A Prayer of Gratefulness
This prayer which popped up on social media recently is a wonderful way to associate things many people in the Western world connect with drudgery with a moment of gratefulness through prayer. Share this list and format with your students.Ask them…
Helping Students Discover the Roots of Faith
Here are two activities you can do with your students to help them to critique their own faith history and better answer the question “Why do I believe in Jesus”?In ClassHelp students reflect on their most strongly held beliefs about…
Icebreaker Discussion: My Personal Opinion
You can use this discussion format in a number of ways. Here’s one:Pass out a small, blank card to each student. Write on a board several typical values, vices, events that teens are likely to have a strong opinion on either way. See…
First Week of School Introductions
Here’s a brief introductory activity you might use on the first day or in the first week of school to help you and your students get to know each other better.Prepare pre-printed name tags that are big enough for the students to add several…
Disney’s Version of the Ave Maria
An interesting piece of information you may wish to share with your students is Walt Disney's inclusion of Schubert's classic Ave Maria in the full-length animated motion picture Fantasia.The idea of a popular, secular film containing…
People Who Met and Recognized Jesus
During Jesus’ ministry many would-be friends and enemies did not recognize him or his mission as the Son of God. But several people did. Give the following list to the students and ask them to name some of the people who met and recognized…
Reflection Exercise: I Forgive Me
Here is a short exercise on how to forgive oneself. Use the following information to make a handout. Distribute to the students and have them work individually to complete the items. Tell them you will check to see that they did the work, but that…
Seat Warming Activity on Marriage
Last week was National Marriage Week. As a seat warming activity, have your students write answers to the following questions about marriage. The first set of questions is objective questions with the answers to be summarized from the Catechism of…
Sharing News about a Religious Vocation
The discernment of a religious vocation for a young man or young woman is accompanied by prayer, questioning, and finally a decision. At some point the person tells his or her family of the choice to further prepare for the priesthood or religious…
Dialoguing Principles
Small group and full classroom discussions encourage sharing among your students. Though each lesson and activity uses slightly different dialogue techniques, some general methodological principles apply to all of them. The following principles,…