The "twelve days of Christmas" last from Christmas to the feast of the Epiphany, but the season actually extends to the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. What a great opportunity to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas: Emmanuel, God-is-with-us! So get excited about sharing the Christmas joy with your students when you return (but don't feel like you have to play those Christmas songs anymore!) Engaging Faith Christmas Resources for Teachers If you're looking for ideas, try these Engaging Faith Christmas resources: Christmas Break Homework Assignments Christmas Prayer Service for Peace Infancy Narratives Assignment Prayer for the Holy Innocents Happy New Year: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Comparing Accounts of Jesus' Baptism American Saints and Blesseds: Elizabeth and Seton (January 4) and John Neumann (January 5) St. André Bessette: The First Holy Cross Saint (January 6) Merry Christmas from all of us at Ave Maria Press! Image courtesy of midiman.

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Challenges for the Church in the United States

Listed below are ten challenges facing the Church in the United States for the twenty-first century. Invite the students to vote on which challenge they feel is most pressing (not necessarily the most important). Once votes are tallied, divide the class into small groups of three to five students. Direct each group to come up with four possible ways the Church can respond to the challenge the class chose. Afterward, call on a member from each group to summarize the group's responses. Ten Challenges for the Church in the United States Ecumenism. How can the Church reach out to people of other faiths, including Islam? Gospel witness. How can American Catholics remain true to the vision of Jesus in a pluralistic and increasingly secular society that accepts as "normal" behaviors and lifestyles contrary to the Gospel? Immigrants.How can the Church help immigrants, especially the fat growing number of Hispanic-Americans, adjust to American society and give them important roles in the Church herself? Leadership. How can the bishops strengthen their credibility among the laity? How can they most effectively share the best of American's societal and cultural values with the universal Church? Parish life. How can the Church reanimate the person in the pew through a better appreciation of the Eucharist? Religious education. How can the Church reach out to Catholics of all ages, especially to disaffected Catholics who have dropped out of the Church? Schools. What is the future of Catholic schools on all levels—elementary, secondary, collegiate? What is their specific Catholic identity and mission? Vocations. How can the Church call and train priests to provide vision for the laity who will assume even greater roles of leadership? How can the Church mobiles the laity to support those in religious life? Women. What role should women have in the Church? Self-identity. How can the Church in America be American yet Catholic? How does Catholicism in American remain faithful to the Roman Catholic Church as she continues her life and witness in the pluralistic American culture? Invite the students to add other questions to each of the challenges. Also, ask them to identify other challenges facing the Church in America today.

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Thankful to Partner with You!

It's been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks meeting with teachers at events from the East to the West Coast and points in between. We are thankful to be able to meet with you, share ideas, and look for new ways to evangelize and catechize today's teenagers. Here are some of the places we have been: November 17-19: Indianapolis, IN for the National Catholic Youth Conference gathering with over 20,00 teens! Also in Indy, a great night of fellowship with Archdiocese of Indianapolis Catholic High School teachers from Roncalli, Scenia, Chatard, and Providence. On Tuesday, November 15, we met with teachers from Damien, St. Lucy's Priory, Paraclete, St. Monica's, Mary Star, St. Matthias, and Alemany in a friendly dialoguing session on the beautiful campus of Bishop Conaty High School in Los Angeles. We were happy to attend our own diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend catechetical formation day on Saturday, November 5 near Syracuse, Indiana. Only one day earlier we enjoyed meeting with teachers at Salesian High School in New York, NY who were making decisions on the implementation of the USCCB Framework. Before we returned to LaGuardia, we were able to stop by for some "squares" at the Spumoni's Italian restaurant in Brooklyn! We are indeed thankful to be your partners in catechetics. Next stop, the couch for some football and the dinner table for turkey, both spent with family. Wishing you all a restful mini-break!

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Introduction to Using Tumblr in the Classroom

I know what you are thinking: "Tumblr?! We're just figuring out Facebook for the classroom and now we have to figure out another social network? No way!" I know, I know...it is a lot to ask. It is so tough to stay on top of the ever changing and new technologies. But the fact is as more and more adults get on Facebook, less and less teenagers will spend their time on there. Facebook becomes less cool with every mom posting her latest Farmville update. So many teens have headed over to other social networks and blogging platforms like Tumblr. In fact, I was shocked by these numbers from a recent Nielsen report. Based on the amount of time people spend on each social network or blogging platform, Tumblr ranks #3: The Growth of Tumblr: Teens and Tumblr How does Tumblr stack up against the other social media sites for younger ages? The percentage may seem small compared to the other groups, but when you consider 2-17 actually only includes around 13-17 year olds or a span of five years, the percentage is striking. Teens love Tumblr because of the amount of customization they can create. Their Facebook profiles look like everyone else's profile, but their Tumblr pages uniquely suit them. Consider what venture capitalist, Fred Wilson, said (source Socialistic.com): “My daughter came home from college on Thursday night and showed me all of her friend’s Tumblrs. All the cool kids have them at her school now. Had nothing to do with me. I can assure you of that. They use Facebook as a utility. They check Facebook when they wake up and check it before they go to bed. But their profile on Facebook looks just like everyone’s profile. A Tumblr is self expression.” Using Tumblr in the Classroom I am pretty active on social media sites. I love Twitter (@jareddees) and I'm now all about Google+ (+Jared Dees), but I haven't quite figured out Tumblr. I joined the service about a year ago and didn't touch it until preparing for this article. I did some experimentation and research to offer some tips below for using the service for educational purposes. You can see what I have posted recently on my Tumblog: jareddees.tumblr.com. Consider incorporating Tumblr into the classroom in the following ways: Questions and Answers In Tumblr, you can ask a question that anyone can answer. Students can go on and answer your questions to give you a quick idea of how well they learned material or to assess prior knowledge. Reblogging One of the most unique features of Tumbrl is reblogging. Reblogging is a simple way to share great ideas from other people's Tumblr blogs. If you like the content and want to reshare it, just click the reblog button. Using Tags Like Twitter, Google+, and blogs you can add tags to your posts. Create a unique tag (#mrdoeassignment1) and have students post information related to that topic or question. Gather and discuss the various links, quotes, videos, etc. in class and discuss the most meaningful and helpful information. Share Music Students can share music about a certain topic. Have them search for or upload songs related to a topic you are discussing. Other students in the class can experience and comment on the music themselves. You can also have them upload Christian music for meditation or praise and worship during class. Create a Class Blog Although I haven't done this yet, you can create a group blog using Tumblr. Mashable gives a good tutorial on this. I can see multiple classes or sections of a course you teach sharing content between one another. You could turn this into a fun group project as well. Getting Started with Tumblr It is easy and free to sign-up, but it takes a little while to "get it." Get to know the tools by: Sign up Go to your Dashboard. Click "Explore Tumblr" Click on the Education tag and scroll through and start following and reblogging people's content. Click on a tag like #edtech or #teachers to see what people are sharing. Or go for a religious theme like #Catholic. At the very least you are bound to find some new kinds of content and teaching advice from the educational community on Tumblr. Warning: Like any social network, sexual content can be an issue. There are unfortunate posts with inappropriate images on Tumblr that can be found while exploring the various Tumblogs.

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Picture Meditation

To "meditate" means to "think deeply and continuously." A person can meditate about anything: how many points she'll score in the next game, who he will take to the prom, what kind of career he will have, or who she will marry. As a prayer form, meditation involves using your thoughts, imaginations, emotions, and desires to turn to God. One goal of meditation is to see how God is revealed in everyday life, from the biggest events and experiences right down to the smallest details. Such revelations lead you to discover that God is love. A second goal of meditation is to know God better so that God might be better loved and served. In a picture meditation, have you students select copy of a famous religious art, natural scene or photos of a place, person, or time in their lives of special importance and place it on their desk. Quiet the room and prepare for a brief guided meditation by taking them through the following steps. Guided Meditation Preliminaries Assume a comfortable position. Quiet yourself through slow breathing. Be aware of the sounds around you. Be aware of God's love for you and the fact that God created out of nothing what has been captured in your picture. Turn to your meditation. 1. Observation Spend the next three to five minutes concentrating on your picture. * What is in it? What is happening or has happened? What are the people doing? What season is it? Where is the action taking place? When? Who is in it? Why are certain actions taking place? What sounds do you hear? What odors do you smell? Write a few sentences describing what you observed. 2. Reflecting Spend three to five minutes discovering what the picture might be telling you about itself. Are there any symbols in it? What do they mean? What message(s) is (are) being communicated? If the picture could talk, what would it say? Write a few sentences describing what your imagination discovered about the meaning of this picture. 3. Listening Imagine that God has a message for you in this picture. Spend some time hearing what God has to say to you? Resolution Now that you have listened to God, write a short prayer to the Father with a resolution that will help you to grow.

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Three Different Feasts

This post from 2007 is being reissued in 2011. It is among several entries linked in the "Saints" label at the right. Halloween, All Saints' Day, and All Souls' Day are often linked together as would make sense since they fall on consecutive days. However, their connections are not as strong as you might imagine. Halloween The name Halloween means "All Hallows (Holy) Eve." Recall the name is a misnomer: Years before Christianity, the Druids marked the start of winter with the burning of stalks around November 1. Also, it was believed that demons and devils roamed the earth on this night, and the way to ward them off included offering them sweets or disguising oneself in a costume as a demon and roaming with these evil spirits. Obviously part of these traditions have lasted today. All Saints Day All Saints Day, on the other hand, is a feast established by the Church to honor all of the saints in heaven who do not have a special day on one of the other 364 days of the year. These include the many saints who have not been recognized with canonization. Some of your deceased relatives and friends are likely included in those remembered on All Saints' Day. You might think that the Church established this holiday on November 1 to counteract the pagan practices on Halloween. Actually, All Saints' Day was originally held in May. In 844 it was transferred to November 1 so that the many pilgrims who came to Rome to celebrate the day could be fed more easily with food from the harvest. All Souls Day All Souls Day on November 2 was established in the eleventh century. The Church has always believed that it should pray for "the souls of the faithfully departed." The tradition around All Souls' Day includes the Catholic belief in purgatory, a condition in which those who have died are "purged" or made clean from their sins in preparation for meeting God in the full joy of heaven. People on earth can aide the souls in purgatory by praying for them, doing works of charity, and offering Masses for the dead. Today, in a parish bulletin, there are usually people, both living and dead, listed who will have Masses offered for them on a particular day and time. A tradition in the United States and in other countries is for family members to visit and decorate the graves of their deceased family members on All Souls' Day. Also, names of the dead are collected and given to a priest who offers special prayers for them during the month of November. In years past, Catholic schools were usually closed on All Saints' Day. It gave the students a chance to really "celebrate" Halloween night with no school the next day. That's probably not the case at your school today, though you may have the chance to celebrate Mass that day with all of the student body. Discussion Questions What do you imagine will happen to you after you die? Who is someone who has died with whom you feel a special connection? Explain the connection. If there were a blueprint for becoming a saint, what would it include? Additional Lessons and Assignments Present more information on the Church's belief in the final purification of the dead, known as purgatory. See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1030-1032, for more information. Lead a discussion about respect for the dead, including Church regulations on the burial of the dead, autopsies, organ donation, and cremation (see CCC, 2299-2301). Have the students write and share short biographies of deceased family members who have taken their place with the communion of the saints. Watch a film on the life of a saint.

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