Discussion-Oriented
Showing 1–70 of 70 results. View 24 per page
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Dear Millie and Mike
This handout provides several real-life situations that teens might encounter. Students are challenged to respond to the situations and give advice to other teens.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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The Consequences of Moral Decisions
This handout examines how actions, attitudes, and decisions affect ourselves and the people around us
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Cases to Examine: Is This Euthanasia?
This handout provides three situations for students to read and evaluate. Students must decide if the story shows an example of Euthanasia.
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Perspectives on Sex
This handout provides several comments from teenagers about sex. It can be used as a discussion starter or writing prompt.
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Practicing Prophecy
An activity where students are given the opportunity to imitate the prophetic model by observing the world around them and attempting to interpret injustices.
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Called to Share the Mission of Jesus
Questions about how we can imitate Jesus’ example in the way we interact with others.
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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.
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Inspirations and Charisms Worksheet
A partially independent and partially group completed worksheet for students to fill out about the inspirations and charisms of a particular religious congregation or order.
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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.
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Socratic Seminar Observation Form - Student
A student observation form for the Socratic seminar.
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Student Evaluation of the Socratic Seminar
A student evaluation sheet for the Socratic seminar.
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If I Ruled the World
A worksheet that asks students to think about how they would solve different social justice issues if they ruled the world.
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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.
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Introspect and Interview
A worksheet on introspect and knowledge gained from interviews on important life issues including abortion, in vitro fertilization, stem-cell research, euthanasia, the death penalty, and immigration.
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Justice Conversation Starters
A list of several conversation starters or self-reflection questions on the topic of justice.
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Dilemma Questions
A set of questions based on real-world situations and dilemmas that a person may be dealing with.
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Using the Card Deal Method
An instructional guide for using the card deal method, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Student Evaluation of the Socratic Seminar
A student evaluation form for the Socratic seminar.
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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.
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Red Card Green Card Process
The red card, green card process enables you to take a quick agree-or-disagree opinion poll to initiate discussion on a particular unit topic.
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Scripture Readings for Celebrating the Rite of Marriage
A list of Scripture readings that can be included in celebrating the Rite of Marriage, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Jigsaw Analysis of Primary Source Readings
A group activity dealing with the concept of human sexuality, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Unit 6 Preassessment Questions
A preassessment for Unit 6 of "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Martyrs in the Twentieth Century
A group discussion sheet on martyrs in the twentieth century, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Public Life and Faithful Citizenship
Group discussion questions, based on a reading assignment, on public life and faithful citizenship, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Fiddler on the Roof
Questions for discussion for "Fiddler on the Roof" from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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What is a Sin against the First and Second Commandment
A small group activity on sins against the first and second commandment, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Psalms of Praise
An activity dealing with the Psalms of Praise, from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Determing the Elements of Human Acts
A worksheet on determining the elements of human acts from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Gospel Reflection on Sin and Salvation
A Gospel reflection on sin and salvation from "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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Survey Summary Life in Christ
A survey summary for "Christian Morality: Our Response to God's Love."
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An Examination of Conscience
This resource is part of the Living in Christ Series. It offers great reflection questions for going through an examination of conscience, dividing the questions into those referring to love of God, and those referring to love of neighbor. This …
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The Prodigal Son A Story of Conversion
This worksheet is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can reflect on and answer questions about the conversion of the Prodigal Son.
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Reflections on Suffering
This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can reflect on their experiences of and response to suffering through this series of though-provoking questions.
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Common Beliefs about Suffering
This activity allows students to reflect on a series of questions about human suffering and God's participation in it. They can agree or disagree with various statements of commonly held beliefs about suffering.
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Redemptive Love in The Spitfire Grill
This worksheet is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students can answer questions about the themes and characters in the movie, "The Spitfire Grill".
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Redemptive Love: Simon Birch
This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students watching the movie "Simon Birch" can use this handout to follow along and reflect on major themes in the film.
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Being Human - PowerPoint
This PowerPoint is part of the Living in Christ Series. It asks students to reflect on what it means to be human and how Jesus models the way to live fully alive.
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Where Have Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, Disciples, and Others Modeled the Ways to Discipleship?
This activity is part of the Living in Christ Series. Students are asked to reflect on the discipleship modeled by Jesus, Mary, the Apostles, and others.
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Leadership Statements
This worksheet is part of the Living in Christ Series. It includes several statesments about leadership in the Bible, including who's called, what skills are necessary, and what it takes to be a good leader.
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Word-Association Exercise: Afterlife
(30 minutes) Prior to this exercise, have the all participants (including the facilitator) bring to the session a personal symbol. This symbol should be an object from among the participant's personal belongings that acts as a reminder of a much …
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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, …
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January 22: Saying Yes to Life
Preparation Bring in pictures of fetal development. 1. Present a scenario in which a girl like those in your group experiences a crisis pregnancy. Then list on the board a number of options, such as these: She can keep the …
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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 …
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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 …
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Be At Peace Among Yourselves
"Be at peace among yourselves." (1 Thessalonians 5:13) "None of us is alone in this world; each of us is a vital piece of the great mosaic of humanity as a whole." (Pope John Paul II, Israel-Palestine) Think About That …
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Moral Decision Making and Real-Life Applications
If you have used the Saint Mary's Press textbook Growing in Christian Morality, then you're familiar with the LISTEN process for making moral decisions. The process is introduced in the textbook and is used throughout the companion student casebook. LISTEN …
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On the Frontier of Justice in Ghana
"Africa has been the land of hope, salvation, and redemption. Abraham had come to Africa, Joseph from slave to savior. It was the land of refuge for Jesus and helped to carry his cross. Will we continue to dismiss Africa …
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Patch Adams - Movie Reflection
Patch Adams is a great movie to use with students! It is the fact-based story of Hunter "Patch" Adams, the founder of the Gesundheit Clinic. Robin Williams plays the lead character with grace and skill. Synopsis: After spending some time …
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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 …
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Processing Service Experiences
I have been involved with our school's service-learning program for over ten years as a classroom teacher. Because the program is integrated fully in the religion, English, and social studies curriculum, we have made a commitment to processing the material …
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The Color Purple
A CAUTIONARY NOTE: One of the criticisms of The Color Purple is that it depicts the men in the story as primarily abusive. Also, this movie is PG-13, mostly because of the violence and strong language. We recommend the movie …
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Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Step 1: Look at the situation What exactly is happening? Why is it happening? Who is involved? What are their motives? How is it happening, that is, by what means or method? When and where is it happening? Step 2: …
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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 …
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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, …
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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 …
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Building Faith Community in the High School
In a workshop entitled "The Catholic High School as Faith Community," religion teachers, campus ministers, and school administrators discussed, among many things, the obstacles they face in trying to build faith community in their school. One obstacle they addressed was …
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Community Service Courses:
This past semester, at the end of a year-long service program at a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed youth, two students from my community service course wrote a poem to express the significance of their experiences. These are the …
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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 …
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Kinds of Relationships
Margaret Kueberth, a religion teacher at the Catholic High School of Baltimore, passed on two of her exercises that can be used in a sexuality or lifestyles course. The first exercise, which can be made into a handout, serves as …
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The Mirror Has Two Faces
We live in a culture obsessed with sex, and our students soak up that message in music, television, and film. I am astounded at how explicit the sexual dynamics, innuendo, and situations in typical teen dramas (witness "Dawson’s Creek," "Felicity," …
