Document

The Socratic Seminar

This handout provides a set of guidelines and instructions to help students successfully participate in a Socratic seminar.

Document

Lesson Plan for Lesson 32

A lesson plan for lesson 32 in The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth: Catechist Guide. In this lesson students explore what it means to use virtues and grace to live a moral life.

Document

Lesson Plan for Lesson 31

A lesson plan for lesson 31 in The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth: Catechist Guide. In this lesson students explore what it means to respect truth.

Document

Lesson Plan for Lesson 30

A lesson plan for lesson 30 in The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth: Catechist Guide. In this lesson students explore what it means to respect material goods.

Document

Lesson Plan for Lesson 29

A lesson plan for lesson 29 in The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth: Catechist Guide. In this lesson students explore what it means to respect the sexuality of ourselves and others.

Document

Lesson Plan for Lesson 1

A lesson plan for lesson 1 in The Catholic faith Handbook for Youth: Catechist Guide. This lesson plan challenges students to identify why they are Catholic and the core beliefs, practices, and attitudes of Catholicism

Document

Called to Share the Mission of Jesus

Questions about how we can imitate Jesus’ example in the way we interact with others.

Document

The Bible’s Big Picture (Part II)

A description of what a Covenant is, and discussion questions about God’s promises.

Document

A Restless Heart

Read through the following questions and discuss your answers with your small group.

Document

Where Is God Leading Me?

A discussion oriented worksheet that includes meditating on scripture passages and answering questions about the readings as well as personal questions.

Document

Being versus Doing

A scripture passage from the Gospel of Luke about Martha and Mary is read along with a commentary, and is followed by large group discussion questions.

Document

What Will God Call Me to Do

A reflection worksheet and class discussion on the video Gang Busters: One Man’s Mission to Stop Bullets by Creating Jobs.

Document

A Call to Priestly Ministry

This resource is a discussion guide and worksheet about the call to priestly ministry based on the film clip from There Be Dragons.

Document

It’s All About You! The Single Lay Christian

A series of questions to guide you through a discussion of the single life, whether temporary or permanent.

Document

Roman Missal Overview

This resource is intended to assist you in preparing young people for the implementation of the new missal.

Document

Pray in Good Form

A worksheet, from "The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth" Teacher Guide, to assist students in researching and presenting different prayer forms.

Document

Using Hevruta

A lesson plan on using Hevruta in the classroom.

Document

Chalk Talk

Steps on how to facilitate a silent conversation in writing in response to a topic or question posed.

Document

Writing Workshop

How to conduct a writing workshop in the classroom.

Document

How to Lead a Socratic Seminar

A reading on how to lead a Socratic seminar.

Document

Using the Jigsaw Process

A resource on how to use the jigsaw process, with is a method where students share information and insights from different readings to create a larger picture.

Document

In-Class Debates

A format for an in-class debate.

Document

The Socratic Seminar

This class seminar will give you the opportunity to test your analytical and discussion skills through oral debate. This seminar is carried on in a very structured way, so it is important to learn the process and the rules.

Document

Portfolio Instruction

This resource is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers instruction to students who must put together a portfolio of their readings, writings and assignments from lessons on Jesus and Christology.

Document

A Gallery Walk - Discussion Technique

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It is an instructional article for teachers to learn how to administer a "Gallery Walk" discussion technique.

Document

The Socratic Seminar

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. Teachers may use it as a guide to using the Socratic Method in classroom discussion.

Document

Introducing Biblical Navigation

This article is from the Living in Christ Series. It offers guidelines for teachers teaching students how to navigate the Bible, including reference to other worksheet for the students.

Document

How to Lead a Socratic Seminar

This article is part of the Living in Christ Series. It includes information on how to prepare for, lead, assess and follow-up the classroom use of a Socratic Seminar discussion method.

Document

Reading Notes and Questions for Student Book Articles 9-12

This reading guide is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can use it while reading other articles from the LIC Series to take important notes and answer significant questions.

Document

The Best King of Israel

This handout is part of the Living in Christ Series. It outlines the research questions for students to explore while studying various kings of the Old Testament.

Article

The Sacraments at the Service of Communion: Holy Orders and Matrimony

This session from Catechetical Sessions on Liturgy and the Sacraments invites participants to consider the unique ways in which ordained ministers and married people serve the people of God, responsibilities that are presented in the vows they take in either …

Article

Paul's Conversion

Background for the Teacher This session focuses our attention on Paul's conversion experience. Using a hard-boiled egg and a raw egg as focusing symbols, the young people reflect on the meaning of conversion. Then two or three of the participants …

Article

Program aims to get youth excited about Bible

Young people in the diocese are getting excited about Scripture and it's all part of a national effort called "Yes! Youth Engaging Scripture." YES is a Catholic teen-to-teen Bible sharing concept and to date, some 1,800 young people have been …

Article

Resources for Parents Who Want to View The Passion of the Christ with Their Teenage Children

Things to Remember Film is an art form, and many genres and subgenres exist within film. Comedy is a genre. Within that genre one could name romantic comedies, slapstick comedies, and dark comedies as subgenres. Before reading a piece of …

Article

Who Does the Movie Say Killed Jesus?

Much of the controversy about The Passion of the Christ centers around one question: Who killed Jesus? The Anti-Defamation League feels the movie lays the blame at the feet of the Jews. Mel Gibson, the movie's director, producer and cowriter, …

Article

Frequently Asked Questions About the Pope

What is the pope? The pope is the bishop of the Church of Rome, Italy. Because of the importance of Rome, Tradition recognizes the pope as the supreme pastor of all Christians. Why is the Church of Rome so important? …

Article

Youth Prayer Habits

Through a grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill has established the National Study of Youth & Religion at the Odum Institute for Research and the Social Sciences. In there preliminary findings of existing …

Article

A Christian Response to Violence, Part 2:

Pacifism: "We No Longer Learn War" How can we apply Jesus’ command to love our enemies when our whole nation has been attacked? Over the centuries, how Christians have attempted to apply Jesus’ teachings on violence to their lives has …

Article

A Christian Response to Violence, Part 1:

In the wake of the 11 September terrorist attacks, many people are calling for military retaliation against whatever group or country is ultimately found to be responsible. The desire to strike back at those who hurt us is understandable, but …

Article

Wrestling with Diversity

How do we welcome non-Christians into our schools and our religion classrooms, and at the same time give witness to our own Christ-centered faith? How do we invite students to learn from and respect other faith traditions without sending the …

Article

Curriculum Integration in Service Programs

How can you begin working toward curriculum integration with your service program? Consider the following principles as a good guide. Connections Get to know the curriculum in other content areas. Study the program of studies of your school. Look at …

Article

Sacraments Outside the Box

I'm sure that one of the first things you did when you returned to school in September was to check your faculty mailbox. Most schools have a bank of neatly labeled cubbyholes. Get an image in your mind's eye: some …

Article

Catholic Youth and the Bible: Moving from Biblical Literacy to Biblical Spirituality

Developing one's biblical literacy As a college student back in the mid-seventies, I was invited to be part of an ecumenical student Bible study. Born and raised Catholic, I don't think I had cracked open a Bible more than two …

Article

Six Ways to be Truly Catholic

I always thought that I would have made a great archbishop in Salzburg during the time of Mozart. But instead I'm the archbishop of Milwaukee in the time of rock 'n' roll. That's the way life turns out. We live …

Article

Ideas for Teaching Feminine Spirituality

In 1994, I started teaching a course on women's spirituality for seniors at Holy Names High School, an all-girls school in Oakland, California. Finding materials for such a class was a challenge. No textbooks or other resources existed that were …

Article

Using Literature in Theology Classes

Editor's note: The author of our feature article, Kathleen Hodapp, was one of the participants in last summer's workshop "The Catholic High School As Faith Community," held here in Winona, Minnesota, as well as on the East Coast and the …

Article

Service and Justice

We are standing on the brink, and our bishops are urging us to jump. Many of us don't know where we'll end up, and we aren't sure whether we'll land in one piece. Yet the sense of urgency is building, …

Article

A One-Day Retreat on Service in the Inner City

Our sophomore class day retreat focuses on finding spirituality in the inner city. It is a kind of "urban plunge" experience within a spiritual framework, and students go on this retreat during the same semester that they take a social …

Article

Helping Students Get the Most Out of Stories

For the past six years I have been researching the power of stories for communicating Catholic religious and moral values. At the same time, I have been experimenting with stories in my high school classroom (tenth- and twelfth-grade classes in …

Article

The Power of Parables

We all know that a good story will almost always act as an excellent springboard for reflection. Jesus' most effective teaching tool was the parable. He would gather his disciples and tell them a story with a message that moved …

Article

Once Upon A Time: Using Student-Generated Stories in Religion Classes

Religion classes should be interesting, if not compelling, and they can be if what is interesting is determined by the students. This, of course, is not a new approach. Learner-centered educational theories have been popular for decades. Using story as …

Article

Expect Much, Praise Much, Be Present to Them

Course materials, such as the high school religion textbooks and teacher's manuals published by Saint Mary's Press, are a significant ingredient in the education of our young people. But we all know that the most important factor in a student's …

Article

A New Look at the Sower and the Seeds

This is the text of a reflection given at the opening prayer service of the school year. The concept is interesting and could work well in a classroom or retreat setting. Scattered them wildly about (see Matt. 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34; …

Related Products